Natural History Wanderings

California Fall Color has an early season fall color report for Little Lakes and Convict Lake. Here are the highlights:

Patchy (10-50%) – Little Lakes Valley  Rock Creek Rd. above 9,000ft – The Little Lakes Valley is off to a great start and is pretty far ahead of the rest. Changing color starts at about 8,500ft and there are some dark green giant aspens featuring bright yellow leaves at the top already. The aspen groves surrounding Rock Creek Lake have started the transition into lime green colors while trees higher up on the ridge already contain a mostly yellow shade. I give this spot two weeks until the largest groves start showing significant changes in coloring. Get up there early morning for soft light and while the lake is calm for epic photo ops.

Just Starting (0-10%) – Convict Lake above 7,800ft –  Not worth a trip specific to fall colors right now, but some willows are changing near the outlet while the aspen grove tucked back in the canyon across the lake is showing a little bit. Nothing major though. With water levels up quite a bit from last year and a drier summer (helping prevent the black spot disease), the fall colors at Convict Lake should display one of the best presentations in years. This spot tends to peak around the middle of October given the fact that it’s elevation is a bit lower than other hotspots. Make sure to hit this spot in the early morning as well. And once it’s at peak take a little walk to the wooden path on the backside. 

See photos and full report at California Fall Color: Little Lakes and Convict Lake Break Out