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Carol Leigh
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©Carol Leigh |
FALL
COLOR
IN CALIFORNIA
NOTE: Tioga Pass (Route 120 through Yosemite over to Highway 395) may, from time to time this fall, close because of snow. You can call (800) GAS-ROAD and key in "120" to check road conditions before you go. Online, click http://www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads.cgi Yosemite - 11/8/2011 - Patrick May reports: I drove to Yosemite last Friday, Nov. 4. Although it snowed on me as I drove along Highway 120, the route was full of bright colors at every turn. The valley floor, too, was a winter wonderland still tangled up in fall colors. The stark contrasts between the bright autumnal foliage and the snowy woods, half-frozen waterfalls and ice-tinged cliff walls was spectacular. And I'd be willing to bet that Yosemite will be just as colorful and gorgeous next weekend. Sonoma/Napa - 11/3/2011 - Luda Fiske reports: Fall color is nearing peak in Sonoma and Napa County vineyards. It's like a five foot tall Vermont forest in places and you can find maples along the Russian River and various creeks. It makes for a fun day of shooting with lots of good places to eat and drink. Eastern Sierra - 10/29/2011 - Ben Cheah reports: Hi Carol, I was in Bishop visiting for the day, looking for fall color. We drove 168 west to Lake Sabrina and found the place to be was Aspendell. North Lake was mostly blown out except for a tiny patch. Eastern Sierra - 10/26-28/2011 - Monsieur Duncan Carter writes: Carol, milady: October 26 – via Ebbetts and Monitor passes to Topaz Lake. Dogwood at Calaveras Big Trees 50% pink. Monitor pass - large grove of aspens, all green on October 8, all bare on October 26. October 27 – via 395 to Bishop. Golden and green aspens on route 395 north of Mono Lake. Canyon approaching Virginia Lakes mostly bare. Grove at Jordan Basin road, all yellow October 7, bare as expected. Lundy Lake, some golden patches, mostly bare. Lee Vining Canyon, 1-2 small golden groves near the east entrance. Many aspens green, but green leaves are dull, not shiny, and mixed with black leaves. West end bare. Sagehen Meadows road, green on October 7, bare except for many remaining black leaves. McGee Creek, golden aspens at the entrance, yellow upstream mostly willows. June Lake area, lots of gold around Grant and Silver Lakes. Rock Creek, a few golden aspens, some copper-colored. Yellows in Aspendell. Bishop Creek canyon, some golden, some bare. North Lake over, as expected; no tunnel. Some color approaching Sabrina Lake. South Lake with scattered golden aspens, upper elevations bare. October 28 – on route 395 just north of Bishop, huge cottonwoods, yellow above and green below. Tioga Pass road, a few pink dogwoods on the western slope at about 4,500 feet. Malibu Creek State Park - 10/28/2011 - Reported by Judy Samad : Visited Malibu Creek State Park on 10/22/2011. It has some beautiful hints of fall even in So California. It was very nice hiking around weather was perfect. Hope Valley - 10/25/2011 - D. Tomick writes: On Tuesday, October 25, Fall color was at its peak in Hope Valley and the Markleevilee area. However, a strong breeze Monday night knocked down a lot of the Aspen leaves before they had a chance to turn red. Some of the dirt roads North of Highway 88 in Hope Valley offered a little shelter from the winds and I managed a few good shots of the remaining fall color. Great website...thanks...keep up the good work. Hope Valley - 10/26/2011 - Mike Courtney reports: Hi, Carol... Went up to Hope Valley on 10/22. I've never seen the amount of aspen color there that I saw this trip. I think it was just about at peak. I'd estimate the color at about 95% peak in the area. Saw aspens that I never knew were there before. Sorensen's was fabulous as well. Thanks for running this site. It's really helped out on photo trips. Eastern Sierra - 10/26/2011 - Warren Hyde reports: Hi Carol. I just returned from three days at Convict Lake, 10/23-10/25. The color is fading fast there. The wind pretty much denuded the trees during our three day stay. There is a still spots of color up the other canyons but the winds are taking their toll. Upper Rock creek is basically gone. There are a couple of good stands below Eastfork but the road was covered with leaves (it made a nice shot). Lower Rock Creek road still has some nice colors. The flats north of Bishop are just short of peak- lots of green in the Cottonwoods mixed with yellows. Aspendell had good color but above that is mostly bare. Very little color around Sabrina, North and South Lakes. June Lake loop is definitely past peak. Still some color on the trees but they are getting thin on leaves and there are vast stands of aspens with no leaves at all. Lundy Canyon had a few stands of aspens looking good as did Lee Vining canyon along the Poole Power Plant Rd. The cottonwoods near Mono Lake are just starting to turn. Conway summit is just past peak- still fabulous color there. Spots of color north of Bridgeport on 395. Monitor pass is gone but there are a few stands on the west side of the pass that look nice. I’m not saying it’s too late to go (I took over a thousand shots) but you better not delay and expect that you will have to hunt a bit for nice shots a little more than a week ago. 10/25/2011 - Eastern Sierra - Dave Stelmach reports: I just returned from the Sierras on Sunday with my travel buddy Ken. South Lake is blown out but lower altitudes are still golden. North lake, Sabrina looking east, McGee creek and even parts of Convict lake were still yellow/gold. We got so many great shots it will be a while before we get them processed. Love your blog. 10/25/2011 - Eastern Sierra - Ann Turner reports: Things must be changing fast. I see a report from 10/23 mentioned good color in Lee Vining Canyon. We had also spotted very good color from the highway on our way to Mammoth Lakes 10/19, but we didn't drive up the canyon. We thought we'd catch it on our way back home 10/24. But alas, there were 50% or more completely bare trees in the canyon. It was quite windy, with many leaves skittering up the road. 10/24/2011 - Eastern Sierra - John Moore reports: Friday 10/21: Convict Lake was past peak; talked to one couple who said that if you hiked up back behind Convict Lake, there was a nice spot. Saturday 10/22: Silver Lake in peak color but lots of missing leaves from the wind they had; June Lake had some nice color at the far end (in town); Gull Lake had two spots of decent color, but again the trees were not full of leaves... only partially; Grant Lake in the back corner (marshy) had some color, but nothing to get excited about; there were two pretty nice road tunnels on June Lake Loop--one near Silver Lake (by the little park with parking lot) and one near the marshy end of Grant Lake. Some colors on the big hillside between Silver Lake and Grant Lake, but nothing to get too excited about; the far end of Parker Lake had some color, but past peak; great colors at various places during the hike up to Parker Lake and on the road to the Parker Lake trailhead. Sunday 10/23: Fabulous yellow-oranges just down from Aspendell... and didn't have time to explore Bishop any further than that! 10/23/2011 - Eastern Sierra - Greg from Laguna Hills writes: Hi Carol. A quick report on the Eastern Sierra for 10-23-2011. The June Lake loop is somewhat past prime. Still a lot of color, but fading. Route 120 towards the Tioga Pass near 395 has some good color on the south side. Best of all was Conway Summit, north of the summit. It is probably just past peak but the colors are outstanding (reds, yellows and golds) and in broad swaths. Thanks for this great site. 10/23/2011 - Eastern Sierra - Matt from San Francisco writes: Sorry for being terse, as I'm on my phone: 10/21-Trail above Twin Lakes west of
Bridgeport generally past its prime but still some pockets at prime.
Maybe a few more days left. Thanks!! 10/23/2011 - Eastern Sierra, Hope Valley and Monitor Pass - Jason Branz from Sacramento writes: On Saturday 10/22 I checked out the June Lakes Loop in the morning. The sun lit up Silver Lake by the time I got there around 8 a.m., and it was fantastic. Plenty of color along the resort side of the lake, light wind, and a beautiful swirling mist on the lake surface kept me busy for about 2 hours. The color was great along the entire loop, but lots of leaves were swirling around so it may not last. From there I went back north to Monitor Pass to meet up with a coworker. We spent about an hour in the big grove at the top, where there was plenty of beautiful color, but quite a few bare trees were apparent. Not far west of the summit, the road curves sharply and passes through a small aspen grove that was at peak with very few bare trees. Lots of color at the bottom of the pass too. The river along 88 between Woodfords and Sorensen's was very productive for us as we climbed down to the river from a side road and photographed the river and yellow trees for a good 2 hours or so. From there we went up to Sorensen's where the trees were glowing in the late afternoon light, then farther up 88 to the little cabin. The trees around the cabin also glowed with the light (4:30 p.m. or so), but there were quite a few bare trees and the color wasn't as intense as I remember from last year. That's it from me...hope everyone had or will have good light! 10/22/2011 - Hope Valley - Pekka Liemola reports: The colors are at the peak . If you wait for an other week it is most likely too late. Here is some samples what you can find now. http://www.placerart.com/Nature/Fall-Colors-2011-Hope-Valley/19674930_N79sqq#1543528642_nLCd9vc 10/21/2001 - Eastern Sierra - Jason Branz reports: Headed out from Sacramento this morning for a whirlwind fall color trip. Descending Luther Pass on 89 was very colorful. Turning left on 88, Sorensen's was pretty, and the river canyon had some great yellows. Right on 89 through Markleeville and up Monitor Pass was very colorful as well. There is a big stand of aspens just west of the summit that really glows in the morning light. The big groves at the top are awesome and I'll be spending lots of time there tomorrow. Conway Summit really amazed me. I'm usually too early for peak there, so this was the first time I've seen it this colorful. There are some bare trees, but there are some greens too. Everything else is yellow and orange and the snow-tipped peaks make this a great view. Be careful of the traffic! Lundy was nice but the leaves were falling fast. The color near the first beaver pond is at peak, but past that it's looking past peak to me. The lower canyon and around the lake looked nice and I'll check them out tomorrow. I hiked to Parker Lake as well, and there are lots of bare trees along the trail. Down in the creek canyon though the aspens are absolutely on fire. Access is tough, at least from the trail. The big grove on the far side of the lake is about 70% bright gold and 30% bare. Mid-morning light works well. June Lake Loop was very colorful but it was mainly in shadow by the time I got done hiking so I'll check it out tomorrow. It's beautiful over here right now for sure! 10/21/2001 - Eastern Sierra - This from Molesworth: Returning from 3 day trip staying at June Lake: 18 Oct 19 Oct Near the north end of the June Lake Loop (by Grant Lake), we ventured up a gravel road, rough in spots, to the Palmer Lake trail. Here we found several stands with yellows and oranges at or near peak. Worth the detour. Lundy Canyon: At peak. Nice around the lake and one stand, closer to 395, was spectacular. Hurry. Virginia Lakes: Well past peak; trees mostly bare except for one stand, at peak, on the left as you start up the road to the lake. Except for that stand, don’t bother. Conway Summit: Spectacular. Just to the west of 395. Sweeping views and excellent near peak colors of gold, orange and some green (as yet). 20 Oct Green Creek: Turned out to be the best find of the trip. Stunning color and panoramic views. It's a gravel road, sometimes rough. Watch for a fork in the road at about mile 8, take hard right turn to get to Green Creek. We didn't have the time to explore around Bishop, but heard that Twin Lakes and Lake Sabrina were worth a look. Further north we'd say June Lake Loop and Green Creek were best bets and Convict Lake and Virginia Lakes could be skipped. 10/20/2011 - SF to Mammoth Lakes - Ann Turner reports: We traveled from the SF Bay Area to Mammoth Lakes via Highway 120 on Wednesday, 10/19. The dogwoods shortly after the Yosemite entrance station were glowing. The views from the Tioga Pass Road down into Lee Vining canyon showed about 90% yellow. There were huge swaths of color, with quite a bit of orange, along the slopes visible from 395, starting at the 120/395 turnoff down through June Lake. Approaching the Mammoth Lakes turnoff, we could see more patches of color, and the S-curve along Laurel Creek is probably 70% color. I think we picked the right time to come, thanks to notes from everyone. Today we'll get "up close and personal." 10/20/2011 - Mono Basin to Monitor Pass - Jim and Catie report: Good Morning We just returned from a 3-day trip (Oct 16-18) from Mono Basin to Monitor Pass. The color was beautiful. A small fraction of the trees had lost their leaves while a similar portion was still green, and the majority in brilliant colors...it would seem that the color is at its peak. The broad groves between Hwy 395 and Dunderberg Peak, north of Conway Summit, were beautiful. Many nice views along the Green Creek-Dunderberg Meadow Road. Monitor Pass has bright golden groves, and some groves tinged with crimson. Black cottonwood and willows are adding color too. There is no reason to wait to see spectacular color in the central Eastern Sierras. 10/20/2011 - Hope Valley - Jeff Utberg reports: Hi Carol, Visited Hope Valley today via Luther Pass to check out conditions for the 22 October Sacramento Sierra Club fall colors hike I'll be leading (shameless plug). In short, the entire Hope Valley and Luther Pass area is at peak! Golds, oranges and reds everywhere. Don't remember seeing a single green tree. Some bare/black stands here and there. The show has started and won't last much longer, so get up there now! 10/19/2011 - Carson Pass to Woodfords - Jack reports: Yesterday drove Hwy 88 from Carson Pass to the town of Woodfords. Found spectacular color in the aspens around Hope Valley, Caples Lake, & Red Lake. Don't miss it. May last for another week. 10/19/2011 - Eastern Sierra - Leticia reports: Hi Carol: I just returned from 3 days in the Eastern Sierras, and color most everywhere was stunning. Especially at the entire June Lake Loop, and also in and around all the Lee Vining campgrounds that line the end of Tioga Pass. I camped at Lower Lee Vining, and when driving towards the 395 on the Tioga Pass, some great color is to be seen on the right behind the Ranger's station. Color along the creek part of the 158 was spectacular everywhere, and so also at the mountains across the street. Lundy Canyon was also beautiful, but not as impressive as the June Lake Loop, I thought. Most areas are past peak, and heavy winds on Sunday made sure that leaves were dropping fast. Lakes and streams were full with leaves! A few areas were still mostly green, so it is quite a mix out there this year. I would say for anyone to go now, rather than wait. Like Jennifer said previously, it won't be more than about 5 days now and the brilliant yellows will be gone. 10/17/2011 - Eastern Sierra - Jennifer reports: Hi there, I have been watching your site for the last 2 weeks for our impending Eastern Sierras trip. We drove up on Friday 10/14 and stayed on June Lake loop. I was surprised to see so much color on account of the naysayers reporting in about 0-15% in that area. I have never been to the northern eastern sierras (beyond Lone Pine) so this is a new experience for me. But the loop was all yellow... brilliant banana yellows and most of it was starting to shift to that beautiful tangerine color. The hillside groves were decidedly orange, maybe due to higher altitude. There was hardly any lime green left, but if you believe the reports there was a LOT of green - just not so! The best color concentration was around Silver Lake. Convict lake was beautiful but again, mostly that brilliant banana yellow. And weren't there reports of convict being at 75% color? It was no different than June lake. 395 had decent color, enough to warrant pulling over for some photography at several points along the highway above Bishop. I give the areas about another week for peak color. Wish we could come back but it was a 6.5 hour drive from orange county. Thank you for posting! I have been watching for the daily updates. I will be posting pictures soon from our trip at flickr.com/jadedjennifer ... possibly tonight or tomorrow evening. 10/17/2011 - Eastern Sierra - Georges Pelpel reports: Thanks for your site Carol, it has been a wonderful resource year after year to help prepare our trip to the other side of the Sierra. I led a small group from the Contra Costa Camera Club to the Easter Sierra this last weekend. The original plan was for the previous weekend but after reports of late season start we pushed it one week. Good because we wouldn't have been able to cross the mountains due to the passes closures after the early snow storm. 10/15: We started in Bishop Creek, the trees along the road below the junction with South Lake road are still very green but it got interesting above. North Lake at sunrise was not as spectacular as last year but still a pretty site with the snowy peaks as a background (granted you crossed the creek on the south east side corner of the lake. The trees along the road both at the start of North Lake road and before the parking lot were at peak. The grove below Lake Sabrina was in good shape but we preferred to spend time on the dam shooting at the beautiful landscape. The grove above the lake on the north west slopes displayed rich variety of colors from light greens to oranges, reds, and yellows. Add a blur sky with some puffy clouds and it made for nice postcard shots. Intake Lake was a peak. We shot from the road and had fun with a couple fishermen at perfect locations to complement our compositions. A flock of birds flying back and forth added some action. The scenery above the lake looking toward the west was also gorgeous. The most spectacular of the area was the South Lake road starting at the waterfall and below Weir pond. The hills on the south side of the road were spectacular. You had to wait for the proper light though as some thick clouds started to render the area blend in an instant. The key was to wait for openings between clouds. A good reminder of why reports vastly vary from one person to another for the same day, light on the trees make for huge differences. We had the best results with backlit leaves when the sun was shining and front lit trees when clouds hid the sun. Rock Creek was a bit of a disappointment. The lower part was in good shape, a lot of yellow but the upper part near and above the lake was mostly gone with brown leaves, the results of the previous weekend snow. June Lake loop was turning nicely, still a some green trees so next weekend should be great. We had a heck of a good time concentrating on a grove just north of the Silver Lake campgrounds. Beautiful trees with rich hues of gold and orange in front of the snowy mountain top and the waterfall. Exquisite. 10/16: After a glorious sunrise above Mono Lake we headed to Lundy Canyon. The trees along the road below the dam were at peak, beautiful scenery along the creek. The pond areas were also in very nice shape but it was kind of windy and leaves were dropping in abundance. Most trees could be bare next weekend along the loop at the trail head. We briefly stopped at Conway Summit on our way back home. It was too spectacular to miss. The mix of very rich hues was very impressive especially when clouds were passing. 10/16/2011 - Eastern Sierra - Bessie and Jerry Reece report: Spent the last four days (Oct 12-16) chasing fall color in the Bishop Creek area, Rock Creek, Mc Gee Creek, June Lake Loop, Lundy Canyon, Lee Vining Canyon, Conway Summit area and the road into Virginia Lake. It is much the same everywhere with such a wide spread from over the hill to just beginning to turn. Every place we went with the exception of North Lake, Virginia Lake, the upper reaches of Rock Creek and the upper reaches of Lundy Canyon have plenty for the photographer. Our best images are from the Bishop Creek - South Lake Road, Aspendell, the pond below Sabrina, Rock Creek and Mc Gee Creek. It will generally be localized small clumps and not generally broad vistas that will catch the photographers’ attention. It seems to be turning fast so don’t wait too long. Aspendell, the June Lake Loop, parts of Lundy Canyon and Lee Vining Canyon has a slightly higher percentage of trees with still a lot of green still, however those leaves looked very dry and I assume should turn very shortly if wind doesn’t do them in. 10/13/2011 - Eastern Sierra - "Jupiter" reports: Hi all, I stayed in Bishop from October 8th to the 12th. Strange year, nothing like last... so far. Very confused with reports I’m reading on other sites based on what I saw. But here is what I see and think. LOTS of greens everywhere with a mix of color here and there. The higher elevations had some nice patches and were turning quickly for the better... but still felt early to me. North lake is a giant mix. The grove up the mountainside was browns and greens… I imagine the cold storm that came thru burned up what color had started just before I arrived. Fortunately it was all starting to turn again by the time I left, especially the leaf tunnel. But overall it was a real mixed bag. Hard to use the word peak when you see so many green aspens. South lake was still at least a week…. Maybe two away from full blown glory, I’m guessing. What I can say is there was a LOT OF GREEN, I'll stress the word A LOT, enough so that I just drove thru and hardly pulled out my camera… although I’m sure there were shots available….. I just decided to wait, as I’ve seen this place pop before in years past. Lake Sabrina was nice with the snow capped mountains and overall it was a nice trip, but I’ll be back in 2 weeks…. I personally think it will be better then, even if there are more browns…. At least those greens will hopefully be gone. Besides, I like fallen leaves. Ride up 395 to Mono Lake from Bishop was very green, as expected. Again, I’m looking forward to another trip in 2 weeks. On a personal note.... The moonrise and moonset over mono lake and deep in the ancient forest was nice…. No greens there :) 10/12/2011 - Eastern Sierra - Dan Schaechter reports: Carol -- We just got back from the Eastern Sierra. Lake Sabrina and North Lake were trashed by the storm -- but the aspens below South Lake were not as badly affected and are peaking now. McGee Creek, south of Convict Lake, is showing a lot of color but is not yet at peak. The best color is about two miles up the canyon from the trailhead. Thanks for hosting this great site!! 10/11/2011 - Eastern Sierra - Patrick Shourds reports: Some color above 8500 ft. on the road to North Lake, and South Lake. Bits of Aspen red but mostly yellows and greens. Road to North Lake is open! Drove to Mono Lake and up Tioga Pass, not much color yet. Another week or two before the peak! 10/11/2011 - Yosemite - Adam Johnson reports: Hello Carol, I spent the weekend of Oct 7th in Yosemite Valley. I did not see any fall colors at all. We didn't wander far from the valley loop other than driving up to Glacier Point. The 13" of snow that covered Glacier Point earlier during the week had almost completely melted by the 8th. Rainfall had saturated the ground, fallen trees, and even roof shingles, and consequently gave off a remarkable amount of steam in the direct early morning sunlight. Must have been the right sunlight to shade temperature relationship. Those conditions could have made for some unique photographs if I had planned for it - I was spending quality time with my family, that means no camera for Adam :) 10/10/2011 - Carson Pass/Hope Valley - Garrett Cotham reports: Spent the day today hiking in snow and through the rain around Carson Pass. The stand of trees along Hwy 89 just south of Luther Pass is still very green. Just the slightest bits of yellow starting to show. No color yet anywhere around Caples Lake or Silver Lake. Also, if venturing into this area, be prepared for a lot of road work and waiting. Traffic was stopped due to road work on Hwy 50 between Echo Pass and Hwy 89. Traffic was also stopped in two places along Hwy 89 between Hwy 50 and Luther Pass, and traffic was stopped at Carson Pass. Each stop was a 5-10 minute wait. Construction crews work from 7-5, Mon-Fri. Work won't be finished until sometime in November. 10/10/2011 - Eastern Sierra - Robin Ivanoff reports: We were up there on Sunday, 10/09/11—not much color to see. We drove all the way to Markleeville (from upcountry Volcano, where we live), over Ebbett’s Pass and back around Highway 4. A beautiful day with about 6-8” of snow in the higher elevations, but no colors yet. 10/10/2011 - Hope Valley - Richard Siegel reports: Just went up to Hope Valley this morning as a friend of mine really wanted to go and today was the only day he could go. Not a total disappointment but all in all, We are at least 10 days away from the show. Sorensen’s had some color but most of the aspens were really green. Then around 10:00 it started to sprinkle. I thought well, it will pass, No way! It started to pour and we had to run for the hills! I don’t know where this storm came from so we headed back down 88 towards Jackson and had to endure some snow flurries as we made it back to Sacramento. The whole way, it was nothing but green. Pretty, but green. Like I said, 10 days and it will rock! 10/10/2011 - Eastern Sierra -
Duncan Carter reports: 10/9/2011 - Eastern Sierra - Steveoreno reports: Cruised from Reno on Oct. 9 to check the Ebbetts and Monitor Pass areas. Went up to 8000 feet on motorcycles on Hwy 4 - lots of snow, and NO color. Nada, nothing. The mass of aspens near Monitor Pass is almost pure green. I did not pull out my camera all day. I will echo the sentiment that worthy color is still 2 weeks away. I will not bother with the coming weekend, but will venture forth again on Oct. 22-23. 10/9/2011 - Eastern Sierra - Alan Smallbone writes: I just returned from the Bishop area, there are still a lot of green trees, and at least on Friday and Sat. there was still snow on the ground starting at around 7500 feet or so. On Friday I found the road going up to North Lake a little on the iffy side, lots of slushy snow and ice with lots of mud and lots of traffic to make it all pretty interesting. I decided that Sat. morning when it all had refrozen and turned to ice was probably not a good idea, so I could not tell you what the conditions are there. I would say in general most places are still at least a week from getting lots of color. It was warming up and so it may stop all the leaves from being killed by the frost, hard to say. Rock Creek was nice showing about 30% turning, some already past prime but a lot still green. Same with the Bishop area. Lundy was mostly green. Tioga Pass was opened up on Sat. and had snow above the 7500 mark. Lower parts of Tioga were still pretty green. Conway summit was showing some signs of changing but still mostly green. At least those were my observations for last Friday and Sat. 10/8/2011 - Eastern Sierra - Dave Voss writes: Well, we covered the June Lake Loop, up 395 to Conway Summit, over to Little Virginia Lake then the whole loop of Dunderberg Meadow Road (note the West side of the loop is only passable by serious 4x4 and in places the snow on the trail was so deep we had to bomb our way over the sage) . Result: only one single stand of aspens in full color (on the easy side of Dunderberg) . Certainly fun to see the sheep herd and bald eagles, but I have to believe that the peak of color is running at least two weeks late. Two or even maybe three weekends from now! The Wilson's Phalaropes were enjoying brine flies on Mono Lake and streams were running more than normal due to the early snow but... No fall scenes yet! 10/8/2011 - Eastern Sierra - Tony Siciliano writes: The storm really trashed Bishop Creek. If you had never been here before in fall glory, you would probably think it is still beautiful, but for regulars it may be disappointing. I didn't see it in person, but a photographer showed me some shots of North Lake taken yesterday. The lava flow of color behind the lake is turning brown, and many of the trees on the shore have lost their leaves. The snow on the mountains at Sabrina basin is spectacularl, but there is little color and no clouds. The south fork is spotty. Most of the aspens above Table Mountain are past peak and have brown spots, or have lost leaves. There are occasional small clumps of trees with some color, and even some clumps of green trees, but all in all not a "wow". There is a lot of snow along Bishop Creek making access to the creek difficult. My advice is to visit the canyons to the north in a week or two when the trees that were green when the storm hit "turn". 10/8/2011 - Eastern Sierra - Dave Voss writes: This is the most color we have found: Dunderberg Meadow Road. (David attached a photo -- ick -- not the photo, the lack of color.) Nothing at Little Virginia Lake except a nice pair of Bald Eagles! And June Lake? Green. Almost zero trees with any color! 10/8/2011 - Eastern Sierra - Dave Voss writes: Well, I it's the first weekend a lot of people will be here in the Eastern Sierras searching for fall color and if you're like me logging on here for reports on where to go. Unfortunately looking out over Gull Lake this morning I see nothing but green aspens. Have not been around the loop yet, so perhaps Silver Lake will deliver. Will report in from the road today. 10/7/2011 - Eastern Sierra - Sylva Blackstone writes: Hi Carol, I was in the planning stage when I wrote to you. Friend & I decided to just go & scout the canyons from Whitney Portal traveling north, with no expectations. This was my first time to see these areas for fall color. Saw some pretty areas, from Saturday 10-1 to Tuesday but incoming storm at Lee Vining with wind, cold, rain, snow & closed passes put a stop to that. Headed back south on 395 Wednesday 10-5, driving into snow flurries. From Bishop south, blue skies, puffy clouds, clear views of snow sparkling on the Sierra including Mt Whitney. Not bad. I'll keep watching the reports, enjoying them more, now that I know the territory. 10/7/2011 - Eastern Sierra - Will Furman writes: 10/5/11
– Rained an inch or 2 in Bishop. Mountains mostly inaccessable due to
show. South Lake and Sabrina Lake open
(plowed), but North Lake closed and will not be plowed I was told by the
US Forest Service. With probably a foot or snow (I didn’t check, but us
similar to Rock Creek Lake) you might be able to walk in, but not drive. Last week was great in the Mono area, Virginia Lakes – trees were in full color. Good luck! It’s beautiful, but challenging shooting! 10/3/2011 - Hope Valley - Warren Hyde writes: I did a reconnaissance run on 9/29 of the area around Hope Valley. For the most part the color has yet to appear, except on the willows near streams. Hope Valley, Markleville, the east side of Ebbitt’s pass, and Monitor pass are 99% green. There are bits of color at Sorenson’s Resort and there is a stand just east of Monitor on the south side of the road that has the most color I saw, maybe 10% has turned. Hopefully, the upcoming storm won’t be so intense it blows the leaves off before they turn! 10/1/2011 - Carson Pass/Eastern Sierra - Jason Branz writes: Left Sacramento Friday morning and took the following route: 50 - Emigrant Trail - 88 over Carson pass - 89 over Monitor pass - 395 to Lee Vining. The Carson Pass area was about 90% green above Caples Lake. Hope Valley was mainly lime green with some yellow trees around Sorensen's. Monitor Pass was dark green at the bottom, lime green higher, green and yellow at the top. The big grove just east of the top of the pass was about 70/30 green. Conway Summit was dark green with some lime green and a few yellows. Today I headed south to Bishop. The June Lake area was mainly lime green with some yellows around Silver Lake, but not a whole lot. Rock Creek was nice, with yellows and oranges around the lake and above. I spent a couple of hours there. From Bishop I headed up to South Lake. The color along South Lake road is getting pretty, especially Surveyor's Meadow and above. Some of the slopes have a nice rainbow of green, yellow, orange, and red. I spent the rest of the afternoon there, then headed up to North Lake where the trees along the road are a green/yellow mix, the grove going up the mountain on the far side of the lake is still mainly green, and the best color is right around the day use parking area. Hope that helps anyone that's planning a trip! 9/30/2011 - Eastern Sierra weather alerts: There's weather moving into the eastern Sierra. To monitor what's going on, here's a link: <http://www.weather.com/weather/today/Lee+Vining+CA+USCA0601> Once there, click on whatever weather alerts might be posted. 9/29/2011 - Eastern Sierra: Inge Fernau writes: So I started one of my Fall Color Safari. Coming down from the Tioga Pass, most of the trees are still green (a few yellows). Lee Vining Canyon looked green, I did not take the June Lake Loop. Rock Creek Canyon, color starts just past the Big Meadow campground, still a lot of green in the mix, but some nice yellows, oranges and red. Some of the leaves already have brown spots. Bishop Creek Canyon, color starts just past Intake II (the hillside behind Intake II is 90% in color). All the way to Lake Sabrina, there are brilliant patches of color and then patches of green. Lake Sabrina is really really awesome right now. North Lake road/Lake is also a mixed bag. Some great color on the way up (the trees at he bottom of the road is still mostly green), beautiful colors (yellows, orange/red) at the day use area. The grove at the back of the lake is still mostly green. There is a small patch that is turning red. The color along South Lake Road starts just past the Mountain Glen campground. Again there is still a lot of green around and some spots are further advanced than others. That’s it for now…… 9/29/2011 - Link to Lake Sabrina info (eastern Sierra): http://www.lakesabrinaboatlanding.com/this_week's_report/this_week's_report.html 9/23/2011 - Duncan Carter writes:
We have concluded that to see fall colors at North Lake in its prime and
later see South Lake and lower elevations plus McGee Creek and points in
between – including Sagehen Summit, again, we’ll need to go there twice,
a week or two apart. So we’ll watch your reports for news about North
Lake first. |
