Viewing a Super Bloom in California’s Serengeti
Carrizo Gold is “Nature’s Hardest Hue to Hold”
“So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay” — Robert Frost
Story and photos by David A. Laws
Ipulled my jacket close against the chill stirring of an early breeze. A heavy silence enveloped the world in the final, darkest minutes before dawn. To the east, a gray sliver of pending morning peeked from beneath bands of straggling clouds to silhouette the rugged crest of the Temblor Range.
Planning a day exploring the Carrizo Plain in the spring of the 2016 Super Bloom of historic proportions, I had risen early to watch the sunrise from this elevated spot at the northern entrance to the national monument, about 70 miles east of San Luis Obispo, that has been called “California’s Serengeti.”
From my vantage point on the promontory of Soda Lake Overlook, white mineral deposits bordering the water reflected a swelling glow in the east, the first sign of physical landscape in an ocean of darkness. Orange tints, brightening by the minute, injected a promise of color into the neutral gray of fading night. As the spectrum moved to the red of blood, ragged peaks sharply etched against the horizon slowly, slowly released the tip…
