From South Mineral Campground near Silverton leads a wonderful trail up to Ice Lake at an altitude of 3736m (12,257 ft). We chose a mostly cloudy day for this hike, which was good for hiking and photography. No dealing with harsh light and hot sun!
We were told by the very nice campsite hosts that the lake had a wonderful and intensive color and we were not disappointed, despite the gray overcast. Although it was already late in the season we also found many alpine wildflowers up on the tundra.
Back to nature related photography today. Joan and I spent quite some time to look out for one of our favorite animals, the American Pica, during our trip to the Rocky Mountains. Knowing a little bit about their habitat, steep boulder-covered hillsides at an altitude above 8,000 feet, helps to find them. This photo was made on the slope of 14,264 feet high Mount Evans. I had this pika here already in my viewfinder when a hawk suddenly soared over the rocks and the pika disappeared between the boulders with cyberspeed. It took ten minutes before it showed up again and continued sunbathing. But maybe it was just on the watch from this well exposed rock hanging over a very deep valley. I sure enjoyed watching these critters and was very happy to make some good clicks.
We found them at many places in the Rocky Mountains but always in higher elevations in the alpine tundra zone above 10,500 feet (~3200m). In some areas they are used to people and they may show up right beside the trail. In most instances they disappear between the rocks if you get too close. It needs a little patience and luck to catch them in a nice pose and good light. Quite often they sun bath on a rock or watch out for predators. The Yellow-bellied Marmots feed on green vegetation exclusively and in the fall they put on a layer of fat, which sustains them through hibernation during the winter.
Most of my images of the marmot were made while waiting patiently for another critter, that is much more difficult to get in front of the lens. I will report about this one shortly, so please stay tuned....
