October 4, 2007

We ran into leaf-peeper Mike Nellor of Quincy, who's been comparing the timing of color onset in certain trees to shots he took last year. Interestingly, Mike says some species have turned earlier than last year (vine maples) while others, like the famous Norway maple known as "Judge Theiler's tree" in downtown Quincy, is turning later than in 2006.

Such is the case with Mother Nature, who definitely makes subtle changes to the show each year. Says Mike, "Who cares, there's plenty (of fall color) out there!"

Short story:  A visitor called a few days ago saying that her husband wanted to know the exact date of the leaf peak in Plumas County. Last year on their trip back east he was very frustrated when he got ten different answers to this question.  She laughed and went onto to explain that he's a mathematician and isn't real patient with the unpredictability of nature. 

Out in the forest, things are quickly moving into the next phase (see the FALL COLOR LINEUP on the Sept. 28 blog).  That means ground cover, shrubs and willows and shrubs are starting to show, and we'll get some photos up by tomorrow.

Joni Chandler sent this photo from Belden, in the Feather River Canyon.  She just bought a new camera and was happily shooting the fall colors.
 


 

Win a Quilt at the Taylorsville Fall Festival on October 6.  The quilting ladies of Taylorsville have been working on a quilt to raffle (the big one on the left) for over a year.  When asked about the quilting group, Lucille Stead who’s lived in Taylorsville since 1946 said:
     "Our group meets every Tuesday from September through May and our ages range from 60 - 90.  We have a mix of newcomers and old timers.  It’s a great way for women to become involved in the community. Each woman makes a square for the quilt and we donate the money from the raffle to the Methodist Church. We also meet for coffee every Friday." 

The photo is by Alicia Knadler, courtesy of Feather River Pubishing.

October 3, 2007

Fall colors and apple juice!

Every fall for the past 26 years, the kindergarten classes at Pioneer Elementary School in Quincy take a field trip to Mr. Ray Nichol's home to learn how to press apples into juice. Here's this year's youngsters, checking out the apple trees in the yard amidst towering silver maples in the neighborhood north of Quincy's downtown Main Street.  Many of the non-native "street trees" in this historic section of town are near peak.

The five and six-year-olds waited in line for a chance to drop in the apples and then crank the handle to grind them up. Afterwards, they watched as Nichols pressed the mixture into a greenish-colored juice, then they carefully tasted the freshest juice they'd ever had. Yum! There was plenty of fall foliage and blue sky to enjoy as they waited for the bus to return back to school.

By the way on  Sunday, October 28 you can juice some apples at the Dawn Institute  Apple Fest, a popular local event.

Family Fall Festivals  this Saturday

Taylorsville, located in lovely Indian Valley, will host a variety of events for families, holiday shoppers, history buffs and others on Sat., Oct. 6.  You can attend the 49th annual Fall Festival and the Harvest Festival.   By the way, if you’re worried you won’t be able to find the separate events in Taylorsville just ask someone - it’s a very small town.  Mike Yost from Taylorsville reported that the maples have turned a bright yellow and the oaks are starting to turn. 

Plumas National Forest is also hosting its 4th Annual fall Festival at the Mt. Hough Ranger Station (three miles west of Quincy), "More Kids in the Woods," including activities for kids, basket making, a short walk with a botanist, highlighted by the Banjo-ologist, Gordy Ohliger (making the past come alive). 

October 2, 2007

After the rain on Sunday the weather has been crystal clear, a little chilly in the morning but almost t-shirt weather during the afternoon. 

Fortunately, Jessica Albietz, our new young leaf peeper, spends a lot of time outdoors and is happy to give us reports from some of the more remote areas in Plumas County.  She backpacked into Hartman Bar on the Middle Fork of the Feather River leaving from Little Grass Valley Reservoir.  Just in case you want to explore this spot you can also find a trail near Bucks Lake off of the Big Creek Road.  Her report:  "The big leaf maples were yellow and the dogwoods were turning red."

Jessica also spends some time driving around the County for her job so she has some news from Genesee and Highway 89 along Indian Creek. 
"The willows are starting to turn yellow in Genesee and there's something that's red along Indian Creek, but not dogwood yet." 

Another new leaf peeper this year, Ellie Hinrichs, drove up  the Silver Lake Road outside of Meadow Valley to get to the Bucks Lake Wilderness trailheads.  She's not much of a botanist but said that there was a grove of trees turning yellow where the creek comes down toward the road (photo is on the right).  She thought they were maple.  Also higher up near Gold Lake she saw a Mt. Ash turning red.  Other news from the Silver Lake Road was that the dogwood were making a good show of it. 

John Sheehan spent some time near Bucks Lake last weekend reporting that there was some gorgeous dogwood on the back roads off of Big Creek Road.  

October 1, 2007
What a beautiful weekend!
 
John Thompson from Reno was looking for a half day adventure where he could shoot some fall color so we sent him toward Frenchmen Lake.  The drive to Frenchmen Lake goes through a gorgeous canyon with volcanic rock in the background - perfect for driving or road biking.

John had this to say about his trip: