Archive 2017 · A few from the Carrizo Plain

kurt765
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · A few from the Carrizo Plain

This year for the first time I visited Carrizo Plain National Monument. I was blown away by this place during the superbloom. It's a neat and hidden gem much closer than Death Valley for me. I look forward to many return trips.

On my first trip I helped a stuck driver in the wet clay on Simmler Road. On my second trip I had a driver hit the gas instead of the brake and fly backwards into a ravine. Fortunately she was uninjured and ended up driving home. I caught it on my dashcam and we had a CHP helicopter come out to aid. I had planned to do some night time lapse but it took so long to get this lady help I ended up just shooting a time lapse of the tow itself.

At any rate, I got a taste of the superbloom up in the Temblor Range and on the Carrizo Plain itself. You could get lost in oceans of yellow and just as I have seen it described, it looked like "spilled paint" everywhere.

UFO Over the Carrizo Plain

Spilled Paint

Soda Lake Sunset

Purple, Yellow, and Green

Yellow Ocean

Apr 24, 2017 at 05:11 PM

blueshadows
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · A few from the Carrizo Plain

Spilled Paint is my favorite out of a nice series; the bonus is the short video, showing how easy it is to get in trouble, and a long ways from a tow truck. She didn't miss you by much, either

Good Karma, Good Photos!

Apr 24, 2017 at 06:20 PM

Fred Amico
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · A few from the Carrizo Plain

Great series! The video wasn't really a surprise to me, as there are some crazy people out there.

I was there a few weeks ago, and while rounding a curve on a two lane road, almost hit a group of about 8-10 women, standing right in the middle of the road taking selfies!

Apr 24, 2017 at 06:58 PM

jdc562
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · A few from the Carrizo Plain

The video is scary and should be heeded by everyone. Lots of people were not being careful out there. Like Blueshadows pointed out, both you and the driver of the runaway car are very lucky she didn't hit you. I also saw two big instances of what Fred reports--bunches of people standing out in a narrow road with blind curves and being so engrossed in selfies against the wildflower hills they don't even hear your vehicle approaching.

NIce set up in the steep hills. Do you know if your "spilled paint" was the same location that Frank Kee photographed many years ago--the photo from another bloom that went viral? The geography looks similar, but the flowers are much different. Judging from three bloom years I have been to Carrizo, though, every super bloom year is very different. This year hillside daisies were dominant. In 2010, it was goldfields. Not like the nearby Antelope Valley, where it's always poppies. Thanks for sharing all these.

Apr 24, 2017 at 08:39 PM

kurt765
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · A few from the Carrizo Plain

Thanks for the comments.
I don't know if my shot is from where Frank Kee's photo from many years back was taken. It was a place that another person in the area had told me about. I will be back for sure with future blooms. Of course, who knows what the weather will bring.
The UFO in the first shot is the CHP helicopter as it left us. I think they turned on the beam briefly because they knew I was taking photos, heh.

Apr 26, 2017 at 09:51 AM

polaris-14
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · A few from the Carrizo Plain

I think Carrizo Plains might be one of the most treacherous area to drive! Purple, Yellow, & Green is my favorite. Beautiful image with a very interesting foreground! Thanks for sharing, Kurt!

Apr 26, 2017 at 10:14 AM


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