October 31, 2008
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Yes,
it had to happen eventually ...
the awesome fall weather we have been
experiencing these past few weeks has
turned a bit rainy and stormy today,
with more predicted through the weekend.
So far, the showers are intermittent and
it is still possible to go out and enjoy
a little leaf-peeping.
Sandra of the Sporting Inn
in
Quincy,
rode her bike around town. "It was
hard to stop because the lighting
changes throughout the day and I would
want to run and grab my camera again!"
Sandra sent this photo of a house along
Main Street that is definitely in the
Halloween spirit. Below are a couple
more shots of Quincy at its fall finest!
Suzi from the Visitors Bureau reports
the Feather River Canyon (Hwy 70)
is looking good this week, but you'll
have to be patient since there are three
short stops due to construction. That
just gives you more time to stop and see
the foliage, and perhaps get out and
take some shots.
The upper canyon (first photo)
is sporting lots of orange oaks, and
some dogwood, if you take a look out
across the North Fork Feather River.
Farther down, it's
still colorful at Belden (bottom
left) but the foliage gets
spottier as you head down canyon, where
it's at about 50 percent, with mostly
Big Leaf maple and oaks. It will become
pretty obvious when you pass through the
burn areas, but there's color
nevertheless.
October 30, 2008
WOW, it’s only one more day until
Halloween! All the little ghosts and
goblins are getting ready to go
trick-or-treating tomorrow night. Kids
can visit the downtown merchants in
Quincy during Safe Trick-or-Treat
from 3-6 pm. There will also be Safe
Trick -or- Treat in Chester from 3-6
pm and Trunk -or- Treat at the
Graeagle Community Church
at 7:30 pm.
Adults can attend the Lady Elks
Halloween Party in Quincy
starting at 8pm or go to the
Halloween Bash at the Plumas Club at
8pm, in Quincy as well. Both events are
having costume contests and live music.
You can even dress up your favorite pet
and take them to a Howling Good Time
at the Treats Dog Company in Chester
for a pets and owners costume contest
from 3-6pm.
Roger Lee
from Millbrae, Ben Lee
from San Francisco and Hanford
Kwan from
San Jose all made the trip up from
the Bay area to photograph our beautiful
fall colors. The trio stopped in at
the Visitors Bureau office for advice on
where to see the most colorful foliage
during their three-day visit. After
spending some time talking with the
staff and mapping out several routes,
they gathered their leaf-peeper kits
and brochures, and headed out into the
warm, sunny weather to get some great
shots! And imagine our surprise when
Roger, Ben and Hanford all popped in our
office the next morning telling us about
the great places they had been the day
before. They even asked staffer Kari
if she would be a tour guide for them
and take them out to the La Porte and
Graeagle areas for the day! Above,
Roger, Ben and Hanford in front of the
Visitors Bureau office getting ready to
go leaf-peeping.
Bill
Heiser, a photographer from San
Francisco was out and about and sent
us these photos to share. He explored
from Chester, along Hwy 89 to Quincy,
then up to Taylorsville and the Genesee
Road. "There was great color all over, "
he said, "though only a few spots along
the road made for great photo scenes."
This isn't stopping Bill from
"returning ASAP" to catch the end of
the peak, because as he points out, we
are seeing quite a number of trees that
are still just starting to turn. He took
the photo above and left of a barn right
outside of Quincy.
These two photos, also sent by Bill, are
of the North Fork of the Feather River
in Chester. You can view more of Bill's
work at the
Northwoods Gallery on Main Street in
Chester.
Yes, it is clouding up out there and
rain is expected on and off throughout
the weekend, but don't let that keep you
from a little leaf-peeping. The
bright colors of rain-washed leaves
offer unique viewing and photographic
opportunities against an overcast sky.
So dress warm .... and have fun!
October 29,2008
It continues to
be prime leaf-peeping season here in
Plumas County, but it won't last
forever. If you have an
opportunity to visit in the next few
days, go for it! For those who
have visited before, or who actually are
lucky enough to live here, this is a
favorite time of
the year. And many first time visitors
are discovering why, judging by the
emails the Visitors Bureau is receiving
during the Awesome autumn.
Golfers at
Graeagle Meadows Golf Course also
are enjoying some great fall views, such
as these aspens along the fairway on
Holes 1 and 9 (right). Don't
forget that several of the
golf courses in Plumas County are
offering fall specials.
And everywhere along the
Middle Fork Feather River, willows
and cottonwoods are showing great yellow
color, including this view from the
bridge on Camp Layman Road
(left).
"I never knew
that there was such a beautiful place
in California. I will be sure to go next
year for sightseeing and I will tell all
my friends and relatives about this
place.
I have been looking for a place like
Plumas County for a long time .... When
the fall comes, I can only dream about
going to New England, but I am glad I
can go to Plumas County instead,"
wrote recent visitor Alyssa
Loo.
And from our neighbors up at the
Chester Chamber of Commerce, a
couple of photos (below) showing off the
fall colors around Chester.
As a reminder that
autumn brings more than just changes in
leaf color, Joe Willis sent
along this photo with his foliage update
and a bit of bug lore.
"While the focus of most leaf
peepers during this peak week is leaves,
especially the huge panoramas of black
oak and big leaf maple we're seeing
along Hwys 70 and 89, I can't help but
get a charge out of smaller things right
under my nose. The example to the
right is
one I stumbled across near the
Taylorsville T... I saw one of my favorite summer
flowers, Idaho gumweed,
Gindelia nana, mostly turned
brown, but with a few yellow flowers
persisting. As I closed in to
photograph the fascinating recurved
bracts I found this stink bug, family
Pentatomidae (names for the 5-segmented
antennae). During the summer, when the
plant is green, it is visited by green
members of this family, and now that
it's brown, here we have a brown one
visiting. So, the insect population is
changing color, too."
October 28,2008
"Our first trip here, but
definitely not our last."
This has become a frequently expressed
phrase by visitors to the Visitors
Center in Quincy lately as Mother Nature
continues to delight us with dazzling
fall colors. Even the weather has
been very cooperative this year, though
that may change towards the end of this
week according to weather predictions.
In the meantime, we continue to receive
beautiful photos and color updates from
around the county as folks enjoy being
out and about.
NC Nagarajan of San Bruno
emailed yesterday morning with this to
say: " I visited Quincy on Saturday
Oct 25th. Here is the picture
I took, next to the Quincy
Courthouse tree. It is gorgeous!
I drove along Hwy 70 from Oroville and
drove back to Tahoe via Hwy 89. Both
highways are ripe with fall colors. It
was definitely worth the drive!"
Indian Valley area ... On her way
to Chester Saturday morning, Terri of
Meadow Valley took a detour out
Stampfli Road (north end of Crescent
Mills) where the hillsides were a
colorful mosaic of purples, reds,
yellows and green.
Avid leaf-peeper,
Richard McCutcheon of Indian Valley
says "Colors
are just peaking along Indian Creek. It
is as pretty right now as it has been
all year." He took these photos near
Taylorsville:
The Graeagle and Portola
areas were exploding with color
this weekend and the
drive
along Hwy. 89/70 from Quincy to
Graeagle is stunning, according to
leaf-peeper Suzi Brakken. Mary
Roach, who works at the Graeagle
Outpost at the Graeagle Mill Pond, says
the business was hopping with many
first-time visitors. The cottonwoods
around the Outpost and Millpond are at
peak and great for photographing in the
afternoon sun.
At the far eastern end of the county,
Toni Morris of
Portola was hiking in the
Beckwourth area above Ross Meadows
where she enjoyed the fall colors and a
view of Mt. Beckwourth.
October 27, 2008
What an incredible weekend
we had in Plumas
County! The weather was perfect and the
fall foliage spectacular. The Plumas
County Visitors Bureau had plenty of
enthusiastic leaf-peepers stop by and
share their stories and photos. As
Kari, who was here at the Visitors
Center in Quincy to help folks on
Saturday sums up her day … “There
were so many really nice people who were
all enjoying being here”.
But
don’t wait too long to come visit ….
The Fall colors are at their peak and
won’t last too much longer! Even if you
can only spend the day, it is well worth
the trip, as Randall Ito from San
Jose discovered when he toured
Plumas County this past Sunday. Based on
advice from the
Visitors Bureau,
Randall's route took him up the Feather
River Scenic Byway/Hwy 70 from Oroville,
then to Indian Valley via Hwy 89.
He continued along Hwy 89 towards
Greenville and took a side trip up to
Round Valley Lake (photo to the
right). He came back
along Hwy
89,
then onto Hwy 70/89 (left) into Quincy
where he
stopped and took more photos (right)
before taking E21 to La
Porte (below).
Randall
had this to say of his day:
“I greatly enjoyed the trip and will
try to make it next year.
Thank you for your advice
and nice website!”
And yet another happy visitor ...
Michael Sharps of
Rio Vista sent the nice photo below
along with these comments:
"This is our
first “leaf-peeping” season and we had a
great time of discovery! We came up on
Friday, October 24 and stayed overnight
night at Cromberg. I wish we had
more time to explore, but we will
certainly plan a longer trip next
season. I have attached a picture I
shot from the overpass on
Mohawk Road
(North of Graeagle). Thank you
for the great information on your
website, it was very helpful!"
What
better way to spend a fall afternoon
than relaxing by a river and taking in
the incredible scenery. The photo
to the right, from Dan Nie, was
taken along the Middle Fork of the
Feather River just north of
Graeagle along Hwy 89.
Please
keep the photos and stories coming
... we are very excited to hear about
your experiences while visiting Plumas
County .... and for those of you who
have already been sharing with us,
THANKS!
