Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Life in the Rubble

Bitterroot Flowers, Cascade Mountains, WA
There is a barren ridge top about an hour east of my home where, every year, these handsome Bitterroot flowers emerge out of the rocky slope for a few brief weeks. It is one of my favorite flowers, and one of my favorite places to go.  With the heavy snows we had this past winter, most alpine flowers are peaking at least 2-3 weeks later than normal, so I delayed my visit accordingly.  Yesterday, most of the flowers had still not emerged yet, but this small cluster caught my eye, framed by the broken rubble of the talus : an astonishing expression of the tenacity of life in a hostile environment.

Nikon D3, 60mm macro lens

5 comments:

  1. beautiful capture sir,
    what a beautiful sight it must have been.
    remember a similar sight here in the desert of kutch were wildflowers were growing on rocks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you. Yes, I am always moved by the ability of living things to survive in such extreme environments.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow... Stunning. And a perfect image for me to contemplate at the moment. Tenacity. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nice to hear from you, Chandira. Hope you're OK.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks Kevin! Yes, hanging in there, like your flower, despite a few challenges, and not getting as much sun as I might like, but.. This is the PNW! ;-)

    ReplyDelete