Natural History Wanderings

Parchers Resort just posted an Eastern Sierra Fall color report for the Bishop Creek Canyon for  9-21-12:

30-50% Overall Conditions

Really impressive change in the amount and intensity of the fall color throughout the canyon since last week. Still lots of green below 9000ft but the color is coming on really fast at the higher reaches of the canyon and some of the groves are looking very brilliant. Barring any adverse weather, now through mid October is the zone for those who enjoy the autumn spleander. Due to the elevation variance our canyon is tough to put an overall grade on but its certainly safe to say that starting now, there is a great amount of color to be seen.

50-75% – Table Mountain Camp (8900ft)

Incredible transformation from last week with well over half of the aspen in this grove exhibiting  bright yellow and some orange. Still some greenery left to turn but this is one of the nicest areas right now.

50-75% – Surveyors Meadow (8975ft)

Another area that really popped this week is Surveyor’s meadow aproximately a mile down from Parchers Resort. Color is splashed from the creekside trail all the way up the mountain to near the Tyee Lakes trail. Still some green left to turn but I would guess this area to be at peak color next week.

30-50% – Lake Sabrina (9150ft)

Lake Sabrina really went off this week with a drastic change in color. Still a bit off the best peak color I’ve seen there but it certainly breathtaking even right now. The water level is a bit low this year due to the weak winter we had but the aspens clearly don’ t seem to mind.

0-15% – North Lake (9255ft)

Still not much happening at North Lake yet with exception to the lower parking lot which has a nice stand of trees showing a bunch of bright yellow.

50-75% – Steiny Loop above Mt. Glen Camp (8600ft)

This is kind of a sleeper spot as the dirt road accessing this beautiful stretch of aspen growth is easy to miss. Still, if you keep an eye out to your left about a mile past Mountain Glen Campground you should find it. Very even yellow with some orange hues coming through as well. This is certainly near the higher end of the range – somewhere close to 75% and will likely be in peak color come next week.

To see photos and older reports go to: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=472410972781048