Too early for fall colors? Not in California’s Eastern Sierra

Though it’s barely autumn, fall colors in California are coming on fast at high elevations in Bishop, Mammoth Lakes and other parts of the Eastern Sierra.

California Fall Color, an Inyo County-based website whose tagline is “Dude, autumn happens here too,” issued its first Go Now! alert of the season on Friday. Colors are popping as aspens turn bright gold at higher elevations in the Bishop Creek area in Bishop, Calif., specifically at Table Mountain Camp, Surveyors Meadow and Lake Sabrina.

Aspens also are turning farther noth at Inyo Craters in Mammoth Lakes. Colors should last through mid-October, unless bad weather rips through, the report says.

But aspens aren’t the only flora adding dramatic color to the Sierra. A low-lying shrub called rabbitbrush turns canyons bright yellow around this time of year. Right now, it’s flowering west of the town of Independence on the Onion Valley Road.

Places to watch where colors are just starting to shift: Manzanita Lake in Lassen Volcanic National Park and farther north in the towns of Plumas County.

MaryForgione@latimes.com
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