Travelogue

Carrizo Plains - Soda Lake salt flatsThey say every cloud (no pun intended) has a silver lining, and our consolation for weeks and weeks of seemingly endless rain was the promise of a spectacular super bloom in southern California.

We never had super blooms in New Jersey, as it is a desert phenomena that only occurs after a particularly rainy winter season - and we had neither deserts or rainy seasons in NJ - so we were very anxious to experience one. Our weather forecast wasn’t particularly inspiring, but we decided to head out anyway, as it was a Wednesday, and we wanted to beat the hoards of fellow super bloomers that descend upon these parks on weekends, causing traffic jams and general crankiness - Herb hates traffic.

The drive to Carrizo Plains National Monument was about 5 and ½ hours, most of it along 101, where the hills and vineyards along the way were a brilliant vibrant green - its version of a super bloom.

Carrizo Plains - Soda Lake salt flatsWe got off 101 onto Route 58 in the lovely town of Paso Robles, the last major town before the northern entrance to Carrizo Plains, about 50 miles away. About 5 miles past the town, we realized there would be no gas stations before Carrizo, so we made a quick U-Turn and filled up.

As we were driving along Route 58, we stopped alongside the road, with about a dozen other cars, to photograph a spectacular field of bright yellow flowers. I am sorry to say I am not a botanist, so colors are about as descriptive as I’m going to get. If this was any indication of what we would encounter when we actually reached Carrizo, this was going to be great.

We arrived in Carrizo Plains by mid-afternoon, with plenty of daylight hours left to explore. There are really only two roads through Carrizo that pretty much run parallel to each other for about 40 miles from the north to the south ends of the park.

Herb doing what he loves doingSoda Lake Road runs down the middle of the park, and as you would expect, runs alongside its namesake, Soda Lake. The northern part of Soda Lake Road is paved, but in the south it is dirt. In fact, all other roads in the park are dirt, which, as the park brochure warns, become muddy and impassable during periods of rain - a reality that we were unfortunately going to learn about first hand on Day 2.

Elkhorn Road, which is reached via several crossroads from Soda Lake Road, runs alongside the foothills of the Temblor Range, on the eastern boundary of the park.

There are tons of smaller dirt roads leading off these two main roads, most of them leading up into the foothills on either side (the Caliente Range in the West and the Temblor Range in the East). It is along these roads up in the foothills where dispersed free camping is allowed. There are also two official campgrounds that have pit toilets. I pointed that out to Herb, but he was having none of that - we were camping in the foothills.

Little lolo loose in Carizzo PlainsWe entered the park on the Soda Lakes Road, and after about 3 miles came to the actual Soda Lake, which was actually a lake now, rather than the dry lake bed it is for much of the year. To get a good overall view of it, we drove to the top of Overlook Hill, where there was an expansive view of the lake, the entire Carrizo Plain, and the foothills of the Temblor Range, blanketed in wildflowers, painting them in brilliant yellows and purples

This view is very different most of the year, when the lake dries up and becomes an expansive salt flat.This occurs because Soda Lake is a closed basin, with no inlets or outlets, so when water trickles down from the mountains into the lake during the winter and then evaporates in spring, it leaves behind a glistening expanse of sulfate and carbonate salts, making it the largest remaining natural alkali wetland in southern California.

Down at lake level again, we stopped to walk along the interpretative boardwalk trail that runs alongside the lake.

Our camping spot in the Temblor Range foothillsHowever, Herb was anxious to find a home in the foothills for the night, so we got back in the 4Runner, drove to the southern end of the lake and took a left on Simmler Road, which brought us across to Elkhorn Road and its many offshoots up into the Temblor Range foothills, which were painted in vibrant yellow and a more subdued purple. I believe the yellow were goldfields and the purples were lupines, but whatever they were, they were spectacular.

We spent a lovely evening strolling along the base of the foothills, photographing their splendor.

Dispersed camping in the wild is such a serene and tranquil experience that is truly rejuvenating for the soul. Herb loves everything about it, and I do too, with one minor exception - the 2 inch clearance between my slumbering nose and the roof of the 4Runner when sleeping on the platform bed Herb built in the back. There really was no other design choice if we wanted the storage space for a large cooler and gear below, so I am learning to live with it. However, I did have one cranky attack when trying to remove my jacket, which I had fallen asleep in. I felt like Houdini trying to escape from a straight jacket.

Carrizo Plains - Soda Lake salt flatsThe next morning, after completing our domestic and personal duties, we headed back down to Elkhorn Road to the parking lot for the Wallace Creek Interpretive Trail for a closeup view of the Andreas Fault, which runs along the northeast side of Carrizo Plain, and the chance to be on two different tectonic plates (the Pacific and North American) in one hike.

This area is considered to be one of the most important geological sites in the world in that you can see first hand the effects of plate tectonics. In fact, the Carrizo Plain owes its very existence to the geologic processes that occur along the San Andreas Fault. 30 million years ago, movement along the San Andreas and San Juan fault lines caused the rise of the Temblor and Caliente mountain ranges on either side of the valley, and the formation of the shallow basin in between now known as Soda Lake.

While it’s a little tough to wrap your head around and visualize how earthquakes can create entire mountain ranges, it is a bit easier to absorb how the movement of plates along a fault line can cause a creek to shift and bend. That is exactly what we would see along this trail.

Wallace Creek Interpretive TrailWe followed the trail along the fault, before climbing up a steep ridge overlooking the dry creek bed, which is sometimes Wallace Creek. Unlike most creeks that meander and gently curve, this one has two almost 90-degree bends, which were caused by a 7.9-magnitude earthquake in 1857, in which the Pacific plate moved 30 feet past the North American plate. The Andreas Fault crosses Wallace Creek almost exactly through these two tight bends.

The Andreas fault cuts crosses the Carrizo Plain from northwest to southeast. Everything southwest of the fault, including the Caliente Range and the downstream half of Wallace Creek, is on the Pacific plate and sliding slowly to the northwest (toward San Francisco) while everything that lies northeast of the fault, including the Temblor Range and the upstream half of Wallace Creek, is on the North American plate sliding to the southeast (toward Los Angeles). Unlike the 30-foot jump of the plates in 1857, the usual rate of movement is an imperceptible 1.3 inches per year.

I wanted to make sure I was on the same tectonic plate as Herb at all times in case anything happened.

The colored hills of Carrizo PlainsAfter our very educational hike, we headed over to the Pacific Plate section of the park - just showing off my new knowledge - with the plan of exploring and finding camping in the foothills of the Caliente Range. We took a few side dirt roads off of Soda Lake Road, which was also now dirt, to look for remnants of old ranches as well as potential camping spots for the night.

Unfortunately, the weather was beginning to turn for the worse, but the clouds sure were interesting. Soon it began to drizzle, and what had been perfectly drivable roads before, turned into slippery mud. On our way back down to Soda Lake Road from one of the offshoots, we actually spun around 270 degrees. Since the weather didn’t look like it would be improving any time soon, we decided, for safety reasons, to leave the park tonight and find a motel to stay in.

Easier said than done. We decided to cross back over to Elkhorn Road, with the intention of leaving Carrizo out the south entrance along the Elkhorn Grade Road. The better choice would have been to stay on Soda Lake Road to the paved Route 166. Hindsight is always great.

The crossover to Elkhorn involved going up and down a small mountain, during which we spun around once more. When we finally got to Elkhorn Grade Road, we saw that it too was dirt, or more correctly slippery mud. We made it about 20 feet slipping and sliding before turning around and heading back towards the north entrance (40 miles away).

Along Hurricane Ridge RoadElkhorn Road was flat, so it was a bit better, but we still did one more almost 360. Finally, the road got a little better as it had rained less in the northern part of the park. Rather than go the entire length to the northern exit, we turned right onto Hurricane Ridge Road, which would bring us out to Route 33. The road was steep, narrow, and twisty, but highly scenic. If it had been wet, it would have been a nightmare.

Finally, we reached the less than scenic town of Taft, where there were oil pumpjacks (also appropriately called nodding donkeys) pumping as far as the eye could see. What a contrast to the serenity and natural beauty of Carrizo Plains.

We drove about an hour more to a Days Inn in the town of Lebec.

Description

Carrizo Plains - Soda Lake salt flatsCarrizo Plains National Monument, located about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles and 60 miles east of San Luis Obispo, is one of the best kept secrets in California.

Since the mid-1800s, large portions of the grasslands of the 400-mile long San Joaquin Valley have disappeared as a result of urban and agricultural development.The Carrizo Plain National Monument is the largest remaining undeveloped remnant of that once vast ecosystem, offering a refuge for many endemic plant and animal species.

The Carrizo Plain owes its existence to the geologic processes that occur along the San Andreas Fault, which runs along the northeast side of the plain. 30 million years ago, movement along the San Andreas and San Juan fault lines caused the rise of the Temblor and Caliente mountain ranges on either side of the valley, and the formation of the shallow basin in between now known as Soda Lake.

Soda Lake is a closed basin, so when water trickles down from the mountains into the lake during the winter and then evaporates in spring, it leaves behind a glistening expanse of sulfate and carbonate salts, making it the largest remaining natural alkali wetland in southern California. During the heat of the summer, the salt flat appears to ripple and sway.

The lake can be viewed either by climbing to the top of a small hill above the lake or by strolling along a boardwalk alongside it that crosses the wetlands to a vista point.

Lolo of CarrizoThe Wallace Creek Interpretive Trail, on the opposite side of the lake, provides as closeup view of the San Andreas Fault and is one of the most important geological sites in the world in that you can see the effects of plate tectonics first hand. The trail runs diagonally along the fault and then makes a steep climb to a ridge overlooking two almost 90-degree bends in the dry creek bed, caused by the slippage of the San Andreas Fault, most recently by a 7.9-magnitude earthquake in 1857.
In spring, if conditions are right, a super bloom occurs, and numerous wildflowers carpet the valley floor and the foothills of the Temblor and Caliente mountains, painting them in breathtaking bright yellows and purples. Expect large crowds on weekends.

The Carrizo Plains National Monument can be reached from the north via State Route 58 or from the South via State Route 33/166. There are no services in the park, so be sure to gas and stock up in one of the gateway communities outside the park.

There are two developed campgrounds in the Monument as well as dispersed camping along the foothills.