In October, it'll be warm, but it might be cool, so pack a sweatshirt.
The fires have opened up some spectacular mountain views long shielded by dense growth.
Yosemite Valley is usually uncrowded in October, also the tourist "high" season will be over on the coast if Big Sur sounds interesting.
There is no off-season in Monterey however.
The wineries will be active of course---the wineries in the Gold Rush country (HWY 49) and the Central Coast are less pretentious (and I think more fun) than Napa.
Lake Tahoe has a lot of mountain scenery and the casinos should have some cheap rooms to attract off season tourists.
If you find funky industrial stuff interesting, Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo is a short jaunt across the bay from San Francisco
Some of my favorite Autumn photo destinations are the trans-Sierra passes between 49 and 395.
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