Long Lake in the John Muir Wilderness was particularly stunning. The deep blue water sparkled in the sunlight as beams broke through from the clouds.
I was delighted and relieved to see pikas leaping around on the rocks, gathering grass. They dry it in little haystacks and use it for food when the deep snows of winter blanket their rock piles. These little relatives of the rabbit are currently in danger of extinction due to global warming. They live above 10,000 feet in the John Muir Wilderness and other montane locations. But as the earth heats up, the pikas must move higher up the mountainsides. Soon there will be no higher place to go.