October 13, 2007
Get
set for a great weekend of foliage
watching this weekend! And, don't forget
to stop by and pick up your free
leaf-peepers kit, with all you'll need
to keep your windshield free of bugs for
a clearer view of the dazzling color!
If
you're stopping by our Visitors Center
in Quincy, please pardon the scent, as
one of our office cats flirted with a
skunk yesterday! Does anyone out there
have any good advice on how to get a cat
into a tomato-juice bath?
Lots of debate among leaf-peepers about
the Feather River Canyon of late.
Some are reporting great color; others
seem to think it's got a ways to go.
Canyon resident David Crosby
suggests taking some of the byways off
of Hwy. 70 for the best viewing, and
says Rush Creek Road is
definitely worth the trip:
"Take it
from the canyon at about 2,700 ft all
the way to the top of Red Hill, over
6,000 feet, where there's a little
snow on top, [You'll see] reds,
yellow, some green...and maybe some
deer, squirrels and bears... [It's]
paved for a mile and a half, then
good wide gravel to Dead Man's Saddle,
about five miles up. Use Volvos or four
wheel drive after that."
Meanwhile, there seems to be agreement
that it's good foliage time in Little
Last Chance Creek canyon along the
road to Frenchman Lake. For the
second day in a row, we have photos of
cottonwood and aspen along that route,
turned in this time by leaf-peeper
Jim Wilcox.
DID
YOU KNOW? This leaf-peepers "blog" has
become quite famous! In fact, the crew
here at the Plumas County Visitors
Bureau just won an award in the "Best
Idea" program competition during the
2007 annual meeting of the Western
Association of Convention and Visitors
Bureaus. The blog and the overall
"Awesome Autumn" promotion was presented
to some 150 industry colleagues at the
meeting held in Anchorage, Alaska (where
we've been secretly editing these
leaf-peeping reports via laptop!!) Our
hero in Quincy Ellie Hinrichs has been
holding down the fort, doing the posts
and handling leaf-peeper calls and
walk-in inquiries all this week!
The rest of the crew will be back next
week, in time for Plumas County's peak
color (and by the way, they report that
the fall foliage in Alaska is pretty,
but mostly past peak). Okay, it's time
to log off and get up into the woods!
October 12, 2007
We’re
getting pretty close to peak throughout
the forests and communities of Plumas
County! We’re having a bit of showery
weather today, but don’t let that stop
you from heading up for what’s going to
be a beautiful weekend for leaf-peeping!
The trees will be sparkly clean, the air
fresh, and we’re expecting perfect
Indian summer temperatures of around 65
degrees over the weekend. Plus,
don’t forget there’s music, beer and
belly-dancing (and more) in Quincy over
at
Mountain Harvest Festival on
Saturday! If you’re planning to be in
Graeagle, don’t miss the
Graeagle
Pumpkin Patch on Saturday with
arts and crafts, goodies and more.
Professional photographer Carl
Raymond of Portola was out in
Eastern Plumas and sent these stunning
shots of aspen along the Gold Lake
Road between Graeagle and Sierra
City (above), and Mountain Dogwood
amidst cottonwood and aspen against
volcanic rock in the Little Last Chance
Creek area along the road to
Frenchman Lake (below). Both of
those are renowned fall foliage routes
that are described in the Plumas County
Fall Color Guide. By the way, Carl will
be holding a fall color
Digital SLR
Photography Workshop on
Saturday, Oct. 27 in Portola.
Our
neighbor to the south, Cora Dittrich
of the Sierra County Chamber of Commerce,
checks in with this report: “Our
fall colors are spectacular over here.
The colors along Highway 49 in the
valley, over Yuba Pass and into Sierra
City are just gorgeous. The Gold Lake
Road is beautiful also. The Aspens and
Oaks are just a brilliant yellow. It
just glows.”
By the way, there’s a lot happening down
in
Sierra
City this weekend too, with their annual
Oktoberfest and a fall fine arts
show!
Leaf-peeping without a camera? Well,
it’s not as fun, but leaf-peeper
Doris Livingston says her digital
camera is broken. Nevertheless,
Doris
reports that her maple is currently
sporting beautiful shades of reds,
oranges and golds. You can check out
this celebrity tree along Hwy. 89,
near Dixie Canyon, about two miles
north of Indian Falls and one mile south
of the turnoff to Taylorsville. But
don’t just go for this one tree – all of
Indian Valley’s roadways should be
looking awesome this weekend!
October 11, 2007
Leaf-peeper Linda Blum of Quincy
checked in with a report from Indian
Valley – a hot spot for fall color and
(unfortunately) a hot spot for forest
fires this year!
Says Linda:
“We
took a drive from Quincy up through
Genesee Valley and the Indian
Creek Canyon to Antelope Lake
yesterday, October 9. The
streamside colors in the Indian rhubarb,
willows, dogwoods, and sedges are a
variety of yellows, reds, and bronzes,
while the black oaks are still on their
way to amber and gold. We were
very glad to see that this summer's
Antelope Complex fire did not burn more
than a
third of the canyon
between
Antelope Dam and Genesee -- there's
still a lot of stunning scenery to
enjoy!"
We sent
a leaf-peeper on a bike ride out on
Chandler Road, another well-known
fall foliage route. We didn't get her
name, but she returned with this shot of
Indian Rhubarb from Spanish Creek.
Karen Kleven of Quincy
recently hiked to Grass Lake in
Plumas-Eureka State Park near Johnsville and brought back
this picture of aspens and dogwood with
Mt. Elwell in the background. She says:
"Some of the aspen are a glorious
yellow while others have decided not to
turn yet. A beautiful hike with snow on
the mountains. Just takes about 30
minutes to get to Grass Lake."
Bob
Carter of Greenville
reported that the road to Round
Valley Lake is "pretty colorful"
about a third of the way up.
Leaf-peeper
Bob Brand of Chico traveled up
from Oroville along the Oroville-Quincy
Highway last weekend, but found that the
fall colors were best in the street
trees around Quincy's residential
downtown (photo at right).
Linda
Johnson
of the Eastern Plumas Chamber of
Commerce has had reports of some
wonderful colors showing in the
Portola area, and just east of
Portola around Rocky Point Road.
Here’s a recommended route for a
Portola city tour:
Start
by touring the deep red street trees
along Commercial Street in downtown.
Continue down the street and turn up
California Street, there are some maples
on the corner of Third and California
that are a bright yellow and lime green
coloring. Continue up California to
Sixth Ave. (street in front of Portola
High) and go toward the right; there are
some more maples that are a bright
yellow and gold. Turn around and return
down Sixth and go down to Nevada Street,
then turn onto Third Avenue to the right
and go down the street toward the
City Library and City Hall. From here,
turn left and continue on Gulling Street
across the bridge go through the
stoplight, continuing toward Joy Way. On
the corner of Mohawk Avenue on your
left, there is a tree showing a deep red
color. Turn left and go to Ridge Street
and then right on Ridge Street going
toward Joy Way. When you reach the end
of Ridge Street, turn left and go toward
West Street, then turn right and go to DePersia Drive
and turn right. Continue to the first
paved street which is Kandy Lane and on
the left there is a house that has
beautiful reds in the back and going all
along the side of the house there are
trees that are showing a variety of fall
colors.
October 10, 2007
Celebrity
tree watchers Kevin and Shannon
Mallory sent in photos taken this
week of the silver maples in front of
Quincy High School (photo at right) and
an updated view of the English Maple on
LaPorte Rd (photo below). They recommend
taking the first dirt road off the La
Porte Road from Quincy.
"There are lots of reds, oranges,
yellows, and greens...It doesn't really
matter which way you go after you hit
the dirt road," writes Kevin. "We drove
for at least five miles without hitting
snow and it was absolutely beautiful."
Randy
Juster of Sacramento
stopped in to say he’s been enjoying his
first visit to Plumas County for fall
foliage viewing. A native of New Jersey,
Juster says the only thing he misses
about the East Coast is fall colors. But
now he’s discovered there is fall
foliage in California!
Juster
was impressed by what he saw, coming up
the Feather River Canyon (Hwy. 70), and
even just peeping around Quincy,
including the parking lot of Safeway and
the stately street trees in front of the
Plumas County Courthouse on Main
Street. We sent him off towards
Bucks Lake, LaPorte and along Chandler
Road to find some red – including
dogwood and Indian Rhubarb.
And
speaking of red, there’s beautiful
dogwood and Indian Rhubarb now showing
along Hwy. 32 between Chester and Chico,
according to Linda and Ron Mengarelli
of Roseville.
This
upcoming weekend should be ideal for
leaf-peeping – with species peaking in
some areas and close to peak in others.
Best of all,
it’s
Mountain Harvest Festival this
Saturday (Oct. 13)! Start off the day
early by looking to the skies at some
hot-air balloons that will be taking off
from here at Gansner Airport, starting
at 7:30am. From 8:45 to 9:15am there
will be harvest runs along Quincy
Junction Road, and Quincy merchants will
be offering sidewalk sales throughout
the town from 10am to 1pm. The
day long festivities continue at the
Plumas County Fairgrounds in Quincy
around noon with microbrew tasting
and wine tasting, live music, kid’s
activities, a silent auction and two
styles of belly-dancing!
October 9, 2007
CELEBRITY
TREE REPORT:
Here's an early look at a Black
Cottonwood we watch daily along Hwy. 70
at Cromberg. Driving eastbound in the
early evening is the best for spotting
this giant tree against the background
of Mt. Jackson. The tree is starting to
show peak color on top, but still has
more to go.
Leaf-peeper Richard McCutcheon
checks in again with a red maple (photo
at right) off of Nelson Street in
Taylorsville.
What to do when the light’s gone?
Leaf-peepers who are in Quincy tomorrow
night (Wednesday, Oct. 10) can head over
to the Town Hall Theatre on Main Street
from 7-10 p.m. for an evening of
interesting films during the first
annual
Patagonia Wild and Scenic Film Festival.
It will be a night of hope, clever
animation, and some hearty chuckles
featuring nine films (some short, some
longer) that are lined up to inspire and
compel stewardship on behalf of our
environment. Desserts and beverages
will be available for sale. This is a
fundraiser for the watershed education
efforts of the Feather River Coordinated
Resource Management group.
October 8, 2007
Ann and Charley Arrowsmith of
Quincy sent another photo of their
beloved "Judge Thieler's Tree," sporting
near peak color in the residential area
in downtown Quincy. Says the Arrowsmiths:
"The frosty weather over the last few
days has turned it quickly."
What
an outfit! Marlene Nelson of Graeagle
gets the award for
“best-dressed” leaf-peeper in this
snazzy fall fashion statement she
debuted at Graeagle Community Church
yesterday. Nelson reports the yellow
color is starting to happen over the
Lakes Basin Road from Graeagle to Sierra
City, but it’s still quite green from
Sierra City down to Downieville along
Hwy. 49.
"What a difference a week makes," writes Mike Beatley of Meadow Valley,
who says the aspens are peaking at
Thompson Lake (near Bucks Lake, at
right.) He says best viewing time is
from 7:45-8:15am.
Leaf-peeper John Thompson of Reno
checked in with this picture of the
aspens
turning along the Gold Lake Hwy, which
don't appear to be as far along as those
at Bucks Lake. His report:
“Today my driving tour took me all the way to Lake Almanor then up to
Lassen National Forest back down thru
Graeagle, Quincy, Portola, Plumas-Eureka
campground, Johnsville and finally, Gold
Lake Hwy. I was on a mission to see how
the fall colors were coming from last
week. So far there has been some change
but I still think were looking at least
another two weeks before we see the
colors really pop. As you can see by my
photo I took along Gold Lake Hwy were
still between some yellow and still a
lot of green in the aspens. I will say
the drive on 70/89 between Greenville
and Graeagle the colors there do look
promising."
