Natural History Wanderings

California Fall Color has the following fall color report for Mono county in the Eastern Sierra 9/19/13:

 Autumn is “in full-swing” well before its official first day (Sun., June 22).  And, with cool weather forecast, the color will intensify and pockets of peak color will exist for the next three weeks.  Because of this, we are issuing three GO NOW! alerts for Mono County.

• 15 – 30% – Lower Rock Creek Road – James estimates the of the road to be at 25% with some gold, yellow, lime green and orange emerging.
• GO NOW! – 50- 75% – Upper Rock Creek Road – The upper reaches of Rock Creek Road, including around Rock Creek Lake are “quite breathtaking with beautiful red, orange and gold aspen.”
• 0 – 15% – Convict Lake – “It’s still early for significant color in the canyon. There is just a scattering of yellow as you drive up to Convict Lake.”
• GO NOW! – 75 – 100% – The Sherwins (Mammoth Lakes) – The Sherwins above 8,500′ are peaking.
• 15 – 30% – Mammoth Lakes – Spots of color are to be seen in the Town of Mammoth Lakes, though peak is still two weeks away.
• 0 – 15% – Parker Lake – Parker Lake off the June Lake Loop on 9/17 and says that the colors on the trail and at the lake itself are still mostly bright lime-green with some gold, yellow and random splotches of orange.
• 15 – 30% – June Lake Loop – This magnificent drive (Hwy. 158) is showing signs of color, especially at higher elevations, but still has a long way to go.
• GO NOW! – 50 – 75% – Virginia Lakes – driving up the Virginia Lakes Road for displays of  vibrant colors
• 0 – 15% – Conway Summit – Still  mostly lime-green.

See photos for the above areas and older reports at California Fall Color.