Eastern Sierra Fall Colors Report September 2014

Fall colors near Bishop, CA Saturday, September 20, 2014

Fall colors are getting underway in the Eastern Sierra.  These are some of the better locations I found last weekend down in the Bishop area.  The aspen were still mainly green, especially nearly all of the larger trees off of steep hillsides, but for the next two weekends conditions should continue to spread the color to more trees at a wider diversity of elevations.

I say "should' because at this point in the transition to color, the big variable becomes wind.  If a storm blows through, the turned leaves can blow down.  Similarly, extreme cold can make the leaves go directly to brown.  So if you can only get up there on weekends, consider the next two for the Bishop area (especially Bishop Creek and Rock Creek), but do check the weather forecast and factor that in if you can only pick one.

The examples on this page were all taken Saturday, September 20.

Eastern Sierra fall colors getting good near Bishop, hope wind doesn't knock them down! pic.twitter.com/ch5oFronY9
— Jeff Sullivan Photo (@JeffSullPhoto) September 27, 2014

Figueroa Mountain Wildflower Report: April 6, 2011

Figueroa Mountain Wildflowers, originally uploaded by Jeffrey Sullivan.

Figueroa Mountain was less impressive than I expected. Although here are many species blooming, the biggest patches are several of poppies and one small one of lupine in a recently burned area. For now at least, Figueroa Mountain is more of a flower portrait than a flower landscape destination. It's probably worth visiting if you're in the area, but with gas currently over $4.00 it may not be as attractive to visit if a long drive is required.