Natural History Wanderings

Awesome Autumn Plumas County Northern California has the following fall color report:

The drive from Quincy to La Porte is both an adventure and a beautiful fall foliage trip with plenty of species to see at peak now. Many thanks to Suzi for sharing. Her report:

You’ll want to start off this trip getting out to enjoy a “celebrity tree,” the centuries old English maple at the beginning of the drive. The orangeish/pinkish leaves were at peak when we toured and hopefully it’s good now as well!

Definitely get off the main road and go down the first dirt road to the right. (Just before a hairpin left turn.) There’s lots of Big leaf maple in stunning yellow, along with dogwood, which was in varying stages of red. Continuing on the main road, you’ll come to the Middle Fork Feather River and again, get out and gaze along the riverbanks.

After that, things will get a little more scenic in terms of mountain vistas as you carefully negotiate this windy road, which gets to a point called the Hogback, and eventually drops into Onion Valley, where you’ll see Pilot Peak. Be aware there are logging trucks that barrel down this road at fast speeds, so keep your ears open for them as you go around steep curves! This route, like my last one, is known as a Plumas Backcountry Route, and there’s a separate brochure available at visitor centers to point out the attractions and history.

It’s about 30 miles to the tiny old mining town of La Porte (population 26) and there we turned left on Church Street, which turns to dirt, and headed to the Slate Creek Bridge where we found Indian Rhubarb looking nice along Slate Creek. You could continue past the bridge (it’s part of yet another brochure auto tour, that takes you to Historic Town Sites around La Porte.) But better have a four-wheel drive and even a truck for that one.

Heading back into town, we made yet another mandatory stop at Reilly’s Saloon, which serves lunch. It was the only business open in La Porte that day! The tavern is gearing up for its Halloween Party which will be next Saturday (Oct. 25). And if you decide to go, there are cabin rentals nearby.

see photos and more reports at:  Awesome Autumn Plumas County Northern California.