Posted by Joseph Campisi on September 13, 2011 at 12:04 PM
Driving along I-5 and other roads this past week, I've been noticing the foliage changing already. I have a feeling fall colors will peak early this year. Just a feeling...
Edit by Catherine:
Please do post your news here about how the Fall colors are coming along in all our various regions. Thanks everyone. Thank you Joseph for starting this thread!
Posted by Bruce King on September 13, 2011 at 12:20 PM
Yeah I've thought so too. I'm keeping a close eye on it as I'm planning a weekend in the Trout Lake area, hopefully during peak color.
Posted by Greg Vaughn on September 17, 2011 at 12:29 AM
Thanks for starting this thread, Joseph, and keeping it at the top, Catherine. I'd sure like to hear any reports, especially from the Washington Cascades.
Here in Oregon's southern Willamette Valley, I was a little surprised to note yesterday that my neighbor's ornamental maple tree was starting to turn already, and even more surprising was hearing (and then seeing) a flock of honkers overhead, flying north in classic V formation.
Posted by Jack Graham on September 17, 2011 at 9:59 AM
Posted by Greg Vaughn on September 25, 2011 at 10:47 AM
I spent the last few days in the southern Washington Cascades around Mount Adams - between Trout Lake and Packwood - and saw very little fall color. A few vine maple just starting to turn. Some huckleberry bushes in exposed south-facing slopes have a little color. Not much else. At the 4,000+ elevations, wildflowers are still blooming.
Posted by Sean Bagshaw on October 3, 2011 at 12:13 PM
Driving back from Wyoming last Wednesday (Sept 28th) I noticed that the dogwood and vine maple were just starting to see some color along the Rogue River near Union Creek. This would put that area on track for a fairly standard color peak in the Oct 10-20 range. Anybody been to Silver Falls or the McKenzie River?
Posted by Greg Vaughn on October 4, 2011 at 10:23 AM
Sean: I just heard from someone who bought Photographing Oregon and went to Proxy Falls and the McKenzie River area yesterday: "The fall colors were stunning on the trail to Proxy Falls. A few maples (near the lava stones) were completely red." He's on his way to Silver Falls today, so I'll ask for a report.
Sure wish I could have joined you on that Tetons trip!
Posted by John Williams on October 6, 2011 at 11:50 PM
Returning from Bend on 26 Tuesday, the Vine Maple south of Hood was coming along nicely with lots of color. I work this weekend, but hope to get out somewhere the following one. Hopefully the color continues to build.
Posted by Greg Vaughn on October 8, 2011 at 12:42 PM
I drove Aufderheide Memorial Drive and the McKenzie River Highway in the Willamette National Forest, both part of the West Cascades National Scenic Byway, on Wednesday. Very little fall color to be seen except in a few isolated spots. Bigleaf maple are just starting to turn. Some brilliant red vine maple in the lava fields around Clear Lake in the upper McKenzie area.
I also called USFS and NPS ranger stations in the Washington Cascades and heard that fall color is still a week or even two out at the higher elevations around Mount Baker (Mt. Shuksan and Picture Lake) and in the Stevens Pass/Tumwater Canyon area.
Some weather coming in the next few days in northern Washington, so maybe things will improve a lot by next weekend.
Posted by John Williams on October 11, 2011 at 12:25 PM
From a friend who spent Saturday night at Yokum Ridge on Mt. Hood:
Precious little color to speak of. All the way to Ramona Falls looked like spring except for some of leaves on the rhododendron. Vine maples were still mostly green. Yokum Ridge liked like winter though - an average of 6" of snow. Awesome moon rise at 7:30p. Didn't have that much precipitation so the trip turned out better than expected.
Posted by David Bostock on October 13, 2011 at 8:12 PM
Anyone have a sense of how the Trout Lake area will be this weekend?
Posted by Greg Vaughn on October 14, 2011 at 5:48 PM
David,
I've been in the Trout Lake area the past couple of days (10/12-10/14). There is some beautiful vine maple and huckleberry a little west of Trout Lake near Forlorn Lakes. The good fall color seems to be between about 2,000'-3,500' elevation. Right at Trout Lake it was minimal, and higher up (Cultus Creek Trail to Indian Heaven Wilderness) there are also very little. The Sawtooth Berry Fields up near FR 30 - FR 24 had pockets of great color but not massive fields of it. There is, however, the potential for a really great shot of the huckleberry with Mt. Saint Helens in the distance from the area where the PCT crosses FR 24.
I'm heading further north in the Cascades. Anybody else going to be shooting up there this weekend? If so and you want to try to hook up, email or txt me.
Posted by David Bostock on October 15, 2011 at 8:31 AM
See Marylynne's "Vine Maple Alert" posted on 10/17. Sounds magnificent. Color is coming up quickly now, it seems, in the lowlands, too, with the cooler nights.
Posted by John Williams on October 18, 2011 at 4:45 PM
Saturday morning I was able to slip away into the Cascades, returning late last night. I spent a couple of nights at the Takhlakh Lake Campground (it is officially closed, but you can still camp there), wandering that area a bit, and then ran up to Rainier yesterday for the late light.
At lower elevations the color is poor and mostly muddy brown. I took the road through Cougar, and followed the Lewis River on FR 90. Once past Curly Creek Rd. the color was much better. The Big Leaf Maple were much more yellow and less brown, and as I got closer to FR 23 the Vine Maple along the road were primo.
There's not a lot of color at Takhlakh Lake proper, but Tahktahk Meadow is really good right now. I had never been to Potato Hill, so I wandered there on Sunday. It is also doing very well, especially on the north side. (I didn't photograph from Potato as I was only there during the “scouting” time of day.) Driving from Takhlakh to Randle on FR 23 yesterday, the color was great until I dropped to the lower elevations near Randle and then it turned muddy again.
At Rainier, the Devil's Club on the way in is colorful, maybe even past peak. The Vine Maple on the canyon walls is at peak. Interestingly, the huckleberry and similar low vegetation around Paradise is just getting going. It is maybe a week or two away from peak? There are patches that are very good, but in the minority.
Greg, sorry I didn't see your post until I returned; I would love to have met up with you.
Posted by Greg Vaughn on October 22, 2011 at 12:59 AM
For anyone planning, or interested in, a trip to the Washington Cascades for fall color, I made a quick trip last week in that area and found quite a range of fall color.
In the southern Cascades, around Trout Lake and Mount Adams, there were places with great color, and some, like Trout Lake itself, where the color was just starting. Indian Heaven Wilderness could be very good in the next few days.
The color was very good on the east side of Stevens Pass in the Washington Cascades, and likely will just get better in the next week or two. Vine maple are vibrant red and yellow, with aspen and cottonwood coming on strong. The area around Tumwater Canyon and the road to Lake Wenatchee is very good. On the west side of the pass, color is muted, and most of the bigleaf maple are a mottled brown and yellow.
On Mountain Loop Highway and Sauk River Valley between Granite Falls and Rockport, the color is so-so, but what a beautiful drive. If the bigleaf and vine maple brighten up a bit, this is a great option for fall color forest photos.
In the North Cascades, the alpine larch were great at higher elevations (~3-5k’) but not much elsewhere. A surprising amount on snow covering the trail at Maple Pass – Heather Pass Loop, but what an incredibly scenic hike!
At Snoqualmie Pass, there was very little color along I-90, but good color was visible on the mountainsides above. Traffic however, was miserable going eastbound due to construction projects; maybe it’s better on the weekend, but check WSDOT reports.
In general, it seemed like the bigleaf maple on the west side of the Cascades was more or less a mottled brown & yellow, while at the higher elevations and on the east side, the color may be very good in the coming week or two – delayed beyond the usual timing just like the wildflower bloom was earlier this summer.
Fall color should be very good in the eastern part of the state in the next week or two. Methow Valley was looking good, but not quite prime for the bright yellow aspen and cottonwood.
This being October in the Pacific Northwest, it’s a good idea to be prepared for anything and everyting weatherwise as far as clothing, hiking gear and vehicle preparedness.
I'll be heading up over Stevens Pass to Leavenworth tomorrow. I'll let everyone know how things are coming along.
Posted by Gary Brockway on October 25, 2011 at 11:40 AM
I was hiking in the Badger Creek Wilderness east of Mt Hood on Sunday. There was quite a bit of good color along Highway 26, from ZigZag on, especially up around the Blue Box Pass area.
Just got back from Leavenworth yesterday. The color of the vine maple along the slopes at Stevens Pas was simply STUNNING. The color from there to Leavenworth was also at peak. Go now!
Discussion
20 repliesEdit by Catherine:
Please do post your news here about how the Fall colors are coming along in all our various regions. Thanks everyone. Thank you Joseph for starting this thread!
Here in Oregon's southern Willamette Valley, I was a little surprised to note yesterday that my neighbor's ornamental maple tree was starting to turn already, and even more surprising was hearing (and then seeing) a flock of honkers overhead, flying north in classic V formation.
It's back---get ready!!!!!!
http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/45220/bastardi-three-of-next-five-wi.asp
http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/back-to-back-la-nina_2011-09-12
Sure wish I could have joined you on that Tetons trip!
I also called USFS and NPS ranger stations in the Washington Cascades and heard that fall color is still a week or even two out at the higher elevations around Mount Baker (Mt. Shuksan and Picture Lake) and in the Stevens Pass/Tumwater Canyon area.
Some weather coming in the next few days in northern Washington, so maybe things will improve a lot by next weekend.
I've been in the Trout Lake area the past couple of days (10/12-10/14). There is some beautiful vine maple and huckleberry a little west of Trout Lake near Forlorn Lakes. The good fall color seems to be between about 2,000'-3,500' elevation. Right at Trout Lake it was minimal, and higher up (Cultus Creek Trail to Indian Heaven Wilderness) there are also very little. The Sawtooth Berry Fields up near FR 30 - FR 24 had pockets of great color but not massive fields of it. There is, however, the potential for a really great shot of the huckleberry with Mt. Saint Helens in the distance from the area where the PCT crosses FR 24.
I'm heading further north in the Cascades. Anybody else going to be shooting up there this weekend? If so and you want to try to hook up, email or txt me.
At lower elevations the color is poor and mostly muddy brown. I took the road through Cougar, and followed the Lewis River on FR 90. Once past Curly Creek Rd. the color was much better. The Big Leaf Maple were much more yellow and less brown, and as I got closer to FR 23 the Vine Maple along the road were primo.
There's not a lot of color at Takhlakh Lake proper, but Tahktahk Meadow is really good right now. I had never been to Potato Hill, so I wandered there on Sunday. It is also doing very well, especially on the north side. (I didn't photograph from Potato as I was only there during the “scouting” time of day.) Driving from Takhlakh to Randle on FR 23 yesterday, the color was great until I dropped to the lower elevations near Randle and then it turned muddy again.
At Rainier, the Devil's Club on the way in is colorful, maybe even past peak. The Vine Maple on the canyon walls is at peak. Interestingly, the huckleberry and similar low vegetation around Paradise is just getting going. It is maybe a week or two away from peak? There are patches that are very good, but in the minority.
Greg, sorry I didn't see your post until I returned; I would love to have met up with you.
In the southern Cascades, around Trout Lake and Mount Adams, there were places with great color, and some, like Trout Lake itself, where the color was just starting. Indian Heaven Wilderness could be very good in the next few days.
The color was very good on the east side of Stevens Pass in the Washington Cascades, and likely will just get better in the next week or two. Vine maple are vibrant red and yellow, with aspen and cottonwood coming on strong. The area around Tumwater Canyon and the road to Lake Wenatchee is very good. On the west side of the pass, color is muted, and most of the bigleaf maple are a mottled brown and yellow.
On Mountain Loop Highway and Sauk River Valley between Granite Falls and Rockport, the color is so-so, but what a beautiful drive. If the bigleaf and vine maple brighten up a bit, this is a great option for fall color forest photos.
In the North Cascades, the alpine larch were great at higher elevations (~3-5k’) but not much elsewhere. A surprising amount on snow covering the trail at Maple Pass – Heather Pass Loop, but what an incredibly scenic hike!
At Snoqualmie Pass, there was very little color along I-90, but good color was visible on the mountainsides above. Traffic however, was miserable going eastbound due to construction projects; maybe it’s better on the weekend, but check WSDOT reports.
In general, it seemed like the bigleaf maple on the west side of the Cascades was more or less a mottled brown & yellow, while at the higher elevations and on the east side, the color may be very good in the coming week or two – delayed beyond the usual timing just like the wildflower bloom was earlier this summer.
Fall color should be very good in the eastern part of the state in the next week or two. Methow Valley was looking good, but not quite prime for the bright yellow aspen and cottonwood.
This being October in the Pacific Northwest, it’s a good idea to be prepared for anything and everyting weatherwise as far as clothing, hiking gear and vehicle preparedness.
Gary Brockway