Photos from the mountains
Aug. 26th, 2012 09:43 pmJust realized that I hadn't posted any of my photos from the mountains this year, so here you go. Click for larger versions.

A lot of snow still left in the middle of June. You can see the tracks of a slush torrent that went down the upper valley.

A tiny avalanche thundering down the cliff face.

Wolverine tracks! I never saw the actual wolverine, though.

My snowshoe tracks, with the cabins in the background.

The cabins after a snowstorm.

Budding Rhodiola rosea, nestled among old Carex rupestris leaves.

The exposure looks kind of off, but I got so close to it and at least the focus is right: anyway, this is a Bombus alpinus!

The lichen Xanthoria elegans. Isn't it eye-catching?

A drab little draba. If you zoom in you can see the delicate little star-shaped hairs on it.

A ptarmigan cock! Look at him with his red eyebrows!

And here's the hen. I love the pattern on her feathers; it's just so beautiful in a subtle way.

Here she is taking a dust bath! The cable to the right is to keep the cabin from getting blown away in storms. *g*

A close-up of the liverwort Marchantia alpestris. The little baskets contain clumps of cells for non-sexual reproduction.

The tiny willow Salix reticulata. It's just a few centimeters high!

Continuing the theme of tiny plants, here is Rhododendron lapponica. It looks so photogenic, but alas, it isn't--the color on photos always looks washed-out compared to the reality.

A flock of gulls hanging around the delta at the north end of the lake. You can see the remains of where the slush torrent slammed into the lake ice.

An Umbilicaria lichen of some sort.

The "flowers" of a Polytrichum moss, possibly P. juniperinum. (Obviously not actual flowers--they are sexual reproductive organs, though.)

A lot of snow still left in the middle of June. You can see the tracks of a slush torrent that went down the upper valley.

A tiny avalanche thundering down the cliff face.

Wolverine tracks! I never saw the actual wolverine, though.

My snowshoe tracks, with the cabins in the background.

The cabins after a snowstorm.

Budding Rhodiola rosea, nestled among old Carex rupestris leaves.

The exposure looks kind of off, but I got so close to it and at least the focus is right: anyway, this is a Bombus alpinus!

The lichen Xanthoria elegans. Isn't it eye-catching?

A drab little draba. If you zoom in you can see the delicate little star-shaped hairs on it.

A ptarmigan cock! Look at him with his red eyebrows!

And here's the hen. I love the pattern on her feathers; it's just so beautiful in a subtle way.

Here she is taking a dust bath! The cable to the right is to keep the cabin from getting blown away in storms. *g*

A close-up of the liverwort Marchantia alpestris. The little baskets contain clumps of cells for non-sexual reproduction.

The tiny willow Salix reticulata. It's just a few centimeters high!

Continuing the theme of tiny plants, here is Rhododendron lapponica. It looks so photogenic, but alas, it isn't--the color on photos always looks washed-out compared to the reality.

A flock of gulls hanging around the delta at the north end of the lake. You can see the remains of where the slush torrent slammed into the lake ice.

An Umbilicaria lichen of some sort.

The "flowers" of a Polytrichum moss, possibly P. juniperinum. (Obviously not actual flowers--they are sexual reproductive organs, though.)