Pink wildflowers blooming beside a whitewater cascade among granite boulders on the Mount Whitney Trail.

Mountain Pride

Mount Whitney Trail, John Muir Wilderness, California

Mountain pride, if I have my wildflowers right — it grows straight out of the rock next to running water, in defiance of everything around it. I got the lens low and close so the blooms would sit against the white noise of the cascade instead of the busy talus. On a one-lens trip the 17mm end is your macro, your landscape, and your everything else; you learn to stand in the right place.

Nikon Z 7_2 · 17-35mm f/2.8D · 17mm · f/5.6 · 1/400 · ISO 90

June 29, 2025

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More from Mount Whitney Trail, John Muir Wilderness, California

Backpackers crossing a log bridge over Lone Pine Creek in morning forest light on the Mount Whitney Trail.Two backpackers walking a rock-lined path through willows below Outpost Camp, granite spires above, Mount Whitney Trail.Hikers ascending granite slabs beneath a pinnacled ridge and deep blue sky on the Mount Whitney Trail.

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Backpackers relaxing beside tents among granite boulders at Trail Camp below Mount Whitney in the evening.A hiker stands among boulders at dusk facing the moonlit east face of Mount Whitney from Trail Camp.Dawn alpenglow on the pinnacles of Mount Whitney from the 99 switchbacks, a hiker on the talus trail below.