on the plain

 in the california valley we camped

 we watched a loggerhead shrike on it's nest

 and took a nine mile hike

 found many different wildflowers (parry's larkspur, purple owl's clover)

snake's - head sunflower

and found ancient native american rock art

 we found also a herd of tule elk!

 they ran up a ridge to keep watch on us

 devil's lettuce and not sure which butterfly (not a monarch)

 we camped on the plain

 and knit

 and then the most amazing thing happened. we had surprise visitors.

 a herd of pronghorn antelope saw us, and slowly, curiously, tentatively

made their way across the plain to us.

 sitting still keeping quiet, the pronghorn came nearly to our tent. i wished i could go to the truck for another lens, but when we had realized they were moving towards us, we both stayed put (or they would have run). an incredible amazing moment. the following photos are from a previous trip to the carrizo...

pronghorn antelope on the carrizo plain

 snake's - head sunflower

 purple owl's clover, snake's - head

leaving the carrizo plain national monument, always with a wistful feeling, but hopeful too for the next visit, we'll be back! thank you for coming along! xxx lori