The High Sierra contains some of the most beautiful scenery on Earth, like this vivid blue sky and gorgeous, alpine meadow. That's Triangle Peak, center, on the horizon:
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When we get where we're going (usually an alpine lake or a mountaintop), we sit down and enjoy sweeping vistas like this:
That's my hubby, drinking in the view of Lake Tahoe. Sometimes, we enjoy a fun surprise, courtesy of a young'un in the group. G., our student guide, treated us to fresh strawberries and melted chocolate, at the top Mt. Tallac:
Chocolate-dipped strawberries with a killer view, anyone?
Just watch out for the occasional bug!:
Death by chocolate, indeed!
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Chocolate-coated bugs notwithstanding, I love the High Sierra because you can see wild critters in their natural habitat. In the last week, I saw lake trout, a marmot, Canada geese, loons, a mama grouse and her five, fuzzy little chicks, tons of robins and jays and butterflies, and a friendly ladybug who landed on my leg a mile and a half above sea level:
Some of the animals in the High Sierra aren't wild, of course. I couldn't move fast enough to get a photo for you of an adorable red mutt I met. She was wearing the cutest little protective bootees (rocky mountain paths are tough on dog feet). But I did catch this pup who decided, at the end of her trip, that she needed a cooling dip in the lake:
It's for breathtaking moments--and silly scenes like these--that I keep returning to the place that photographer Ansel Adams called "The Range of Light."
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"Nevermore, however weary, should one faint by the way who gains the blessings of one mountain day; whatever his fate, long life, short life, stormy or calm, he is rich forever."
--John Muir, 1838 - 1914, founder of the Sierra Club