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Fall Color Report, Los Angeles County

One Left

Malibu Creek State Park (12/2/20) Elliot McGucken

One, lone, peaking sycamore remained at Malibu Creek State Park when Elliot McGucken – moved by its forlorn solitude – memorialized these last days of autumn, proving – as Philip Reedy demonstrated in the previous post – that beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

  • Malibu Creek State Park (450′) – Past Peak, You Missed It.
December 4, 2020/0 Comments/by John Poimiroo
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Fall Color Report, Photography, Shasta Cascade

Still Life

White alder, smooth whiteleaf manzanita, Upper Sacramento River, Conant (12/3/20) Philip Reedy

After these images arrived from the Upper Sacramento River, photographed by Philip Reedy, I accused him of transforming himself from a magazine cover photographer to a gallery photographer.

Oregon ash, Upper Sacramento River, Conant (12/3/20) Philip Reedy

Phil was out on one of his many trips scouting locations and photographing possible covers for fly fishing magazines.

White alder, Upper Sacramento River, Conant (12/3/20) Philip Reedy

Yet, he spent a few moments away from the river to notice these images of autumn waning.

Phil wrote, “I started at Sims Flat for the nice view of Mt Shasta, then on the Castella so see what remained of the colors along the river.  From there I hit Conant and there were a lot of gorgeous leaves along the railroad tracks.  The leaves were all on the ground at the Castle Crags picnic area, but they were fringed with frost and quite lovely.  

“Scott Embrey and I made the drive down to Ash Camp just below the dam on Lake McCloud.  I went mainly went to work on fly fishing pictures, but there were bright orange leaves on the ground everywhere.  This looks like it could be excellent in October, next year.”

  • McCloud River (12/3/20) Philip Reedy
  • McCloud River (12/3/20) Philip Reedy
  • McCloud River, Ash Camp (12/3/20) Philip Reedy
  • McCloud River, Ash Camp (12/3/20) Philip Reedy
  • Upper Sacramento River, Castella (12/3/20) Philip Reedy
  • Upper Sacramento River (12/3/20) Philip Reedy
  • Mt Shasta, Upper Sacramento River, Sims Bridge (12/3/20) Philip Reedy

The area is definitely past peak. Though, as is obvious from Phil’s photographs, even after the forest has dropped nearly all its leaves, there is still life to be found.

For those who must know, the uppermost photograph was taken by a Nikon D850, 1/40 sec at f16, ISO 200, 24-70mm f2.8 lens at 50mm.

  • Upper Sacramento River – Past Peak, You Missed It.
  • McCloud River – Past Peak, You Missed It.
December 4, 2020/0 Comments/by John Poimiroo
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Fall Color Report, Los Angeles County

In the Warm California Sun

Crepe myrtle, Lagostroemia, Bauer Lawn, LA County Arboretum (12/2/20) Frank McDonough

To paraphrase The Ramones, even though the days are short and the nights are long, we’re still out there having fun in the warm California sun.

That’s especially true in Arcadia where cool nights and clear late autumn skies are letting that warm Southern California sun intensify fall color at the LA County Arboretum and Botanic Garden.

There, crepe myrtle and Chinese pistache continue to carry deep red and orange color. A canyon of glowing pencil cactus challenges anyone to pass through it cautiously and red aloe have deepened to their vermillion color and are pushing sepals up in advance of the New Year when hummingbirds will be attracted to their pagoda-like blooms.

  • Crepe myrtle, Lagostroemia, Bauer Lawn, LA County Arboretum (12/2/20) Frank McDonough
  • Pencil cactus, Euphorbia tirucalli, LA County Arboretum (12/2/20) Frank McDonough
  • Chinese pistache, Pistacia chinensis, LA County Arboretum (12/2/20) Frank McDonough
Red aloe, Aloe cameronii, LA County Arboretum and Botanic Gardens (12/2/20) Frank McDonough
  • LA County Arboretum and Botanic Gardens, Arcadia – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
December 3, 2020/0 Comments/by John Poimiroo
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Fall Color Report, Los Angeles County

Seasonal Gifts of Color

Chinaberry, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (12/1/20) Frank McDonough

Backlit and dripping with color, the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Gardens in Arcadia is at its peak. Frank McDonough shares these seasonal gifts of color.

  • Gingko biloba, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (12/1/20) Frank McDonough
  • Meadowbrook Section, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (12/1/20) Frank McDonough
  • Meyberg Falls, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (12/1/20) Frank McDonough
  • Chinese tallow, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (12/1/20) Frank McDonough
  • Snowy egret, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (12/1/20) Frank McDonough
  • Crepe myrtle, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (12/1/20) Frank McDonough
  • Red aloe, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (12/1/20) Frank McDonough
  • Cape chestnut, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (12/1/20) Frank McDonough
  • LA County Arboretum and Botanic Gardens, Arcadia (171′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
December 2, 2020/0 Comments/by John Poimiroo
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Fall Color Report, First Report, San Francisco Bay Area, Southern California

A Colorful Ending

American smoketree (Cotinus obovatus), UC Berkeley Botanical Garden (11/30/20) Sandy Steinman

Weather has been kind to fall color this autumn, allowing it to last and last and last, right to its colorful ending.

  • Japanese maple, UC Berkeley Botanical Garden (11/30/20) Sandy Steinman
  • Japanese maple, UC Berkeley Botanical Garden (11/30/20) Sandy Steinman
  • Cotinus, UC Berkeley Botanical Garden (11/30/20) Sandy Steinman
  • American beautyberry, UC Berkeley Botanical Garden (11/30/20) Sandy Steinman
  • Japanese maple, UC Berkeley Botanical Garden (11/30/20) Sandy Steinman

At the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden, Sandy Steinman found American smoketree (Continus obovatus) brilliantly toned in crimson, orange, green and yellow; American beautyberries robed in purple, and Japanese maple leaves as confections of red, magenta, orange, pink and yellow.

  • Gingko biloba, Conejo Valley Botanic Garden(11/28/20) Kathy Jonokuchi
  • Hong Kong orchid, Conejo Valley Botanic Garden (11/28/20) Kathy Jonokuchi

Similar vibrant display are appearing in Southern California where Kathy Jonokuchi found golden yellow gingko leaves and hot pink Honk Kong orchid at the Conejo Valley Botanic Garden.

Nuttall’s woodpecker, Conejo Valley Botanic Garden (11/28/20) Kathy Jonokuchi
  • Western Sycamore, Sunol Regional Wilderness (11/28/20) Salil Bhatt
  • Valley Oak, Sunol Regional Wilderness (11/28/20) Salil Bhatt
  • Western sycamore, Sunol Regional Wilderness (11/28/20) Salil Bhatt
  • Western Sycamore, Sunol Regional Wilderness (11/28/20) Salil Bhatt

Finally, Salil Bhatt made my day by submitting these images and scoring a First Report for the Sunol Regional Wilderness where valley oak and western sycamore have just crested peak.

Salil points out that the Sunol Regional Wilderness, in the mountains east of Silicon Valley, is one of a few areas where significant collections of winter deciduous native trees can be seen at peak in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Wilderness is east of Milpitas and south of Sunol on Calaveras Rd.

  • UC Berkeley Botanical Garden (171′) – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, You Almost Missed It!
  • Conejo Valley Botanic Garden, Thousand Oaks (886′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
  • Sunol Regional Wilderness, Sunol (500′) – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, You Almost Missed It!
December 1, 2020/0 Comments/by John Poimiroo
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Fall Color Report, Southern California

The Southern Forest

Japanese maple, Descanso Gardens (11/30/20) Julie Kirby

California’s southern forest is cultured, bold and manicured. It is not wild. It is civil. This urban forest is found in parks, arboretums, gardens and neighborhood yards.

Color spotter Julie Kirby reports a SoCal cold snap (overnight temps in the 40s) moved crepe myrtle near her Glendale home from Patchy to Past Peak within a week.

Nearby in La Cañada Flintridge at Descanso Gardens, Japanese maple and crepe myrtle are providing vibrant peak color, but its landmark ginkos are still Patchy.

Descanso is a place where gardens are presented as art. Presently (until Jan. 10), its Wishing Tree made of reclaimed downed oak by artist Kaz Yokou Kitajima allows visitors to participate in making a wish for the new year. Descanso reports they’re on fall color watch with peak appearing in the Rose Garden and near the stream where birch are raining gold.

  • Crepe myrtle, Glendale (11/28/20) Julie Kirby
  • Japanese maple, Descanso Gardens (11/30/20) Julie Kirby
  • Crepe myrtle, Glendale (11/28/20) Julie Kirby
  • Crepe myrtle, Glendale (11/28/20) Julie Kirby
  • Crepe myrtle, Glendale (11/28/20) Julie Kirby
  • Glendale (522′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
  • La Cañada Flintridge (1,188′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
November 30, 2020/0 Comments/by John Poimiroo
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Fall Color Report, Southern California, Wildlife

Monarch Magic

Female Monarch Butterfly, Long Beach (11/27/20) © Steve Shinn

Late autumn is when Monarch magic happens along the California coast. From Presidio Park in San Diego north to Bodega Dunes in Sonoma County, Monarch butterflies establish their winter residences.

Monarch caterpillar and chrysalis, Long Beach (11/27/20) © Steve Shinn
  • Chrysalis, Long Beach (11/27/20) © Steve Shinn
  • Monarch Butterfly, Long Beach (11/27/20) © Steve Shinn

Long Beach color spotter Steve Shinn photographed this lady as she emerged from her chrysalis at his home. Monarchs are amazing creatures. Some migrate as far as 1,000 miles.

California State Parks writes, “The journey is hazardous and many never make it. By November, most are sheltering in trees stretching from the San Francisco Bay Area south to San Diego. Pismo State Beach hosts one of the largest over wintering congregations, varying in numbers from 20,000 to 200,000. The winter monarchs live about six to eight months. On sunny winter days they will fly away from the sheltering trees, searching for nourishment in flower nectar and water to drink. In late February, as the weather turns warm, the great migration north begins.”

“After a flurry of mating, the female Monarchs fly north seeking milkweed plants where they must lay their eggs. Their job done, the winter Monarchs soon die. It would seem as though the migration had come to a halt before it even got under way. This though, is where it gets interesting. The eggs hatch after a few days and the tiny larvae voraciously begin eating milkweed leaves day and night. 

Monarch Butterflies, Santa Cruz (1/15/2006) © John Poimiroo

“Milkweed is the only food the larva can eat but it eats enough to increase its weight 2,700 times in just two weeks. This is equivalent to a human baby growing to the size of a gray whale in just two weeks. Once it’s eaten its fill, the full-grown caterpillar attaches itself to a solid object, sheds its skin, and forms a hard, green and gold colored outer skin, called a chrysalis. For the next two weeks inside the chrysalis, the fat, striped caterpillar rearranges its body’s molecules and then emerges as a beautiful orange and black Monarch butterfly.

“The new summer Monarchs continue to fly farther north, mating, laying their eggs on milkweed, then dying. The summer monarchs only live about 6–8 weeks but each new generation flies farther and farther north, following the growing milkweed. This cycle repeats itself 4–5 times throughout the summer. It is unknown how the successive generations of butterflies inherit the information needed to return to the over wintering sites but with the shortening days of October, the new winter generation of Monarchs does not mate and die but instead migrates south.”

Monarch butterfly populations are declining dangerously. Individuals can help by planting butterfly and pollinator gardens and encouraging the creation of monarch habitats in their communities. CLICK HERE to learn how you can help. To purchase Monarch Butterfly Seed Balls, CLICK HERE.

And, for guidance to places where you can see Monarchs near where you live, CLICK HERE.

  • Monarch Butterfly Migration, California Coast – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
November 30, 2020/0 Comments/by John Poimiroo
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Out of this World

Full Beaver Moon

Full Beaver Moon (11/30/20) John Poimiroo

November’s Beaver Moon is the last full moon of August.

Last night, it coincided with a prenumbral eclipse of the moon. That’s when the moon passes within the Earth’s shadow. A prenumbral eclipse is not as dramatic as a full eclipse of the sun, as the moon only gets a little darker as it passes within the prenumbra (Earth’s shadow).

The Old Farmer’s Almanac tells us that the “Full Beaver Moon” was the term used by native Americans who observed that the November full moon marked when beaver would retreat to their winter lodges, “having laid up sufficient stores of food for the long winter ahead.” It was also the time to trap beaver, as they would have a heavy winter pelt.

I arose early to photograph the full beaver moon and concluded, as I stood in my bathrobe, pajamas and slippers while scanning the western horizon, that surely the moon was named for the beaver, but not because they’d prepared for winter, but because they were smart enough to stay warm and cozy in their lodges and not stupid enough to get up before dawn to look at the moon.

November 30, 2020/0 Comments/by John Poimiroo
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Fall Color Report, Hike of the Week, North Coast

Valley of the Moon

Valley oak, Valley of the Moon, Kenwood (11/29/20) David Laurence Sharp

Jack London loved the Sonoma Valley. He called it the Valley of the Moon. It’s where London planned his dream home, Wolf House, which burned to the ground days before the great outdoor adventure novelist was to occupy it in 1913.

The ruins remain on Sonoma Mountain, above Glen Ellen where Jack London State Historic Park memorializes the California author’s fabled life.

  • Sonoma Valley (

Below, arcing through the crescent-shaped Valley of the Moon, vineyards are now mostly past peak, reports wine country photographer David Laurence Sharp, “though the trees are looking great.”

Blending fascinating history and glorious nature, Jack London State Historic Park offers more than 29 miles of back-country trails that roam through mixed forests, redwood groves, oak woodlands, and grassy meadows.

The four-mile Ancient Redwood Trail loops from the parking lot to a 14-foot wide old growth redwood affectionately known as “the Grandmother tree.”  Two scenic and relatively short historic trails lead to the Wolf House ruins and a tour of London’s Beauty Ranch.

Jack London was one of the most prolific and popular authors of his time, the first to earn a million dollars at his trade.   Many of his books are considered classics, including “Call of the Wild,” “White Fang,” “The Sea Wolf,” and “Martin Eden.” Jack’s Shop offers more than 50 of Jack London’s titles as well as writings about his life, and books by and about his wife, Charmian London.  

While the Park’s indoor facilities – the Museum and Cottage – are currently closed, Jack’s Shop, the park’s gift store, is open outdoors adjacent to the Cottage on weekends from noon to 4 p.m. Park admission fees apply.

Jack London State Historic Park will remain open for holiday shopping and outdoor recreation through the holiday season, Jack London Partners has announced. JLP is the first non-profit organization to manage a state park on behalf of the people of California. For more about visiting the park, CLICK HERE.

  • Sonoma Valley (423′) – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, You Almost Missed It!
November 30, 2020/0 Comments/by John Poimiroo
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Fall Color Report, Shasta Cascade

All The Leaves Are Brown

Mule deer (11/29/20) Robert Kermen

Even a four-point buck can’t find fall color to use as cover in the Shasta Cascade. As, to quote a song I heard somewhere, “All the leaves are brown.”

Aspen (11/29/20) Robert Kermen

Robert Kermen headed north for Thanksgiving Day, sending back these images of the vestiges of fall color in northeast California.

  • Black cottonwood, Mt Shasta (11/29/20) Robert Kermen
  • Mt Shasta (11/26/20) Robert Kermen
  • Aspen (11/29/20) Robert Kermen
  • Shasta Cascade – Past Peak, You Missed It.
November 29, 2020/0 Comments/by John Poimiroo
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CALIFORNIA FALL COLOR MAP:

Mammoth Lakes
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