Every return visit to a National Park or Monument is a new experience.  Although last spring when we went to the Carrizo Plain, flowers were plentiful, it was not technically a “super bloom.”  What a difference a year and record rainfall make.  When we went back this year in late March, countless flowers had tag-teamed through the valley and sprinted up the surrounding hills, spreading color and joy everywhere.

While the rest of this post is photographs, I do want to say that part of the fun of exploring the Carrizo Plain is turning off the main route through the Monument onto any of the many rutted, dirt roads that branch off from it.  You never know how far you can get or what you might see.