First Report: Orange County Lives Up To Its Name
Orange County is living up to its name, with orange leaves adding late autumn color to the season.
Son Nguyen visited Chapman University in the City of Orange to find its foliage at peak.
No wonder we rarely get reports from Orange County. Son’s First Report shows that it peaks in December (hand slap to forehead)!
Orange County – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Rain Enhances Color
Winter (er, Fall) storms have been rolling across Northern California of late. This past weekend, Darrell Sano awoke to the sound of pounding rain on his roof.
Likely rolling over in bed and groaning, Darrell awoke later that morning to find Oakland embraced by heavy fog and rain shrouding “all chances of any light passing through the winter (Fall, Darrell) mix”.
The rains continued through the afternoon.
So, did Darrell use the day to check his home for leaks or clear gutters of leaves? No. He did as any great fall color spotter does… he went outside to take photos.
He wrote, “The sky was a giant soft box, gently illuminating leaves in the trees. Leaves knocked down by the rain covered cars, grass, sidewalks, you name it.
“Fall color transported to anything under it! The rain also produced another side effect, coating leaves in a lacquered, shiny surface.”
With the holiday rush in full swing, Oakland neighborhoods were quiet, calm, and speckled with harlequin colors.
Darrell ended his afternoon in the outdoors, soaked to the skin from the constant rain, but having spent one of the most enjoyable Saturday afternoons shooting in and around Oakland.
Oakland – Peak to Past Peak (YOU ALMOST MISSED IT!)
Special Report: Holiday Light Festivals
Often thought of as winter events, most holiday light festivals actually begin in autumn. They’ve become increasingly elaborate, to the point that neighborhood holiday displays and Christmas trees, parades, caroling and ice rinks in town squares now are comparatively small and quaint.
This holiday season, California’s Great America in Santa Clara holds Winterfest, and Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park becomes Knott’s Merry Farm. Both are elaborate holiday-themed shows that cover up to two-thirds of the parks with every imaginable icon of the season.
At Great America, ice skaters swirl in front of the double-decked Carousel Columbia on Snowflake Lake. Snow machines blow flakes into the chill night air; St. Nick is there for family photos; there are live reindeer to pet; Mrs. Claus is in the kitchen preparing cookies; craftsmen create one-of-a-kind gifts; and Charlie Brown’s Tree Lot is just as imagined on TV Christmas specials.
The park is filled with thrills (10 major thrill and children’s rides areas operate) and music… not just the Christmas songs amplified through the park’s sound system, but at performances throughout California’s Great America, with a company of singers and dancers serenading a tree lighting that occurs several times nightly and in festive stage and street shows, called Cool Yule, Holly Jolly Trolly, Jingle Jazz, Mistletones and It’s Christmas Snoopy.
But then Great America and Knott’s are not alone. The Roaring Camp Railroads operates Holiday Lights Trains from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk on Dec. weekends and daily, Dec. 17 – 23. As the trains’ vintage railroad cars, adorned with thousands of colorful lights, roll along the streets of Victorian Santa Cruz, passengers sing holiday carols, sip hot spiced cider and listen to live music as Santa visits. A Chanukah Train leaves on Dec. 29.
The Disneyland Resort in Anaheim holds a number of holiday-themed happenings: the Christmas Fantasy Parade, World of Color, Disney !Viva Natividad!, Santa’s Holiday Visit, many holiday themed shows and (need I say?) Holiday Magic Fireworks.
At the San Diego Zoo, there’s Jungle Bells with millions of twinkling lights and carolers singing above the roars and cries of zoo animals. Even Sea World lights up at Christmas and is home to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and yes, you can compete in reindeer games.
Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia and Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo are transformed into winter wonderlands lit with millions of lights and thrills to scare the jelly right out of Santa’s belly.
In the Central Valley, Global Winter Wonderland at Sacramento’s CalExpo and the Tulare County Fairgrounds are mind-boggling displays of fantasy lands set in lights, plus carnival rides, ice skating and parades.
So, just because little natural fall color remains on the trees (it’s transitioning from peak to past peak along the coast), animated, cheery shows of manmade color are lighting the last days of autumn to the first days of winter, across California.
- Winterfest | California’s Great America, Santa Clara
- Knott’s Merry Farm, Buena Park
- Holiday Lights Train | Roaring Camp Railroads, Felton
- Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Holiday Trains
- Jungle Bells | San Diego Zoo
- Rudolph’s Christmastown | Sea World San Diego
- Holiday in the Park | Six Flags Magic Mountain, Valencia
- Holiday in the Park | Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Vallejo
- Holidays at the Disneyland Resort | Anaheim
- Global Winter Wonderland | Tulare
- Global Winter Wonderland | Sacramento
Holiday Lights Festivals, Statewide – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Yosemite: Snow White, Fairytale Forest
When snow falls in Yosemite Valley when there’s still fall color on the black oak, a fairytale forest appears.
Tracy Zhou captured it yesterday, during a visit to Yosemite Valley where the past weekend’s dusting of snow contrasts beautifully with the last leaves of autumn on the valley’s black oak.
Sadly, some of the color is provided by dead pine trees (killed by bark beetles as a result of the past four years of drought) whose lifeless orange needles still hang to the branches… lovely though discouraging.
Yosemite Valley – Peak to Past Peak – YOU ALMOST MISSED IT!
Avenue of the Giants – Still Giant
Can you believe it?
We couldn’t until we saw these pictures sent by Son H Nguyen.
He spent the Thanksgiving Day weekend along the North Coast and returned with these shots of lingering color beside US 101, the Avenue of the Giants.
There’s even some lime among the coastal redwoods.
And, bigleaf maple are showing atypical color… not just yellow, but rust, lime and gold.
Nguyen’s photos show riparian color beside an Eel River that is swollen with muddy water from recent storms.
In a word, “Gigantic.”
Avenue of the Giants – Peak to Past Peak – YOU ALMOST MISSED IT!
California Fall Color Looks Back at 2016
On this Thanksgiving Day, CaliforniaFallColor.com is thankful to every color spotter and photographer who contributed photographs and reports in 2016.
They include (from first turned leaf reported): LA Leaf Peeper, Darrell Sano, Alena Nicholas, Sandy Steinman, Sweetshade Lane, Chuck Eads, Josh Wray, Anirudh Natekar, Carolyn Webb, Jill Donald, Mark Finan, Eileen Javora, Don Vilfer, Greg Newbry, Jeff Simpson, Jared Smith, Krisdina Karady, Leslie Morris, Shanda Ochs, Gary Young, Dave Olden, Kimberly Kolafa, Clayton Peoples, John Caffrey, Alicia Vennos, Kimberly Wilkes, Bob Weaver, Robert Provin, Sharon Roberts, Debbi Waldear, John Natelli, Vince Piercey, Kevin Lennox, Tim Fesko, Phillip Reedy, Elliott McGucken, Becky, Scott Turner, Naresh Satyan, Max Forster, Mark DeVitre, Daniel Stas, Mike Nellor, Leor Pantilat, Kevin Rose, Julie Kirby, Gigi deJong, Michael Caffey, Abhi Bhaskaran, Andrew Zheng, Laura Zirino, Jan Davies, Jeri Rangel, Lorissa Soriano, Carol Novacek, Nancy Wright, Janet Fullwood, Jim Van Matre, Jeff Luke Titcomb, Marc Hoshovsky, Gene Miller, Raymond Pangilinan, Crys Black, Jeff Hemming, Michael Beatley, Maggie Huang, Wendy Zhou, Danny Hu, Susan Taylor, Tracy Zhou, Gabriel Leete, Frank McDonough, William Croce, Son H Nguyen, Skandar Reid, Dennis Hayes, Anson Davalos, and Ron Tyler, who produced the above video.
We’re also grateful to the many readers who posted photos and reports to our Facebook page (including: Brian Wong, Dave Butler, Pardhiv Kani, Jeff Guillory, Nancy Barron Booher, Mark Grover, Kathy Jonokuchi, Vera Fuad, Cory Poole, Sara Stillwell, Peter Stair, Front St. Media, JT Humphrey, Ray McLaughlin, Rose Comstock, Daklak Foto, Mark Spicer, Tracey Lee Brown, Joel Rathje, Connie Ostlund Varvais, Susan Walker Bell, Cristi Lanepa and Stephen Dietrich) and those who retweeted our Twitter posts (you are too numerous to name).
Special thanks are expressed to Inyo County Tourism, Bishop Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau, Mono County Tourism, Mammoth Lakes Tourism, Redding Convention & Visitors Bureau, Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association, and The California Parks Company for underwriting California Fall Color, and to the many reporters and media who carried our reports and gave attention to what we have shown about California’s fall color.
This list is incomplete without mentioning Joan, my wife, who has researched plant species in reference books; driven the car, pulling it over to the shoulder at my whim, so that I could jump out to photograph a particularly beautiful location; humored my recording of color percentages, species and elevations; pointed out particularly beautiful color; and tolerated my exuberance in excitedly showing her wonderful photographs taken by contributors.
Of course, our deepest thanks go to the many tens of thousands of people who have followed CaliforniaFallColor.com here and on our Facebook and Twitter pages. You are, after all, the reason we do this.
If we missed thanking you here, please know it wasn’t intentional. CaliforniaFallColor.com is indebted to every color spotter, photographer and commenter. Thank you all.
Autumn doesn’t end on Thanksgiving Day. It continues for nearly a month longer. We’ll continue to post photos and reports as received. Though today, we begin to dial back reports, posting them less frequently. We have also stopped issuing weekly reports to California TV meteorologists, travel and outdoor writers.
So, enjoy Thanksgiving Day. See you next autumn, dude.
California (Peak 75-100%) GO NOW! – In our hearts, California is always peaking.
Botanical Friday
Fall color has now descended to see level. See it at the state’s botanical gardens this week.
Bay Area naturalist and color spotter Sandy Steinman visited the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley to find it filled with late blooming South African flowers.
One could almost be convinced that they’re still on a southern hemisphere springtime calendar, from their November blooms. Nah.
The Botanic garden was also full of irridescent Japanese maples, and our favorite ornaments of the season… Beautyberries.
If you’re going this week, the garden closes at 2 p.m. on Wed. and will be closed on Thanksgiving Day.
But then, for fall color shopping pleasure, it reopens the following day, which we call “Orange Friday” (9 a.m. – 5 p.m.) or should we call it “Botanical Friday,” ’cause it sure ain’t black.
UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Poetry Past Peak
There’s poetry in the progression of peak color. At least, when Darrell Sano describes it.
He traveled to Amador County and its Shenandoah Valley near Plymouth this past weekend to pick up a wine club order from one of its great wineries.
Tip: Put the Sierra Foothills wineries on your next wine tasting excursion, as the wineries of El Dorado and Amador Counties are exceptional and many provide tastings without charge.
I had discouraged his optimism, stating I thought Darrell’s trip would be fruitless, other than for the wine tasting, as fall color in the Sierra Foothills was mostly past peak.
After seeing it, he agreed. The Sierra Foothills are past peak, but countered, “like Napa and other wine regions, the leaves are still there, though more rustic, leathery, with an ochre-rust color. But these leaves past peak display texture, character, and perhaps a glimpse of time constantly in motion.
“The rains have now created areas of highly saturated grass, and the green grass against warm leaves is spectacular. Perhaps the vines are past peak, but the rains have created peak grass!”
Good photographers are never disappointed by the weather. They find beauty in it, as did Darrell.
He reported the stormy sky to be “interesting,” providing “a different feel for photography” with “diffused light without the harsh contrasts found on a sunny day.
“It felt very much like a typical fall color day, and I enjoyed the vistas from the various wineries perched on hills on Shenandoah Road. These photos are all from that road, and enjoyed tasting the great wines from this unique region,” he reported.
Fall Color in the Fog
Fall color intensifies in flat, overcast light, created by a foggy or rainy sky.
Oakland color spotter Darrell Sano was up in the Napa Valley yesterday, as rain swept across Northern California.
He returned with these bright images of fresh green grass and fully turned grape leaves, scenes similar to what Tracy Zhou captured during the previous week’s storm.
Darrell found the “intense, lush green that now blankets the vineyard floor” to be “striking” and contrasting “with what’s left of the reds and yellows on the vines.”
High winds lashed parts of the north state, though wind only strips what was ready to fall.
Leaves in the process of ascission often remain hanging.
Clouds and fog that “hung low among the trees… never did provide definition beyond a gray “softbox” of a sky. Nevertheless, the scenery was beautiful, subdued, and introspective.”
Darrell found beauty by searching “the many dead-end lanes that are perpendicular to the highly trafficked route 29 and Silverado Trail.”
Napa Valley – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Special Report: Death of the Sierra
Nearly 70 million trees have died in the Sierra Nevada.
29 million died last year, alone.
When the setting sun illuminates the dead trees (mostly pine), as seen in Anson Davalos’ photographs, their orange glow almost resembles fall color.
It is a false beauty. There is no attraction in what has happened to the Sierra Nevada.
The death of its pine forest has followed four years of drought and 100 years of fire suppression which, together, have resulted in an overgrown forest that competes with itself for water, making it susceptible to high temperature fires and insect infestations.
Parched pines, unable to emit sap, have been defenseless against bark beetles, and the beetles have had a feast.
The death of the forest is most evident in the southern Sierra. Though, the infestation has been advancing northward. And, foresters are unsure where or when it will stop.
The forest will restore itself in 200 years, but we don’t have that long. That’s because California depends on the Sierra Nevada watershed for 60% of its water.
Unless the forest is thinned, more trees will die and the watershed will suffer.
Restoring the watershed will require heavy investment ($500 million per year), in order to log the forest, process the timber and convert it into bioenergy (it’s basically useless as lumber).
CLICK HERE to read more about the problem and possible solutions.