Natural History Wanderings

The Sacramento Bee  posted its weekly fall color report and updated its fall color map last night. To see the interactive fall color map go to: Fall Leaves

Below are the highlights of theireport:

The dusting of snow from South Lake to Tioga Pass, along with high winds, didn’t treat our delicate autumn leaves very well. The color that was peak earlier in the week will be falling by this weekend.

Have a great week shooting the fall colors, because it won’t last much longer.

Best Bets for color this weekend

Close to Sacramento, the best bets for rich autumn color this weekend is Hope Valley. There’s plenty of early color there that won’t be affected by the high winds.

Monitor Pass and Conway Summit are good locations too.

Lundy Canyon is almost fully turned from green to rich yellows, oranges and reds. Plan on mid-week Oct. 17 for good color in the back areas. The drive in is good in some areas, but in others leaves are beginning to fall because of the winds.

McGee Creek has good color but requires a one-mile hike to see the best color.

The lower parts of Bishop Creek will still be fine for photographing the autumn leaf color, but don’t plan on traveling past Aspendell/Cardinal Village or Mountain Glen on the South Lake Road. Farther up, the colorful leaves are completely down, a casualty of the high winds.

Next week, look for the June Lake Loop to be the best color in the Eastern Sierra.