At that altitude, groves of aspen and willow trees ... as autumn progresses. That means there’s still time to catch the show at lower elevations. South Lake Tahoe and Convict Lake, near Mammoth ...

orange and red topping trees and littering lawns. “Every leaf speaks bliss to me / Fluttering from the autumn tree,” wrote 19th-century author Emily Brontë. Still today, many agree.