Carizzo Plains National Monument

Photo essay: Another of Fred's excellent adventures in Southern California

Carrizo Plains National Monument is a Bureau of Land Management property about 3 hours from Los Angeles. Throughout April, it is known for one of the best wildflower displays in the state. In early March, the place is almost empty. Four of us from the Southern California Naturists headed up there to enjoy some remote camping, freehiking, and freebiking.

The Carrizo Plain National Monument, located 100 airline miles (160 km) from Los Angeles, is an area by-passed by time. Soda Lake, its centerpiece, is a glistening bed of white salt, set within a vast open grassland, rimmed by steep mountains. The plain is home to diverse communities of wildlife and plant species. It’s an area culturally important to Native Americans, and is traversed by the San Andreas fault, which has created and moved mountain ranges, carved valleys and is marked by a subtle alignment of ridges, ravines and pools.

- https://www.blm.gov/visit/carrizo-plain-national-monument

A few of us from the Southern California Naturists went on a nude camping/hiking trip to the Carizzo Plains National Monument from March 14-17. The monument is famous for its spring wildflowers, which were just starting to emerge in spots. In a couple of weeks it would be a multicolored riot everywhere. We went early because we wanted to avoid all the flower tourists.

I did a quick search of the San Luis Obispo County code and ordinances and found no references to nude or nudity. I already knew California didn’t have a law against nudity. Bureau of Land Management doesn’t, either, though county ordinances could be enforced if they existed. BLM does want you to avoid campsites with picnic tables, toilet facilities or visitor centers, in addition to off-highway vehicle trails,

The main road through Carizzo Plain starts out paved and potholed

That’s us on a small hill. In the low areas, there was no cell service, but on top of the higher hills, you could get a bar or two. It would be enough to send a text or a photo - if you were willing to wait a long time. Me on the left.

We set up camp on a dispersed camping site at the end of a long spur road. It provided privacy from the main drag, although three trucks wandered our way over the three days we were there, looking to see if the site was empty. Once, we were atop a hill next to the road when a car drove by. We stepped down slightly so as not to be completely visible. I have no idea if they even noticed us.

Nude biking on the trails was a bit beyond my comfort zone.

The next time a car came our way, the others were off on a cycling trip. It was still too cold for me. I was also just inhibited enough not to want to encounter a vehicle coming down the road at me while naked. I kept my freehiking to unnamed side spurs and the backcountry.

I was on the side of the road, photographing the various flowers close up, still clothed because the morning was too chilly (IMHO) for naked photography. Overnight, it had dropped into the 30s F, and the sun was taking its time warming things up.

A truck with a camper came up our spur and stopped by me. There was a middle-aged couple on board. The passenger asked how my botany studies were coming. I mentioned the possibility of a naked guy on a bicycle and said we were a group of nudists camped ahead. The female passenger asked, “Then why aren’t you naked?” and laughed when I told her that I was too cold. They drove to the end, circled, and came back, waving as they passed.

This is the side track our cyclists explored. I believe it was about three miles.

Camp against the background of the hills. Notice that the tops of the hills have the most flowers. In another two weeks, everything will be ablaze. This is the end of a remote spur off Padrones Canyon Road. We are surrounded by many miles of easy hiking. I kept a wary eye out for snakes but it was still a bit too cool for them

Thursday night was cold, dipping well into the 30s, and Friday only reached about 60. The sun was at least warm enough for the guys.

A third truck came by Saturday, turned around, and left without interaction. Three cars in three days with no problems that I was aware of. Of course, that could be the luck of the draw. If someone did object, I’m unsure what they could do because our little camp wasn’t violating any rules.

There were many miles of empty space to ramble about and explore. I had hours of cross-country wandering alone.

We hiked to that saddle in the distance.

This wasn’t a big hike, maybe two miles across very open terrain. There was no trail, but most of the time, the foliage was only ankle-deep. We followed a ravine up the valley, having to cross it a couple of times, and then worked our way up the saddle.

It was probably too cool for snakes, but I kept my eyes open, regardless. The low shrubs hosted a choir of birds, and lizards and rodents scurried about, doing their appointed business. The effort kept me warm where I might have otherwise huddled under a blanket.

That last bit was a little steep.

That’s me on the saddle, looking back. The camp is so far in the distance as to be invisible in the photo.

Hillside daisy

Hillside daisies covered much of the hillsides. Guess that is where it got its name from.

Early in the season, only certain hillsides had strong blooms, usually those with a southwestern exposure. Later, as it warms up, the entire monument will be ablaze with colors and full of people. For now, it is still fairly empty.

Fiddlenecks, not to be confused with the edible fern

Lots of fiddlenecks lined the roads. They seemed to prefer the road edges, probably where there was slightly more water due to runoff.

I found Douglas milkvetch (above) and Stanislaus milkvetch. It is pretty but poisonous to humans and livestock.

Heerman’s kangaroo rat that calmly shared our camp. No doubt hoping we’d leave some crumbs to eat. Or maybe leave camp with a food package out that it could chew its way into.

Looking west, Friday night clouds coming in. They stayed long enough to keep the night temperature in the 40s but were gone Saturday.

Thursday night was frigid. I found myself wearing a down jacket over a sweatsuit inside my bag and covering it with a couple of spare blankets from my car. Others may sleep warmer than I, but I find that no sleeping bag ever lives up to its rating. I was using a bag rated to 30F inside a tent, and it was wholly inadequate.

Canaigre dock, aka wild rhubarb. It is edible but needs to be cooked to be palatable. The roots contain tannin that can be used for leather tanning.

Strolling through a field of daisies.

I have read that one should not wander off-trail and walk among the flowers. I reserve that for places like Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve, where the tourist level is dense, and there are actually trails one could use.

Carizzo has no regulations regarding off-trail hiking. For that matter, Carrizo has almost no foot trails to wander off. It is all freehiking by the other definition: a form of hiking in which the participants intentionally avoid trails and predetermined destinations. There are dirt roads and 4WD tracks from when it was all cattle range. Even at its peak, the tourist density is low, with campsites miles apart. I walk with care and feel no guilt.

Popcorn flowers perhaps an eighth of an inch across.

These are Red maids. Many of the prettiest flowers were also the smallest.

Puffballs. If they were younger and still soft, they’d be edible. As a kid, I ate many of them. Here’s how to identify them safely.

White-striped crab spider. This little guy was shooting out a strand of silk that the wind would catch and carry away. This is known as “ballooning.” It is how baby spiders move away from home when they are ready. Every now and then, I’d see a strand of silk floating by in the air.

This is a wildlife water trough next to a spring. It will help animals over the upcoming long dry summer. The signs say not to linger for more than ten minutes so as not to keep the animals away. I was freehiking down a random dirt track when I found it. This is Lawson Springs, on a spur road to some abandoned water tanks.

Our gang. Me on the right. I'm starting to get a bit pink because I didn’t wear sunscreen the first two days. The top of my shoulder felt a little hot on Saturday night, but that went away by Sunday night. Despite being light-skinned, I don’t seem to burn easily.

To return to an alert innocence is not too much of an effort - like moving a pile of bricks from here to there - as it is standing long enough to let the spirit find you.
― Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run with the Wolves