Natural History Wanderings

Michael Frye had the following fall color update for Yosemite Valley on his blog today.

there’s still plenty of color. The yellow big-leaf maples are mostly gone, and the dogwoods are also past peak, but the black oaks were close to peak when I left the valley on Saturday, and the cottonwoods were still at least 30% green. Leaves tend to linger on the oaks, so I expect both the oaks and cottonwoods will look good for at least another week.

To see photos go to: Yosemite Valley Fall Color.

California Fall Color adds

Color spotters visiting Yosemite Valley have been reporting black oaks at peak, with cottonwoods, bigleaf maple and dogwoods slightly past peak.

The reflections of bright yellow and orange in the near-still Merced River (seen posted on the national park’s Facebook page) have been lovely. Fern spring has been cluttered with fallen bigleaf maple leaves as autumn peaks in the national park.

GO NOW! 75-100% – Yosemite Valley (5000') – This is likely the last weekend to see fall color at peak in Yosemite Valley, as a storm will arrive on Monday.