Paramount Ranch, Not “The End”
Last year, the Woolsey Fire roared through the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, incinerating the historic Paramount Ranch film location. At the time, many thought the park’s closing credits would declare “The End” for Paramount Ranch.
However, on a visit this week, Kathy Jonokuchi found that the National Park Service, with help from motion picture studios and the public, plans to rebuilt its Western Town, to be used again in television, commercial and feature films.
Paramount Ranch had served as a film location, since 1927. All that remains of Paramount’s sets are the Western Town’s train station and church (seen in the HBO series, Westworld). Click to enlarge photos.
Church, Western Town, Paramount Ranch, Santa Monica Mountains NRA (11/18/19) Kathy Jonokuchi 
Western Town, Paramount Ranch, Santa Monica Mountains NRA (11/18/19) Kathy Jonokuchi 
Western Town, Paramount Ranch, Santa Monica Mountains NRA (11/18/19) Kathy Jonokuchi
Gone are sets once used to film the TV series Cisco Kid (1950s), Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman (1990s) and countless feature films, TV commercials, videos and photo shoots.
The magnificent Valley oak that grew in the middle of the set had been rumored to have budded this past spring, though it is a charcoal remnant of the great tree it once was (seen above).
Kathy found that many of the trees had succumbed to the combination of drought and the fire. Though there’s still life in the now stark landscape surrounding Paramount Ranch.
Acorn woodpecker, Santa Monica Mountains NRA (11/18/19) Kathy Jonokuchi 
California scrub jay, Santa Monica Mountains NRA (11/18/19) Kathy Jonokuchi 
Nanday conures, Santa Monica Mountains NRA (11/18/19) Kathy Jonokuchi
The park still had “plenty of songbirds and raptors … Nanday conures and an acorn woodpecker” seen storing acorns for his winter cache.
Paramount Ranch can’t claim a happy ending, though it’s not entirely a downer, either. Nature is recovering, and with a helping hand, the national recreation area’s legacy as a film location will recover, as well.
- Paramount Ranch, Santa Monica Mountains NRA – Patchy (10-50%) – there is not a lot of fall color. Though, what’s there inspires hope.
Cupertino Gold
DeAnza College, Cupertino (11/15/19) Deepa Yvaraj 
DeAnza College, Cupertino (11/15/19) Deepa Yvaraj 
DeAnza College, Cupertino (11/15/19) Deepa Yvaraj
Cupertino has been producing high tech gold for decades. Now Gingko biloba are littering the home of Apple Corporation with fallen gold.
Deepa Yuvaraj writes she’s been sharing pictures of Silicon Valley fall color with friends for years, though just discovered CaliforniaFallColor.com, perhaps because of The Merc’s review (previous post).
Perhaps someone who works at Apple would take pictures with an iPhone of fall color inside the Apple Park campus ring. It would sure be fun to post them.
- Cupertino (72′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
San Jose Mercury Urges “GO NOW!”
Reviewing the state of fall color in the San Francisco Bay Area, the San Jose Mercury urges readers to “GO NOW!”
CLICK HERE to read the Merc’s report, and Go Now!
Mass Ascension
Birders and photographers stood on a platform at the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge in the chill morning air yesterday.
Most were regulars. They visit the refuge almost daily with their spotting scopes, binoculars and long lenses.
“An eagle must have spooked them,” one of the photographers said, as swirling white and grey specks rose above a line of orange-black oaks in the distance.
Lenses turned as one as one of several mass ascensions seen that morning approached. At first, I shot with my Nikkor 200 to 500 mm lens on a D850, then shifted from the big gun to a separate body with a Nikkor 24 to 70 mm on a D700.
By the time the snow and Ross geese arrived, I’d dialed down the lens to 24 mm. Phil Reedy stood nearby, doing the same.
Geese circled above us in great, flapping, squawking wonder. I got off a couple of dozen frames on motor, then thought, “Enjoy the moment” and put down the camera to just be enthralled by the beauty of being immersed in the experience.
- Colusa NWR – Peak Migration – Snow geese, Ross geese, various ducks and other migratory fowl.
Snow and Ross geese, Colusa NWR (11/22/19) John Poimiroo 
Eurasian Widgeon, Colusa NWR (11/22/19) John Poimiroo 
Pintail ducks, Colusa NWR (11/22/19) John Poimiroo 
Snow and Ross geese, Colusa NWR (11/22/19) John Poimiroo 
Snow geese, Colusa NWR (11/22/19) John Poimiroo
Visions of Sweet Gums
Chinese pistache, Pistacia chinensis, Santa Clara (11/20/19) Anson Davalos 
Flowering pear, Pyrus calleryana, Campbell (11/20/19) Anson Davalos 
Chinese pistache, Pistacia chinensis, Santa Clara (11/20/19) Anson Davalos 
Sweetgum, Liquidambar, Los Gatos (11/20/19) Anson Davalos
At a time when visions of sugar plums dance in childrens’ heads, Anson Davalos sends visions of Sweetgums, Flowering pear and Chinese pistache from Silicon Valley.
- Los Gatos – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- Santa Clara – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
A Cornucopia of Color
Oak Glen is displaying a cornucopia of color.
Though the San Bernardino Mountains apple-growing area is at an elevation of 4,734′, fall color still looks good and should stay at peak until Thanksgiving Day, SoCal color spotter Alena Nicholas estimates.
She was there on Monday taking pictures and being interviewed by Spectrum News for Californiafallcolor.com.
Alena reports that Oak Glen’s ponds, woods and orchards are still full of bright color. Deer have settled into the orchards as they wait for the inevitable apple to fall from an upper branch.
Oak Glen was California’s first apple harvest destination. Its farms and shops are famous for their homebaked apple pastries, nature trails, handmade gifts, harvest atmosphere, honest family fun and fresh-pressed cider.
And yes, there’s still time to order a ready-to-bake apple pie before Thanksgiving Day.
Mule deer rest in an apple orchard, Oak Glen (11/18/19) Alena Nicholas 
Liquidambar, Oak Glen (11/18/19) Alena Nicholas 
Chinese pistache, Oak Glen (11/18/19) Alena Nicholas 
Chinese pistache, Oak Glen (11/18/19) Alena Nicholas 
Red oak, Oak Glen (11/18/19) Alena Nicholas 
Oak Glen (11/18/19) Alena Nicholas 
Oak Glen (11/18/19) Alena Nicholas 
Oak Glen (11/18/19) Alena Nicholas
- Oak Glen (4,734′) – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, YOU ALMOST MISSED IT.
Angelic San Gabriel
Liturgy describes St. Gabriel (San Gabriel in Spanish) as the archangel of judgment. If so, then color spotter Steve Shinn judges the West Fork of the San Gabriel River as absolutely angelic.
Steve volunteers for the U.S. Forest Service, capturing the beauty of San Gabriel National Forest and people enjoying it. As such, he visits the area regularly and writes he would vote the West Fork of the San Gabriel River, which connects CA-39 above Azusa, as one of the most beautiful spots in the San Gabriel Mountains.
W Fork San Gabriel River (11/17/19) Steve Shinn 
San Gabriel NF (11/9/19) Steve Shinn 
W Fork San Gabriel River (11/17/19) Steve Shinn
- W. Fork San Gabriel River – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW or YOU MISSED IT.
Tech Boom
Palo Alto and Mountain View on the San Francisco Peninsula are experiencing another boom … the fall color kind.
Landmark gingko biloba and Liquidambar are carpeting Mountain View neighborhoods with yellow and pink leaves and Palo Alto is aglow at dusk with orange.
Gingko biloba, Mountain View (11/17/19) Vishal Mishra 
Liquidambar, Mountain View (11/17/19) Vishal Mishra
Gingko biloba, Mountain View (11/17/19) Vishal Mishra 
Palo Alto (11/16/19) Vishal Mishra
- San Francisco Peninsula (30′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Sherwood Forest Peaks
Peak color is being seen at Sherwood Forest, surrounding Lake Sherwood near Westlake Village, not Nottingham, England.
Nonetheless, this is truly where Robin Hood and his merry men once lived. Wayne Gretzky also lived there. Lake Sherwood was so named because two films starring Errol Flynn were partly filmed there in 1922 and 1938. A community eventually formed around the lake.
Male Bufflehead, Lake Sherwood (11/17/19) Kathy Jonokuchi 
Acorn woodpeckers, Lake Sherwood (11/17/19) Kathy Jonokuchi 
Cackling Goose, Lake Sherwood (11/17/19) Kathy Jonokuchi 
Spotted Sandpiper, Lake Sherwood (11/17/19) Kathy Jonokuchi
Southern California color spotter Kathy Jonokuchi was among Audubon Society birders who were invited to visit the exclusive neighborhood to observe over 60 species of wintering birds there. Click to enlarge.
Ringing Lake Sherwood, she found Western sycamore, cottonwood and valley oak, not the Sheriff of Nottingham’s men.
- Lake Sherwood, Westlake Village (879′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Because this is a private community, you can’t actually go now. The closest similar fall color would likely be seen surrounding Malibu Lake.
Leaf Sunday
Everyone ought to have a leaf Sunday.
It’s a Sunday drive just to see peaking leaves. Mine was spent on a route I’ve taken many times with stops in El Dorado Hills, Folsom, Fair Oaks and Sacramento.
Brown’s Ravine, Folsom Lake SRA, El Dorado Hills (11/17/19) John Poimiroo 
Brown’s Ravine, Folsom Lake SRA, El Dorado Hills (11/17/19) John Poimiroo 
Toyon, Brown’s Ravine, Folsom Lake SRA, El Dorado Hills (11/17/19) John Poimiroo
El Dorado Hills has trees yet to turn, but more than half have dropped leaves, so it’s between peak and past peak. Fremont cottonwood and Toyon are nearing the end of their peak at Folsom Lake SRA; and landmark Fremont cottonwood at Mormon Island Wetlands are at peak and crowed with bright yellow.
Fair Oaks Park (11/17/19) John Poimiroo 
Fair Oaks Park (11/17/19) John Poimiroo 
Fair Oaks Park (11/17/19) John Poimiroo
Fair Oaks Park is nearing the end of peak. The approaching storm is likely to remove whatever color is still hanging, and the village’s chickens seemed to know a storm is approaching, as they were crowing anxiously.
University Arboretum, CSU Sacramento (11/17/19) John Poimiroo 
Fox Squirrel, CSU Sacramento (11/17/19) John Poimiroo 
Dawn Redwood, CSU Sacramento (11/17/19) John Poimiroo 
Linden, CSU Sacramento (11/17/19) John Poimiroo 
Quince, CSU Sacramento (11/17/19) John Poimiroo 
Osage Orange CSU Sacramento (11/17/19) John Poimiroo 
Witch Hazel, CSU Sacramento (11/17/19) John Poimiroo
The University Arboretum was mostly past peak, though lovers didn’t mind. They sat on benches in quiet corners of the arboretum, ignoring arguments between squirrels, as they whispered to one another and kissed.
Along the Fabulous Forties in east Sacramento (avenues numbered in the 40s), large dumps of leaves from towering London plane trees planted near the curbs have littered the avenues. Owners of these stately homes are out each weekend, blowing, raking and sweeping the detritus into piles to be hauled away by city workers.
I happened upon Holly and her daughter who were rushing to blow a week’s fall of folioles, so that party guests would have room to park along the curb that night.
There was autumn in the air in downtown Sacramento. Couples dressed in sweatshirts and light sweaters, even though temps were in the low 70s.
The constant fall of leaves from the city’s canopy of color (see “Rollin’ Thru SacTown” posted earlier today), makes Sacramento seem like it should be colder than it is. Perhaps that will change this week, as snow in the Sierra is predicted.
Leaf-dressed picnics, touch football, golf and Sunday strolls were happening at William Land Park, and I closed my Leaf Sunday Drive stopping at the Freeport Bakery to purchase a couple of … what else? Leaf Cookies.
- El Dorado Hills (768′) – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, YOU ALMOST MISSED IT.
- Mormon Island Wetlands Reserve (372′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- Folsom (220′) – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, YOU ALMOST MISSED IT.
- Fair Oaks (174′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- CSU Arboretum – Sacramento (30′) – Past Peak, YOU MISSED IT.
- Fabulous Forties – Sacramento (30′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- Downtown – Sacramento (30′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- William Land Park – Sacramento (30′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!