Two backpackers crossing a snowmelt creek below Muir Pass, snowfields on the peaks above.

Meltwater

Muir Pass, Kings Canyon National Park, California

The climb to Muir Pass in early July is a plumbing system: every snowfield above you arrives in the trail somewhere below. I let the two hikers reach the middle of the crossing before the shutter — boots apart, poles planted, the exact geometry of everyone's morning up here. At 17mm the peaks stay in frame to explain where all this water keeps coming from.

Nikon Z 7_2 · 17-35mm f/2.8D · 17mm · f/5 · 1/800 · ISO 90

July 8, 2025

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