An Alpine Lake Under a Glowering Sky

Last Sunday, after four clear days in the Sierra, the weather turned. Gray skies spit rain and a cold wind blew. I was hiking at Winnemucca Lake, near Carson Pass, at 9000 feet elevation just below timberline. The whitebark pine is a signature tree here, a hardy survivor of the alpine climate. That's one on the left side of the picture.

The intersection of forest and tundra is always dramatic. There are no wussy trees here! These plants survive everything Ma Nature throws at them...but not without getting a bit gnarly.

The meadows near Winnemucca Lake are famous for their wildflowers, and on the 20th of July, they were at their peak. Though you don't see any people in this picture, on a summer Sunday there were a lot of folks around...many of them backpacking. Actually, literally everyone and their dog were there! The hounds loved it. I would love to spend a lot of time in the mountains, but I'm a bit too old and decadent to really enjoy sleeping in a tent, cold and sweaty. I was staying at the home of some friends and that was much better. It occurs to me that I'd love to spend the entire summer in the Sierra, surrounded by alpine beauty and far away from the coastal fog. I may just do it some year! And, the Venerable Pinniped would work off a considerable amount of blubber doing serious hiking several times a week.

I like the contrast between the delicate beauty of the summer wildflowers and the gnarly, rugged, all season timberline trees.