I made this photograph at the end of August several years ago, camped high in the John Muir Wilderness west of the Sierra crest. Experienced Sierra travelers are probably wondering about the flowers and all that greenery — by this point in a typical year much of this country is brown and dry, and the wildflower show is largely over. But this was an unusual year. The preceding winter had been very wet, and this sustained the lush growth all the way into early September.
Our basecamp location was on a rise above a meadow with a small lake. From there we had a clear view to high peaks on ridges to our south and southwest, a view that we got to know quite well during our stay. On this morning I walked down to the lower end of the meadow, past the lake, to just before the terrain dropped into a large canyon. Here the outflow from the lake watered an area of meadow and alpine willow bushes.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.
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