Wildflowers at Carrizo Plain
Saturday, 11 Mar 2017, 1pm.
The drive over from Paso Robles (aka Hamburglar Pass) this morning was pleasant. We drove back roads headed east from Paso, encountering minimal traffic past town limits. Residential neighborhoods quickly gave way to tidy grape farms, and eventually even those gave way to rough hills and mountains- all blanketed in green at this time of year rather than the customary gold (of dried grass) that covers them most weeks of the year. It was just us, the road, the green all around us, and the occasional hawk circling overhead.
The verdant green everywhere gave us hopes for seeing a riot of wildflowers in Carrizo Plain. During our visit last August everything was dry and brown. The creeks were dry washes and the plains were baking.
Alas, our timing was off by about two weeks on this trip. The record breaking rain season we've had recently will make for an epic wildflower bloom soon. This weekend we're on the front end of it. ...Which is to say, amid all the green there's just a bit of other color.
Early in the wildflower season at Carrizo Plain National Monument
We also miscalculated a bit on visiting Painted Rock, an attraction in the park that features native rock art centuries old. During our 2015 visit the temperatures were extreme, and Hawk couldn't do it. I saw it by myself 18 months ago. We wanted to see it with my this weekend, when the temperatures were less blast furnace-like. But we're in the middle of a two week period when nobody's allowed in because Prairie Falcons are busy mating on top of the rocks, or something like that.
Instead we decided to take a scenic drive up the winding dirt road to the top of Caliente Ridge. Along the lower half of the road were several pullouts for scenic views. Here's a picture I shot of Painted Rocks from one of the scenic stops:
Overlooking painted rock (lower left) on a hazy day at Carrizo Plain
In the background you can see signifcant haze. It's a beautiful day today, dry and clear with temps around 72F (22C), but the haze in the distance is pretty severe.
We continued up the narrow dirt road to the top of Caliente Ridge, over 4,000' elevation. There were a number of people at the lower overlooks but nearly nobody at the top. It helps that the road got fairly rough, discouraging all but the most nervy drivers in ordinary passenger cars. In our well equipped 4x4 our only worry about the road was we'd get hit by some yahoo plowing out of control down the hill.
Wildflowers atop Caliente Ridge at Carrizo Plain National Monument
Continued in next entry.
The drive over from Paso Robles (aka Hamburglar Pass) this morning was pleasant. We drove back roads headed east from Paso, encountering minimal traffic past town limits. Residential neighborhoods quickly gave way to tidy grape farms, and eventually even those gave way to rough hills and mountains- all blanketed in green at this time of year rather than the customary gold (of dried grass) that covers them most weeks of the year. It was just us, the road, the green all around us, and the occasional hawk circling overhead.
The verdant green everywhere gave us hopes for seeing a riot of wildflowers in Carrizo Plain. During our visit last August everything was dry and brown. The creeks were dry washes and the plains were baking.
Alas, our timing was off by about two weeks on this trip. The record breaking rain season we've had recently will make for an epic wildflower bloom soon. This weekend we're on the front end of it. ...Which is to say, amid all the green there's just a bit of other color.
Early in the wildflower season at Carrizo Plain National Monument
We also miscalculated a bit on visiting Painted Rock, an attraction in the park that features native rock art centuries old. During our 2015 visit the temperatures were extreme, and Hawk couldn't do it. I saw it by myself 18 months ago. We wanted to see it with my this weekend, when the temperatures were less blast furnace-like. But we're in the middle of a two week period when nobody's allowed in because Prairie Falcons are busy mating on top of the rocks, or something like that.
Instead we decided to take a scenic drive up the winding dirt road to the top of Caliente Ridge. Along the lower half of the road were several pullouts for scenic views. Here's a picture I shot of Painted Rocks from one of the scenic stops:
Overlooking painted rock (lower left) on a hazy day at Carrizo Plain
In the background you can see signifcant haze. It's a beautiful day today, dry and clear with temps around 72F (22C), but the haze in the distance is pretty severe.
We continued up the narrow dirt road to the top of Caliente Ridge, over 4,000' elevation. There were a number of people at the lower overlooks but nearly nobody at the top. It helps that the road got fairly rough, discouraging all but the most nervy drivers in ordinary passenger cars. In our well equipped 4x4 our only worry about the road was we'd get hit by some yahoo plowing out of control down the hill.
Wildflowers atop Caliente Ridge at Carrizo Plain National Monument
Continued in next entry.