California's Carrizo Plain is a remarkable place. It sits just east of the Temblor Range, the long, straight range of mountains marking the path of the San Andreas Fault. During much of the year the Carrizo is a very hot and dry place — you might almost think of it as a desert if you visited in, say, August. It greens up during the latter part of California's winter wet season, and every so often when we experience a very wet year the landscape lights up with vast fields of wildflowers. I was there recently, perhaps a bit before the peak of spring color, but still impressive.
The following photographs are some combination of landscape and wildflower photographs. On the day I arrived there was intermittent rain across the plain, and I set up camp in a shower. Between the dark clouds and the periodic sunny openings the light was dramatic.
Late in the evening I drove across to the base of the Temblor Range — I was probably standing almost directly on the San Andreas when I made this photograph — where colorful wildflowers were starting to cover the hillsides.
My expectation was that the weather would pass overnight, and I expected to wake up to clear skies. I awoke well before dawn and I could see the stars and moon, but as I downed a quick cup of coffee and bowl of cereal in the darkness it looked like the valley below might be covered with fog, as unlikely as that seemed. I packed up and drove out of camp quietly, trying not to disturb the normal people who sleep in. ;-)
Sure enough, as I descended toward the valley and the light started to increase it became clear that the unlikely fog actually was present. I stopped at an overlook and saw mountains to the south that were being over-ridden by drifting fog as the first color came to the sky.
Eventually the fog began to clear as I drove further south, and the light was beautiful — with some unexpected combination of softness and clarity. I stopped to photograph across the plain toward low mountains and the Temblor Range beyond.
In a few places the flowers began in the lowest flatlands and continued right on up into the surrounding mountains.
I have a Death Valley visit scheduled in the not-too-distant future, and I may make a detour that will take me back through the Carrizo one more time this season.
Dan
Mar 28, 2019 at 01:06 AM
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