Western Sierra – Page 3 – California Fall Color

Worth The Wait

El Capitan, Merced River, Yosemite Valley (11/4/20) Nhi Casey

Yosemite was worth the wait, as Nhi Casey’s photographs show.

The national park was closed due to smoke during October, reopening on Nov. 1. Since then, color-hungry spotters have descended on the Valley, which is Peak of the Week.

Southside Drive, Yosemite Valley (11/4/20) Nhi Casey

Southside Drive was lush with autumn color and the meadows are lined with peak, deeply orange black oak.

For those spotters who’ve wanted to get both brilliant fall color and a dusting of snow, go today and stay through Monday (if you can). Light snows are predicted to fall on Friday. The peak color will last through the weekend and this is your chance to get that shot.

You want to be there before the snow, then as the sky clears to get the full range of fall color and snow.

Gates of the Valley, Yosemite NP (11/4/20) Nhi Casey

A few remaining peaking yellow bigleaf maple and rosy Pacific dogwood can be found in the Valley, though most of the color is being provided by grasses, willows, golden black cottonwood and orange black oak.

Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park (4,000′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

November 5, 2020/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, Peak of the Week, Western Sierra

Yosemite is Back

Black oak and cottonwood, Swinging Bridge, Yosemite Valley (11/1/20) Steve Arita

Yosemite National Park reopened to day visitation yesterday and both Steve Arita and Adarsh Dattani were there to record its beauty.

Steve reports the fall colors are beautiful with peak black oak, bigleaf maple and emerging Fremont cottonwood. A few dogwood still carry rosy leaves, though they are the exception.

Black oak, Yosemite Valley (11/1/20) Steve Arita

As is typical of autumn, the Merced River was just a trickle, though rain is expected to fall on Friday. Once it does, it will recharge the waterfalls. Snow is a possibility, which would be beautiful should it drop as low as the valley (4,000′) and frost the gold and orange fall color with white.

Gates of the Valley, Yosemite Valley (11/1/20) Steve Arita

Steve marveled at the alpenglow. When you live in the valley for as many years as I did, you learn to wait for the alpenglow (the refraction of sunset light through the upper atmosphere) to paint El Capitan and Half Dome pink. Sunsets are best enjoyed in Yosemite Valley by facing east, not west, in order to see this effect.

American Black Bear, Yosemite Valley (11/1/20) Adarsh Dattani

American black bear were out foraging in the Valley. They are often active in autumn and more easily seen because shrubbery doesn’t disguise them as much.

Pacific Dogwood, Yosemite National Park (11/1/20) Adarsh Dattani

Dattani found dogwood to be at Peak higher up and just turning red in the Valley (later than usual). Bigleaf maple are now Past Peak. Cottonwood are colored lemon and lime, while the black oak are blushing orange.

El Capitan, Yosemite Valley (11/1/20) Adarsh Dattani

Yosemite is a definite GO NOW and could be outrageously beautiful should it snow to valley level on Friday, then clear. As such, a Thursday – Sunday visit is recommended.

Swinging Bridge, Yosemite Valley (11/1/20) Adarsh Dattani

Yosemite National Park is CaliforniaFallColor.com’s Peak of the Week.

Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park (4,000′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

November 2, 2020/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, Western Sierra

It’s Cooking at Cook’s

Sunrise, Cook’s Meadow, Yosemite NP (10/20/20) Elliot McGucken

Cook’s Meadow in Yosemite Valley was once trampled by hotel-owner John J. Cook’s cattle (1881-87). Today, only bear, deer, coyote and an occasional bobcat might be seen there. The cattle left in the 1920s.

Elliot McGucken was there yesterday to catch the sunrise and be greeted by an American black bear. A wisp of smoke from the Creek Fire (to the south) is evident in his pictures, and the sun’s rays glowed golden as they passed through it.

Black oak, Cook’s Meadow and Half Dome, Yosemite Valley (10/20/20) Elliot McGucken

Bear are common valley residents and more of them have been seen foraging the valley in the months since Covid-19 pandemic restrictions first reduced park visitation.

The 2.25-mile hike through Sentinel and Cook’s meadows is one of the most popular in the national park. Wooden boardwalks float over the meadows to contain foot traffic and keep the boggy meadows from being compacted.

The route includes breathtaking views of Yosemite Falls, Sentinel Rock and Half Dome. In the coming weeks, black oak and California cottonwood will turn orange and yellow. Some sign of the change is seen in Cook’s meadow’s signature black oak seen above.

American black bear, Cook’s Meadow (10/20/20) Elliot McGucken

Sentinel Rock, Bigleaf maple, Pacific dogwood, Yosemite Valley (10/20/20) Elliot McGucken

Yellow bigleaf maple and rosy Pacific dogwood remain at peak in the valley, though most are now Past Peak. Fern Spring at the entrance to Yosemite Valley is Past Peak, though yellow and orange-red leaves in its dark waters will continue to be photographed ’til the end of October.

El Capitan and the Merced River, Gates of the Valley, Yosemite NP (10/20/20) Elliot McGucken

Admission to Yosemite Valley is available to those with day-use, in-park lodging and camping reservations and for wilderness or Half Dome permits. The requirement to obtain a day-use reservation will end on Nov. 1. Passage through the national park over the Tioga Road (continuation of CA-120) requires a reservation.

Fern Spring, Yosemite Valley (4,000′) – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, You Almost Missed It.
Pioneer Sugar Maple, Yosemite Chapel (4,000′) – Past Peak, You Missed It.
Cook’s and Sentinel Meadows, Yosemite Valley (4,000′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Yosemite’s black oak will continue to improve though mid November.

October 21, 2020/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, Western Sierra

Yosemite in Black and White

Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Park (10/5/20) Julie Kirby

Above is what it feels like when engulfed by wildfire smoke … a colorful landscape becomes black and white.

That was Julie Kirby’s impression during her visit to Yosemite on Monday (reservations required to cross Tioga Pass).

Julie visited the Valley and found it choking with haze. Dogwood, bigleaf maple and black oak are Just Starting.

Cook’s Meadow, Yosemite Valley (10/5/20) Julie Kirby

Yosemite Valley (4,000′) – Just Starting (0-10%)

October 10, 2020/by John Poimiroo

Books, Western Sierra, Wildflowers

Yosemite Wildflowers

Abundant displays of white and pink to rose-colored blossoms now appearing on flowering pear, plum and almond trees and shrubs in the Central Valley and Sierra Foothills have Californians anticipating the state’s ten-month wildflower season.

Newly released by Falcon Guides, Yosemite Wildflowers (written by Judy and Barry Breckling) describes more than 1,000 species to be seen in the national park during that long bloom.

My previous go-to guide for wildflower identification in Yosemite National Park and the Central Sierra was Lynn and Jim Wilson and Jeff Nicholas’ Wildflowers of Yosemite, published in 1987. Though beautifully illustrated with recommended wildflower sites and hikes, in comparison, it had just 224 color plates within it.

Yosemite Wildflowers is a more than able replacement. Its authors are well-qualified to author the guide. The Brecklings are lifelong plant enthusiasts who have lived in the Sierra not far from Yosemite for a dozen years. They lead Sierra Foothills chapter California Native Plant Society wildflower field trips and created a Yosemite wildflowers app in 2014.

The book categorizes wildflowers into six color groupings, based on the most vibrant color: white to cream; yellow, red and orange; pink, rose and magenta; blue, purple and lavendar; and green and brown flowers.

Within those sections, 895 color photographs, common names, scientific names, families, informative descriptions, flowering periods, habitats/ranges and similar plants are described.

At 26.4 ounces, Yosemite Wildflowers – though a paperback – is sufficiently heavy to give pause to a backpacker as to whether it’s too much to carry. Though, for anyone who has been frustrated with thinner guidebooks which failed to include flowers they hoped to identify in the field, it’s sure to solve that problem.

Yosemite Wildflowers is comprehensive. As an example, 24 varieties of lupine are described within it. In most field guides, only one or two examples are included.

I’ve often been asked why CaliforniaFallColor.com doesn’t do for California wildflowers what we do for autumn color. There are many reasons why we don’t.

Time is a big part of it. Elsewhere in North America, autumn is a two-week peak display. However, here peak color first appears near 10,000′, then gradually drops to sea level. That takes four months.

California’s wildflower bloom happens in reverse and over a longer period. Flip the pages of Judy and Barry Breckling’s new field guide, Yosemite Wildflowers, and it’s amazing that they finished the book only 12 years after relocating to the Sierra.

Yosemite Wildflowers (978-1-4930-4066-7, March 2020) is available on Amazon.com and in bookstores. Falcon is an imprint of Globe Pequot.

February 28, 2020/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, Western Sierra

Yosemite Is Still At It

Half Dome reflection in the Merced River, Photographer’s Bridge, Yosemite Valley (11/2/19) Clayton Peoples

Yosemite National Park is a progressive peak.

It begins in the high country, with pockets of aspen and willows turning, then descends to Yosemite Valley and along the Wawona Road with bigleaf maple and dogwood providing a colorful blend of hot pink and cadmium yellow.

Then, orange black oak and golden cottonwood complete the show from the week before Halloween through the first two weeks of November.

Merced River, Yosemite Valley (11/2/19) Clayton Peoples
Merced River, Yosemite Valley (11/2/19) Clayton Peoples
Merced River, Yosemite Valley (11/2/19) Clayton Peoples

Clayton Peoples was there yesterday (Nov. 2) to confirm that “Yosemite Valley is still sporting peak conditions.”

Yosemite Valley (4,000′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

November 3, 2019/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, Western Sierra

Caught and Released

Native rainbow trout, Merced River, Yosemite NP (10/26/19) Lance Pifer

Color spotter Lance Pifer lost track of how many of Yosemite’s wild rainbow trout he caught and released at 25.

Merced River, Yosemite NP (10/26/19) Lance Pifer
Merced River, Yosemite NP (10/26/19) Lance Pifer
Yosemite NP (10/26/19) Lance Pifer

The best place to net native rainbows is on the Merced River, below Yosemite Valley. A spot favored by park employees is the Cascade Creek picnic area above the Arch Rock entrance station. Walk downstream from the picnic area to find holes little fished by park visitors.

Lance was fishing on the South Fork of the Merced River, four miles upstream from the Wawona Hotel and Illilouette Creek which is a tributary of the Merced. He notes that some really big brown trout can be had on the south fork of the Merced above the main fork.

Other non-natives in the national park, include brook, golden and Lahontan cutthroat trout, but the rainbow are the only native trout.

Lance noted how amazing Yosemite was with color peaking and temperatures in the 80s. That’s changed since he visited. Daytime temperatures are now 40 degrees cooler.

Yosemite NP (10/26/19) Lance Pifer
Half Dome, Yosemite NP (10/26/19) Lance Pifer
Panoramic Trail, Yosemite NP (10/26/19) Lance Pifer
Bigleaf maple, Yosemite NP (10/26/19) Lance Pifer

Best valley fall color is now found among the black oak at Cooks Meadow, near Yosemite Falls.

Yosemite Valley (4,000′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

October 30, 2019/by John Poimiroo

Eastern Sierra, Fall Color Report, Western Sierra

Yosemite Glows, Eastside Snows

Half Dome, Photographer’s Bridge, Yosemite Valley (10/26/19) Benjamin Vu

Bridalveil Fall, Yosemite Valley (10/26/19) Benjamin Vu
Merced River, Yosemite Valley (10/26/19) Benjamin Vu

Black oak have begun to glow in Yosemite Valley, like jack o’ lanterns on All Hallows Eve.

By Halloween and into the first two weeks in November, their leaves will darken to a deep orange. Contrasted against their black trunks and branches, they are California’s Halloween tree.

Southern California color spotter Benjamin Vu captured these images at the beginning of their transition from yellow to orange. Look for the tell-tale black trunks to identify black oak (Quercus Kelloggii). Other trees in Vu’s photos are mostly cottonwood.

Black oak, Yosemite Valley, Yosemite NP (10/27/19) Son Nguyen
Bridalveil Fall, Yosemite Valley, Yosemite NP (10/27/19) Son Nguyen
Dogwood, Wawona Rd., Yosemite NP (10/27/19) Son Nguyen
Dogwood, Wawona Rd., Yosemite NP (10/27/19) Son Nguyen

San Jose color spotter Son Nguyen found it perfect on Saturday, but strong winds and hail arrived on Sunday, stripping oaks of their leaves. He doubts they will last to the coming weekend.

At Fern Spring (Yosemite Valley) trees are bare at the spring, though “dogwood and maple are fantastic from the Pohono Bridge to Bridalveil Fall.”

Son was disappointed to find the bridge closed for construction with a large container on it in a way that would ruin any shot of the bridge. He estimates this area “will last another week, despite the hail.”

El Capitan Meadow was hit hard by the storm and most of the oaks “were done by Sunday afternoon.” Nguyen notes that he’s visited Yosemite Valley many times, but finds, “this is the weirdest year, ever. Usually, black oak are the last to start, but they’re pretty early this year,” though he added, “that makes the whole valley spectacular because of a different mix of colors.”

If there any black oaks remain to peak in the Valley, they likely will be found at Cooks Meadow, below Yosemite Falls, which Nguyen rates as Patchy.

Typically, Cooks Meadow’s peak continues past Halloween for a week or two, but considering the strong winds predicted this week, we will need additional reports from Yosemite spotters to say whether fall color will continue hanging on in the Valley.

Son found the go-to spot to be the Wawona Road near the south entrance of the park (CA-41 – Fishcamp), which he described as “amazing” and that “will last for a while. The dogwood is the best in this area. Strawberry Creek and Bishop Creek along the Wawona Road are also great.”

Round Valley, US 395 (10/27/19) Benjamin Vu

US 395, McGee Creek Canyon (10/27/19) Benjamin Vu
US 395, McGee Creek Canyon (10/27/19) Benjamin Vu

Returning to So. Calif. on Sunday, Oct. 27, Benjamin Vu crossed Tioga Pass to the eastside, then drove south on US 395, finding black cottonwood and black oak at Peak near McGee Creek Canyon as a light snow swirled around his vehicle, while hail was dropping on the westside.

Yosemite Valley (4,000′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
US395 (4,100′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

October 28, 2019/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, Western Sierra

Photogenic Yosemite

Tuolumne Grove of Giant Sequoia, Yosemite National Park (10/18/19) Steve Arita

It may be impossible to take a bad picture of Yosemite National Park. It’s just that beautiful.

Black oak and Merced River, Yosemite National Park (10/18/19) Steve Arita
Merced River, Yosemite National Park (10/18/19) Steve Arita
Southside Drive, Yosemite National Park (10/18/19) Steve Arita
Photographer’s Bridge, Yosemite National Park (10/18/19) Steve Arita
Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park (10/18/19) Steve Arita
Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park (10/18/19) Steve Arita

Steve Arita visited Yosemite Valley last Friday (apologies, this site’s crash delayed posting these) and found the park peaking. Mid October to mid November is when Yosemite is best, so if you go now, even though many of the dogwood and bigleaf maple are past peak, it won’t disappoint.

This is the time for black oak to peak and when their deep orange leaves and contrasting black branches and trunks are lit the Valley scene is breathtaking.

Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

October 25, 2019/by John Poimiroo

Fall Color Report, Western Sierra

Yosemite Autumn

El Capitan, Yosemite National Park (10/18/19) Mark Harding

Mark Harding follows up Gene Miller’s report on the Yosemite pioneer sugar maple with these images of peak native color in Yosemite Valley. More reasons to head to the mountains this weekend.