p.1 #1 · An Afternoon at Carrizo Plain National Monument
At the end of March we extended a trip by one day so that we could make a loop through Carrizo Plain National Monument on our return from Death Valley. Getting there was a bit of an adventure — hail, winds, flooding, closed roads slowed us down — but we arrived in the afternoon and had a few hours there on a day of clouds, intermittent cloudbursts, sun breaking through, and the start of this years's bloom.
p.1 #3 · An Afternoon at Carrizo Plain National Monument
Such a brief window for green and spring colors, the results were worth the effort! Given the current road conditions, I can see how it might have been "interesting" getting around up there when it was stormier.
p.1 #5 · An Afternoon at Carrizo Plain National Monument
junglialoh wrote:
Beautiful spring landscape in wilderness covered with lovely wild flowers
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Craig Gillette wrote:
Such a brief window for green and spring colors, the results were worth the effort! Given the current road conditions, I can see how it might have been "interesting" getting around up there when it was stormier.
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psharvic wrote:
Fine work on these, Dan.
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Thank you to the three of you.
Indeed, the window is brief. Our visit at the very end of March was a bit before the peak color — though still spectacular. I hear that it may still be going on, but in California these grasslands dry out pretty quickly once warmer weather arrives.
Our biggest driving issue was road closures due to remaining storm closures. We traveled through an area southwest of Bakersfield where there were still a lot of flooded roads and fields.
Since I have previously gained access to the area of the wildflower bloom from the west, my experience with the east side access we would use coming in from Death Valley was very limited. We had left by crossing the San Andreas (Temblor Range) once before, and I initially thought that would be the best access this time. I knew there was a closed section on 58, but I did not know where — I didn't realize it was a section that we would need to use. Due to a series of decisions I was using my car's navigation system when we tried it, rather than using phone apps, and we ended up running into the roadblock where 58 was closed! Oops.
Before that our phone navigation maps had tried to take us on what started turning into a 4WD route. My vehicle _could_ do that, but I didn't want to try an unknown route in muddy conditions, so we had to back out of that one, too. We finally took a more southerly approach and made it to our destination. Once there we did leave the main road on at least one small, single-lane unpaved road — in places it was, uh, "exciting driving," but nothing calamitous. But, indeed, there are roads out there that are unsuitable to regular passenger vehicles, especially during and after heavy rains!
For folks looking for California spring color, if you are going to low evolution grasslands... go now. But the show won't end with them. Things move into the Sierra foothills and then higher in the range, and far northern CA can have great color in a month or two. (One previous very wet year I ran into lush plants and wildflowers in mid-September high in the Yosemite backcountry!)
p.1 #7 · An Afternoon at Carrizo Plain National Monument
Dan, did you think this was a superbloom year at Carrizo? I've only been there once almost 20 years ago, and would like to go again in a future year. I have heard it gets much more crowded now.
p.1 #8 · An Afternoon at Carrizo Plain National Monument
Glad you were able to make it out there and nice images as usual! IMO, you're lucky you were able to get some clouds. I've made four day trips out there, and except for the first trip at the end of March it's been almost cloudless. The closure on Hwy 58 was problematic because the info on the Caltrans website was just plain incorrect. If you were coming from the east, as I think you were, you would have been blocked as you found. Coming from the west, you still had access. I actually happened to be there right when Caltrans opened the road earlier in April.
I'm curious, was the route your phone app tried to take you the Crocker Springs - Hurricane Rd? If it was, probably a good idea that you turned around in late March. I went up it a couple of weeks ago, some big/deep ruts, and the grade is quite steep and one lane. Definitely not suitable for standard cars.
@Ross Martin - I would consider this year a super bloom although I'm no expert. I was there in 2019 and 2017 which were considered super blooms and I'd say the conditions were similar.
p.1 #9 · An Afternoon at Carrizo Plain National Monument
Ross Martin wrote:
Really nice set, Dan. Voted.
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Ross Martin wrote:
Dan, did you think this was a superbloom year at Carrizo? I've only been there once almost 20 years ago, and would like to go again in a future year. I have heard it gets much more crowded now.
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amv8 wrote:
Glad you were able to make it out there and nice images as usual! IMO, you're lucky you were able to get some clouds. I've made four day trips out there, and except for the first trip at the end of March it's been almost cloudless. The closure on Hwy 58 was problematic because the info on the Caltrans website was just plain incorrect. If you were coming from the east, as I think you were, you would have been blocked as you found. Coming from the west, you still had access. I actually happened to be there right when Caltrans opened the road earlier in April.
I'm curious, was the route your phone app tried to take you the Crocker Springs - Hurricane Rd? If it was, probably a good idea that you turned around in late March. I went up it a couple of weeks ago, some big/deep ruts, and the grade is quite steep and one lane. Definitely not suitable for standard cars.
@Ross Martin@ - I would consider this year a super bloom although I'm no expert. I was there in 2019 and 2017 which were considered super blooms and I'd say the conditions were similar....Show more →
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Thanks to both of you!
Since I was there about a week or so before the peak bloom, it is hard for me to comment on this year's compared to other years. I've been photographing the spring wildflower around the state for years, including here, and it sure seems like an exceptional year in general. When I visited this location, the extent of the flowers out in the flats was not equal to the most extensive bloom I have seen — but I was there a bit too early, and other pictures I've seen made it look more like the equal of the best that I've seen in the past.
All over the state it seems to be a better-than-average year and even a notable one.
For those just catching on to this, note that some of the reports you are reading concern things that have already happened. If you are going to low elevation California grassland areas (like this one), you may have missed the peak. Of course, the wildflowers don't happen at the same time everywhere in the state. The bloom in the redwoods comes much later, there are flowers along the coast later in the season as well, and things will not even get started in the High Sierra for many weeks.
About the road, it might have been the one you mention. After I turned around on the steep muddy section, I later looked at a map to see where it was going and it was definitely going to be unpaved all the way to Carrizo, crossing the Temblor range to the south of 58, which I'm pretty familiar with. It looks like the sort of route that I _could_ have driven, but not the sort that I wanted to chance that day in the rain and with only a brief window for visiting that area. It was a reminder of something that I already know — namely that you shouldn't completely trust (as I didn't) the guidance of things like Google and Apple Maps in rural areas or in inclement conditions. The next obstacle I encountered — the closure on 58 — was a reminder of the limits of auto navigation systems like the one in my 4Runner.
Finally, about "superblooms..." I think that the determination is pretty subjective. More recently it has come to simply mean "a year with a lot of wildflowers." I feel like it used to mean "a truly exceptional wildflower year that most of us had not witnessed before."
p.1 #12 · An Afternoon at Carrizo Plain National Monument
40Driggs wrote:
Great use of light and the whole series executed a spring "feel" nicely.
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Derek Weston wrote:
Very nice. 1 and 3 for me.
Thanks you both of you!
Brief note: Above I mentioned that the peak of the color has likely passed in this location by now, but a post I saw somewhere else suggests that it isn't quite over yet. And, of course, the color is just getting going in other California locations.
p.1 #15 · An Afternoon at Carrizo Plain National Monument
Nice images. I like #1 the most.
I was there for the first time on April 17th and 18th. Drove down from San Jose and stayed over night in Taft. I had a regular car so I didn't attempt the middle or Southern part of Elkhorn Rd.
Colors and patterns were amazing.
p.1 #16 · An Afternoon at Carrizo Plain National Monument
mike650 wrote:
Nice images. I like #1 the most.
I was there for the first time on April 17th and 18th. Drove down from San Jose and stayed over night in Taft. I had a regular car so I didn't attempt the middle or Southern part of Elkhorn Rd.
Colors and patterns were amazing.
Since I usually come from the west, I hadn't thought of staying in Taft, but I see that is a good option. (I prefer to camp closer to the area, but that's not for everyone.)
In typical (e.g. "drier") conditions, although that road is largely gravel it is easy to drive in normal cars. However, given this years late and heavy rains, your conservative choice made sense.
p.1 #19 · An Afternoon at Carrizo Plain National Monument
gdanmitchell wrote:
Since I usually come from the west, I hadn't thought of staying in Taft, but I see that is a good option. (I prefer to camp closer to the area, but that's not for everyone.)
In typical (e.g. "drier") conditions, although that road is largely gravel it is easy to drive in normal cars. However, given this years late and heavy rains, your conservative choice made sense.
Dan
Agree. I was up there on the 18th, too, beautiful. Not a bad decision to take it easy. I stayed up in the northern area, very little time on Elkhorn, too. A lot to consider in driving the area.
p.1 #20 · An Afternoon at Carrizo Plain National Monument
Craig Gillette wrote:
Agree. I was up there on the 18th, too, beautiful. Not a bad decision to take it easy. I stayed up in the northern area, very little time on Elkhorn, too. A lot to consider in driving the area.
As I mentioned, I've always come in from the west (north) in the past, usually driving over from the Paso Robles / San Luis Obispo area. So I have arrived by passing the lake, then a bit later hitting Elkhorn Road. I had driving down Elkhorn a bunch of times but never all the way to the end where it eventually emerges near Taft.
So now I've driven the whole thing and I think I can say that the place where you are more likely to get hung up if it is really muddy might be closer to Taft. If you come from the north, the first part of this gravel road is typically very easy driving — the kind of gravel where you can haul along at 45 mph if you so choose, at least in a larger vehicle.
Some of the side roads are a distinctly different story, as you may have seen. We took one out onto the plain that descended through a somewhat muddy section and then continued through some pretty wet places on the flats. No issue with my vehicle (4Runner Trail), but folks in suburban cars might find it less... fun. ;-)
