Growing up back East, I’m used to fabulous falls. From Georgia, to North Carolina, to Michigan, I’ve lived in a few states with spectacular autumn foliage.

Driving around to look at the colors is a thing. The older I get, the more I like to do it, and the more I appreciate nature.

I thoroughly enjoyed making and showing a fall colors graphic at my old stations in Michigan – I did it both in Alpena and the Tri-Cities on Fridays, thinking viewers would be going on leisurely weekend drives.

I’ve done it a little less here in Central California. I’ve found a few good sources of color reports, but the drastic elevation difference between the Valley and Sierra means completely different stages of colors county-wide. I’ve also taken most Fridays off this fall ☺. So, my fall graphics have been MIA.

Hopefully, those of you who enjoy touring around to find colors do it regardless of my leaf graphics.

Anyway, my first fall here, I decided to explore the east side of the Sierra. It was the last week of September, nights were getting cold, afternoon temperatures were comfortable, and it was perfect hiking weather.

What a gorgeous surprise when I drove down 395, turned at Tom’s Place onto Rock Creek Rd., and was greeted by vibrant golds and oranges. I had found fall!

I wanted to go back around the same time this year. My mom was here the last week in September, so I marked my calendar for the following weekend.

When my co-anchors asked where I was adventuring for the weekend, I replied that I was going “leaf peeping.” George said, “What in the WORLD is that?” Haha. I guess it’s not a thing out here in our age group.

I explained I wanted to look at all the fall foliage and take pictures. When put that way, I can see how it isn’t appealing. But add a few hikes surrounded by snow-capped peaks, and it sounds fantastic.

I planned to go to Virginia Lakes and hike about 9 or 10 miles Saturday, sleep in my new DIY car bed, then hike Ten Lakes (13ish miles) on Sunday.

There was a very loud event by my house Friday night, so I slept in a bit on Saturday morning. I lolly gagged some more and didn’t even leave Fresno until after 8 AM, and reached the Virginia Lakes trailhead around noon.

I’d already taken several photos along the road in, it was beautiful! My perfect hike has mountains with rugged peaks, and many gem-colored alpine lakes. I didn’t have to hike for long to see that this trail would be sufficient for my high maintenance requirements. Hehe.

Each lake I came to seemed to have a different personality. Different shape, color, mountain backdrop, even weather. After the third lake, I stopped seeing people. It was extremely peaceful.

I started to trek up some switchbacks, which appeared to lead to a huge snowbank in the bowl of one of the mountains. There were some snowshoe tracks through it, and I was thinking yeeeeahhh, I’m not going through that.

Knowing I would gladly cut my hike short to avoid tracking through the snow made me lose a little motivation. I continued up the switchbacks anyway, and the trail ended up being fine. Darn it, I was hoping I’d have an excuse to quit hiking up the steep mountain.

Then, I DID come across a snowy patch! It wasn’t too bad, and there were footprints from a morning hiker. I took a few steps in, then backtracked. Newsflash: snow is cold. I was wearing low top boots and ankle socks. I had no problem turning around. I’d get a longer hike in on Sunday, anyway.

The hike back was just as beautiful, even though I’d already seen everything. At one point, I rounded a corner and was stopped in my tracks by an animal. I think it was startled, too, and we both froze.

It registered that is was a buck, and I stayed still to admire it. I’ve seen thousands of deer throughout my life, but I still think they’re so majestic! He kept an eye on me as he walked behind a nearby hill. I giggled out loud when he popped his head up just over the crest of that hill, then quickly disappeared again. Yes, hello, I’m still here ☺.

I got back to the car and headed down the road to Lundy Canyon, which was supposedly near peak color.

I’d say the road had even BETTER color than Virginia Lakes!

 

There was one more spot I wanted to hit up before sunset, so I didn’t have time to hike Lundy Lake or any other trails in the area. My last stop for the day would be Sagehen Mountain. I’d never heard of it; it’s off Highway 120 south of Mono Lake.

The main road is maintained gravel, but I got off that at one point and was soon traveling down a forest road. I don’t have 4 wheel drive, and at the time needed new suspension. It was an interesting 15 minutes, to say the least.

I finally found the colors, snapped some photos, and headed back down to 395. I wanted to get to my secret sleeping location by sunset so I could set up my new car bed!

If you follow me on social media, you saw that I bought a power drill, had Google tell me how to use it, then I attached hinges to plywood. I can lay the plywood out in my backseat for a bed, then it folds up nicely in my trunk. I felt crafty when I made it!

As it gets colder, I now don’t have to worry about setting up a tent in the cold. I can just run my car heater, unfold my bed, blow up my sleeping bag pad, and go to sleep! My “bed” worked like a charm. I’ll add curtains of some sort in the future, but everything else was great!

Sundays are short days for me. I go to bed at 6 PM, so I like to be home by 5. If I was going to get almost 13 miles in, I’d need an early start. But not too early – it was cold, and I’m a baby with cold weather.

I hadn’t read reports of much color off Tioga pass, so I was only here for the hike. I got to the Ten Lakes trailhead off Tioga Pass just before 8 AM. I stored my food bag in the bear boxes, and I was off by 8:15!

It was so peaceful for the first mile in the woods, and I didn’t see a soul. A trail runner passed me soon after, then it was just myself and the wilderness, and I was happy.

About 4 miles in, I started going up some steeper switchbacks. A group of backpackers were coming down, and I knew I’d start seeing more and more people heading back to their cars from their weekend at the lakes.

I reached the crest of the mountain and was greeted with a stunning view oft the high country. Views like this always take my breath away and never get old. It’s amazing how many people visit Yosemite each year, and how so few of them leave Yosemite Valley and drive up Tioga Pass. This is the Yosemite that the majority of tourists never see, and it’s arguably the most impressive.

The trail actually drops down to the lakes and loses most of the elevation you just gained. Every time there’s a downhill on a hike in, I always start dreading the return trip – those downhills turn into uphills on the way out 😉.

I passed more and more heavily breathing backpackers in this part. Thank goodness I was only wearing a daypack.

I got down to the first lake around 10:45 AM. 6.3 miles in 2.5 hours wasn’t too shabby! I wandered around the lake until I came across some snow. Then I found a nice, flat, and sunny rock to eat a snack on.

The hike back out was way easier than I had built it up to be. I guess I still was in decent shape from some summer adventures, and and I recently discovered weights at the gym. Squats were paying off!

I caught up to three backpacking groups on the way out. I’ve mentioned before that I’m competitive, and it doesn’t matter that the other groups weren’t aware of the race 😂. They’d been huffing and puffing up the hill from the lakes as I’d been frolicking down, so I imagine they rolled their eyes as I bounded past them.

One group had stopped for a real lunch. I was slightly jealous of their setup – they were using their stove and everything. Made my delicious Pop Tart lunch seem silly. But hey, they’re made with REAL fruit, right? Totally healthy.

I got back to the car at 1:08 PM, which means I did 12.7 miles and ~3100 ft of elevation gain in just under 5 hours. Not bad! It felt good to get out on a long hike again, I’d been dying to for months! I’d done Half Dome in May, but that was it for long hikes this past summer. I have some serious work to do on my hiking ticklist next summer.

I hope you all can get out these next few weeks and enjoy the leaves. Let me know in the comments below where you’ve seen colors this year!