Fiddleneck Sunrise on the edge of Soda Lake, Carrizo Plain National Monument.
What an "extreme drought year" looks like on Carrizo (April 7, 2007).
Interestingly, the following year was also an extreme drought year, but it didn't look quite so parched, at least on this part of the plain.
Not too bad for an extreme drought year.
On the other hand, it seems that "extreme" in 2008 didn't mean quite the same thing by 2013, when I took this shot of wind blowing across Soda Lake.
This twisty little devil formed on Soda Lake during one of the driest periods in state history:
"The 2011-2017
California drought was a persistent drought from the period of December 2011 to
March 2017, and is one of the most intense droughts in California history, with
the period of late 2011 through 2014 being the driest in California history." (Wikipedia)
So one year I was passing through when I spotted a lone pronghorn lying on the plain. I pulled over and got my camera out, and after a few minutes he stood up. I figured he would wander off, but he was the curious type.
He got so close I had to switch to vertical format.
And then he got so close I snapped a head-and-shoulders shot.
And finally he came in for a portrait.
It was just the two of us out there as far as the eye could see.
His curiosity satisfied, he finally turned and ambled away.
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