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Mushroom Magic

Ink cap, Coprinus atramentarius (11/7/17) Gabriel Leete

Stump mushroom, Armillaria mellea (11/7/17) Gabriel Leete

Shasta Cascade mushroom forager and color spotter, Gabriel Leete brings us photos of the most amazing mushrooms and plants.

Ink cap (seen above) rise in clumps after a rain are usually found in tight groups, so they are easily seen from a distance. The grey-brown cap is bell-shaped before opening, after which it flattens and disintegrates. At maturity, the black liquid it exudes used to be used as ink, hence its name.

Stump mushrooms (Armillaria mellea) are often found, as the name implies around the base of trees. In an ode to Avatar, the Armillaria are capable of producing light via bioluminescence in their mycelium.

 

Agaricus (11/7/17) Gabriel Leete

Agaricus is a genus of mushroom of which the well-known button mushroom is a member. However, just because the button mushroom is edible, that does not mean the mushroom you may pick is. Certain types of Agaricus are poisonous.

If you don’t know for certain that a mushroom is edible, don’t attempt to cook it. Regardless, foraging for them is a fun way to explore an autumn forest, particularly following fresh rains.

Mushrooms, Shasta Cascade – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

Datura stramonium (11/7/17) Gabriel Leete

Exotic Datura stramonium or Jimson weed (native to Mexico, but now naturalizing in many places) is a member of the nightshade family and is highly toxic. Gabriel found one during his wanderings.

Datura is known by many names: thornapple, devil’s snare, moon flower, hell’s bells, devil’s trumpet, devil’s weed, stinkweed, locoweed, devil’s cucumber and others because of the intense halucinogenic visions it produces, which have led to hospitalization and death… not something with which to experiment.

 

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Nearing Peak Near Chico

Chinese Temple, Oroville (11/6/17) Cindy Lee Hoover

Biggs (11/6/17) Cindy Lee Hoover

Midway, Durham (11/6/17) Cindy Lee Hoover

Shasta Cascade color spotters Danie Schwartz and Cindy Lee Hoover are reporting signs of peak approaching throughout Butte County.

Oroville and Biggs (to Oroville’s west) are near peak with Chinese pistache throwing off increasingly iridescent color around the ancient burgundy walls of Oroville’s Chinese temple.

Maple, Sank Park, Oroville (11/6/17) Cindy Lee Hoover

Dogwood, Sank Park, Oroville (11/6/17) Cindy Lee Hoover

At Sank Park in downtown Oroville, maple, dogwood and more Chinese pistache are peaking.

West of Oroville, Biggs Pond is ringed with yellow, chartreuse and lime-colored brush. The Valley oak are carrying the first signs of orange and yellow color.

Traveling north from Oroville, the Midway between Durham and Chico continues to transition with some orange appearing among yellow and lime oak and pistache, though many leaves along this boulevard have dropped. Walnut orchards up and down CA-99 are coloring up.

Esplanade, Chico (11/6/17) Cindy Lee Hoover

Paradise Lake, Paradise (11/6/17) Cindy Lee Hoover

In Chico, the Esplanade, its famous boulevard, is overhanging with patchy Valley oak and Chinese pistache, though near peak color should arrive this weekend and peak continue to Thanksgiving Day.

Further north in Paradise, color has peaked. The last remaining black oak leaves hang proudly from trees around Paradise Lake.

Oroville – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!

Biggs – – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!

Chico – Patchy (10-50%)

Paradise – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

 

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More Photographic Perspectives

Black oak, bigleaf maple, Hayfork (10/21/17) Laura Jean

Fridays are a quiet day to catch up on posting photographs that arrived too late to be included in a timely fall color report. The first selection is of photographs taken by Laura Jean near Hayfork along CA-3, two weeks ago.

The color seen in these images has long since fallen, though her shots provide perspective about what it was like to drive the Trinity Heritage Scenic Byway in late October. Click on photo to enlarge.

Hayfork, Trinity Heritage Scenic Byway (CA-3) – Past Peak – You Missed It.

Bigleaf maple, Hayfork (10/21/17) Laura Jean

Bigleaf maple, Hayfork (10/21/17) Laura Jean

Dogwood, Hayfork (10/21/17) Laura Jean

Black oak, Hayfork (10/21/17) Laura Jean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black oak, Hayfork (10/21/17) Laura Jean

California ash, Hayfork (10/21/17) Laura Jean

Bigleaf maple, Hayfork (10/21/17) Laura Jean

Dogwood, Hayfork (10/21/17) Laura Jean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, here is a selection of images contributed by Dona Montuori-Whitaker in mid October. They arrived too late to be posted in a timely fashion, but are now in order to show additional views of Plumas County.

What is particularly striking about the Shasta Cascade region are the number of old wooden bridges, barns and cabins that have aged beautifully and contrast so emotionally with fall color.

Plumas County – Past Peak – You Missed It.

Maple, Quincy (10/16/17) Dona Montuori-Whitaker

Genesee Valley (10/16/17) Dona Montuori-Whitaker

Indian rhubarb, Keddie (10/16/17) Dona Montuori-Whitaker

Long Valley Creek Bridge, Sloat (10/16/17) Dona Montuori-Whitaker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shed, Indian Falls (10/16/17) Dona Montuori-Whitaker

Taylorsville School (10/16/17) Dona Montuori-Whitaker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fallen maple, cottonwood and dogwood leaves, Yosemite National Park (11/1/17) Tracy Zhou

As reported here on the day Tracy Zhou took these photos, peak color has shifted from bigleaf maple, dogwood and cottonwood to black oak in Yosemite National Park.

Black oak, Yosemite Valley (11/1/17) Tracy Zhou

Black oak, Yosemite Valley (11/1/17) Tracy Zhou

Black oak, Yosemite Valley (11/1/17) Tracy Zhou

Black oak, Yosemite Valley (11/1/17) Tracy Zhou

Yosemite Valley (11/1/17) Tracy Zhou

Black oak, Yosemite Valley (11/1/17) Tracy Zhou

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Color Along The Midway

Persimmons, Chico (10/30/17) Robert Kermen

The Midway between Durham and Chico, to its north, is still Patchy, though is increasingly showing signs of approaching peak color.

If you go now, you won’t be disappointed, but if you wait until peak is reported there could be nothing by the time you get there.  So, our advice is to assess posted photos for when they were taken and what the area might look like in a week or two, then plan accordingly.

Color spotter Danie Schwartz was in Durham a couple of days ago; she found valley oaks showing nice yellow, lime and orange near the Patrick Ranch.

Ginkgo biloba, Bidwell Mansion, Chico (10/29/17)
Robert Kermen

He continued to Chico to find the Esplanade still patchy with Chinese pistachios and Valley oak showing green, yellow and shades of orange, but limited to few trees. Robert Kermen also visited Chico to find ginkgo biloba along the Esplanade near the Bidwell Mansion heavy with gold leaves. These are some of the most beautiful of boulevard trees at maturity, though care should be taken to plant “male” pollinators, as the female ginkgo has an offensive odor.

Robert Kermen returned to the Chico Seed Orchard, operated by Mendocino National Forest on 209 acres. It was established in 1904 by the Agricultural Research Service for the purpose of plant breeding research and plant introduction from all over the world.

Two of the station’s early accomplishments included introducing the pistachio in 1917 and the kiwi in 1934. The “mother” and “father” kiwi are still at the Orchard and are the oldest producing kiwi in the country.”

Persimmons are another of Chico’s crops. Their orchards are peaking and near harvest.

Sank Park, Oroville (10/29/17) Cindy Lee Hoover

South of Chico in Oroville, Sank Park along Montgomery St. is peaking, with Chinese pistache overhanging the street with yellow, orange and lime leaves.

North of Chico in Paradise, black oaks are at the end of their peak.

In Biggs on Vance Rd., between Feather Road and Pond, trees are patchy with touches of yellow.

Oroville – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!

Patrick Ranch, Durham – Patchy

Esplanade, Chico – Patchy

Paradise – Peak (75-10%) GO NOW!

Biggs – Patchy

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Above Crescent Mills

Anthony Occhipinti of Coruscating Images in Sacramento did it again, flying his drone over Crescent Mills in Plumas County.

 

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Color or B&W?

Black oak, Hideaway Rd., Greenville (10/29/17) Jeff Luke Titcomb

Black oak, Hideaway Rd., Greenville (10/29/17) Jeff Luke Titcomb

Jeff Luke Titcomb reports that black oak are peaking in Greenville (Plumas County) along Hideaway Rd.

Nancy Hull found red, orange, yellow and lime ash peaking near the Colusa Unified School playground.

Jeff says the oak look good even without their color. Which do you prefer: color, or black & white?

Greenville, Plumas County – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

Colusa – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

 

 

Ash, Colusa Unified School (10/29/17) Nancy Hull

 

 

 

Ash, Colusa Unified School (10/29/17) Nancy Hull

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Insane Color On Nor/Sierra Circuit

Couthouse, Quincy (10/27/17) Phillip Reedy

North Fork Feather River (10/27/17) Phillip Reedy

North Fork Feather River (10/27/17) Phillip Reedy

Some of this site’s contributors go to great lengths to spot fall color.

We put Phillip Reedy in that category, as he’s submitted photographs taken in the Hope Valley (on several occasions), Eastern Sierra and now the Northern Sierra.

Phillip drove a “long circuit” up CA-70 from Marysville to Quincy, south through Graeagle and the Lakes Basin, then down on CA-49 through Downieville and back to Davis.

In a day, Phillip!?

While we’re questioning his sanity, we’re not questioning the beauty he captured or the veracity of his reports.

Phillip reported back that there was “plenty of yellow and gold at the top of the Feather River Canyon, in Quincy and Graeagle (often missed by Plumas County color spotters). Aspen were still dressed in yellow around Sardine Lake.

Couthouse, Quincy (10/27/17) Phillip Reedy

Couthouse, Quincy (10/27/17) Phillip Reedy

The big bonus, he reported was not being disappointed by his stop in Quincy, as we’d raised  his hopes, considering how many times in the past two weeks that peak color has been reported there.

Not only did his photos show those trees in new perspectives, but they certified that indeed both Western Sycamore and sugar maple grow side-by-side, there.

“The colors were awesome,” he said. And, that’s saying something, since Phillip always combines a little fall color spotting with fly fishing.

On this outing, he visited the North Fork of the Yuba River and Lavezzola Creek near Downieville and though we don’t know how many he caught, he maxed limit in great fall color shots.

 

 

 

Middle Fork Feather River, Graeagle (10/27/17) Phillip Reedy

North Fork Yuba River (10/27/17) Phillip Reedy

North Fork Feather River – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

Quincy – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

Middle Fork Feather River, Graeagle – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

Lavezzola Creek, Downieville – Peak (75-100%) – GO NOW!

North Fork Yuba River – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

North Fork Yuba River (10/27/17) Phillip Reedy

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Chico – Kaching!

Chinese pistache, Mendocino National Forest-Chico Seed Farm (10/27/17) Robert Kerman

Pistache tunnel, near Durham (10/27/17) Robert Kerman

Çolor spotters are beginning to cash in by heading to Chico, as autumn color is sprinting through Patchy toward Near Peak.

Less than a week ago, we were reporting Chico as Just Starting, but these photographs sent to us by color spotter Robert Kerman show a different story… one worth a road trip and worth photographing.

Robert visited a few of his “favorite haunts for fall color,” including the U.S. Forest Service’s seed farm in Chico (First Report), whose main road is lined with colorful Chinese pistache, now just approaching Near Peak. They should be good for another two weeks.

He passed through another “pistache tunnel” along the “Midway” between Chico and Durham, near walnut orchards featured on 10/23; and found “awesome colors” at forested Bidwell Park in Chico, where The Adventures of Robin Hood was filmed in 1938, winning three Oscars.

Bidwell Park, Chico (10/27/17) Robert Kerman

So, Sherwood, do you plan to be one of Chico’s Merry men and women this weekend? If so, it looks like the fall color hunting will be Oscar-nomination-worthy.

Chico (197′) – Patchy (10-50%) – While Chico doesn’t yet show enough color to get a GO NOW! alert, fall color there is progressing rapidly. Chico should be peaking the first week of November. On our must-see list are: Midway (between Durham and Chico), walnut orchards, Bidwell Park, Esplanade and Abbey of New Clairvaux in Vina.

 

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Plumas County Seen From The Heavens

Anthony Occhipinti of Coruscating Images sends a video of Plumas County fall color.

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Lewiston Lake, Peaking Pretty

Lewiston Lake (10/22/17) Michele James

Lewiston Lake (10/22/17) Michele James

Often called California’s best-kept secret, Lewiston Lake (downstream from Trinity Lake) is a prized, narrow body famous for its trout fishing.

Michelle James stopped there this past weekend, to photograph orange splotches of black oak reflected in its still waters.

The Mary Smith Campground at Lewiston Lake was described by the San Francisco Chronicle as the state’s prettiest. It features six glamping (Glamorous Camping) tents near the water. Traditional campsites for tent or RV camping are also available nearby.

Lewiston Lake (1,903′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! 

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