Flutterby™! :

Aspens and foliage near Rainbow Lake in the Sierra off I80. I guess it was autumn of 2000, the Sunday morning hike crowd stayed overnight at Rainbow Lodge, had a fantastic dinner, got up crack of dawn, did a hike up to the lakes and a bit beyond to see the Aspen foliage and back, and had a very nice breakfast. We never did find the big Aspen grove we were looking for, and had to settle with some great rock formations and, of course, the beauty of the high Sierra, but it was a very worthwhile trek. Closer to the Bay Area than you'd think.