California: Fall colors exploding

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By mid-afternoon, the aspen amplify the sharp sunlight. Found in colonies in canyons and along the water, they need full sun and cool summers to survive. (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times)

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Still waters heighten the effect of the changing trees. The trout fishing can still be good, though the lakes are no longer being stocked at this time of year. (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times)

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The aspen travel in crowds, in groves that hug the hillsides. They are also found along lakefronts and streams. (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times)

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A young buck along a trail north of Gem Lake, a three-hour hike from the town of June Lake. The mule deer are plentiful along the Rush Creek Trail leading out of Silver Lake. (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times)

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The late-afternoon sun pours through the trees surrounding Gem Lake, a three-hour hike from June Lake. (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times)

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Like many of the Sierra lakes, Gem is low but still a stunning site on an early autumn day. (Chris Erskine/Los Angeles Times)

By Chris ErskineColumnist

Oct. 9, 2014 8 AM PT

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California’s aspen are about to stage their annual autumn show. The high country has already peaked, and now the colors are moving down the hillsides. This week, the Sierra towns of June Lake and Mammoth Lakes will begin to peak. The luminous aspen, which can be red and gold, can be found in the canyons or ringing the mountain lakes and streams. The peak colors start now and will continue till Halloween — or up until the first major snowstorm arrives.

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Chris Erskine

Chris Erskine is a nationally known humor columnist and editor who retired from the Los Angeles Times in 2020. Previously he wrote for the Sports, Travel and Saturday sections and edited with the paper’s features staff. As an editor, he has been a part of two Pulitzer Prize-winning teams at The Times (for his graphics work on the Northridge quake and the North Hollywood bank robbery). He is best known to readers for his weekly humor pieces on life in suburban Los Angeles. His latest book, “Daditude,” released in 2018, is a collection of his favorite Times columns on fatherhood. He has written two other books, “Man of the House” and “Surviving Suburbia,” which reached the Los Angeles Times bestseller list. The Chicago native has also worked for papers in New Orleans and Miami.

California: Fall colors exploding

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