In fall, California truly is the Golden State

The party is over. Most leaves have taken a powder, and the color that defines fall in California is but a memory.

We’ve published several color reports this fall, with the help of California Fall Color, which thinks that our season of oranges and golds is overlooked and that California doesn’t get its due.

As John Poimiroo told me in an interview some months ago, you’re not going to find those beautiful white New England churches framed in crimson maple leaves. In the East, Poimiroo said, the architecture becomes the backdrop for many color displays.

But in California and much of the West, the natural features frame the displays — the creeks, the peaks, the valleys and sometimes the wildlife.

It’s also possible to follow the progression of color as it begins at higher elevations and tumbles down the mountains until it’s lights out at the bottom.

The website, born in 2009, relies on “color spotters,” who help determine how close an area is to its peak color. And their photography documents the the seasonal changeover.

Dude, autumn happened here too. Thanks for taking a look.

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