A drive to Carrizo Plain and an isolated thunderstorm over Soda Lake on a hot early September day, 2021

A Big Drive in SLO County, September 9, 2021.

Soon I will be working full time again, so I decided to take a drive to the eastern part of the San Luis Obispo County to see what it looks like in late Summer, and to take in the ever beautiful sky over Carrizo Plain and the adjoining mountains. Also, I wanted to see the Carrizo Plain National Monument eastern end, and see what plants I could find.

I live in the western part of SLO County, and I started on highway 101 south, to east on highway 166. I took a couple of roadside stops, first to look a large patch of Salvia apiana, and then to see the Lepidospartum sqamatum that grows along the road. This highway follows the Cuyama River and associated valley, which is the approximate north-south boundary between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. Thus, I believe, in general, when the road is on the south side of the river, it is in Santa Barbara County, and when 166 is on the north side of the river, it is in SLO County. The gps metadata on my photos seem to support this.

Next I turned onto Soda Lake Road, drove 2 miles to the monument boundary, and had a look at an informational sign about a nearby sag pond caused by the San Andreas Fault. At the parking for this kiosk, I spotted a couple of small Stephanomeria. Lately, I have been trying to learn this Genus using the Jepson eFlora. It is sometimes hard to use, but several factors concerning the pappus had me settle on Stephanomeria exigua ssp. exigua. Along the dried up alkali sink (the sag pond), I found an Atriplex species (I need to study this Genus better), the invasive Tamarix ramosissima, and something in the genus Sueda. There was a very white leaved Astragalus that I have yet to identify. I took a look at the large stands of the Ephedra californica known for this part of the monument and the southern Temblor Range. Isocoma acradenia var. acradenia is flowering all over the valley floor of the monument now.

Next, I drove on Soda Lake road to KCL Campground. When I arrived a Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus was there, and the hot wind was picking up. A Cucurbita palmata was growing near the entrance. I hiked up a small hill to take in the clouds over the plains, and the Caliente Range. This day there were various Cumulus clouds, probably Cumulus humilis, but also later turning into Cumulus congestus. Also higher, beautiful Cirrus clouds were streaked across the sky, along with the ripply Cirrocumulus undulatus. On the hill I found Eriogonum fasciculatum (the white leaf type) and Lagophylla ramosissima.

Then I drove the rest of the way on Soda Lake Road to highway 58, then back to highway 101. Along Soda Lake Road were plenty of Datura wrightii and Isocoma acradenia. The insects, such as Dasymutilla aureola (Pacific Velvet Ant) find a good place to be on Helianthus annuus, the Common Sunflower. Outside of cultivation, the Common Sunflower is actually a wild and native plant. It is mentioned by Robert F. Hoover as being wild in the area in The Vascular Plants of San Luis Obispo County, California. Of course, the common sunflower is cultivated, but it can also be found in the wild. I think the two plants I observed this day were the wild type. The disk flowers are especially beautiful, and the entire head of flowers is always a favorite of mine, whether in cultivation or in the wild. The pattern is fractal like. The Genus Helianthus is from the Americas, with three species native to South America, and the rest native to Central and North America.

To my surprise and delight, a little thunderstorm developed over Soda Lake! I stopped at Soda Lake, and some drops of rain hit my car, and myself. I walked out through the pickleweed shrubs (I need to ID, right now I have it in Subfamily Salicornioideae), and a dust storm with some moisture blew over me. I could see the Cumulus congestus clouds with dark grey sheets of rain over the lake, and later as I drove past the rest of the lake, the storm moved off toward the Temblor Range and left some very wet spots on the road and earth.

I stopped at Shell Creek along highway 58 to photograph Centromadia pungens and Trichostema lanceolatum, and finally near the junction of 229 to photograph Malacothamnus niveus, Artemisia douglasiana, and desiccated Acourtia microcephala. I saw another wild buckwheat along the road, maybe Eriogonum nudum or E. elongatum, but I didn't stop to photograph it!

The entire trip with lunch took about 5.5 hours, but I would normally give myself 6-8 hours to allow more time to stop and look at stuff. It was a big loop around part of San Luis Obispo County!

If you see this, and have any identifications or comments, I appreciate it!

Cheers,

Leif

Posted on September 12, 2021 05:41 PM by leafybye