Those huge chunks of rock just sit there and take it, day after day, night after night.
They are what they are, and don’t seem to care what that is.
Still, they have personality. Look at this photo: the one closest to us has its large lower half covered with trees, shrubs, and green grasses.Its upper portion is bare rock that is fairly smooth.
Notice the large peak beyond it that faces us…it presents rough, jagged, bare rock nearly from top to bottom.
Their size throws off your sense of proportion.
You think you’re close to that peak above. Uh, no, there’s a lake between you and the mountain.
Sweet little Jenny Lake. Actually, not so very little…that’s a tour boat right in the center of the photo….
I suppose some of the drama occurs because of the unforgiving nature of the terrain. The average elevation of the park base is 6800 feet. Those mountains above, got a skiff of snow a couple days before this picture! It’s July! That probably explains why we’ve had 68 degrees here while you have 86…or worse!
Still, not everything survives this environment.
Yet some manage to flourish…like some of the animals…everywhere you turn.
The weather is frequently the drama, but for us it has usually been just a pocket here or there which blows through quickly…and produces some interesting scenery in the process.
Doug; wanted to make a correction. After further review I believe the bird you showed the other day was a red-shouldered hawk. Some unusual coloration and behavior but probably a hawk. Golden eagles are much larger though equally gregarious. Love you pics. Happy Trails.TLC
Thanks, Tom. I’ve heard from two people who I know to be long-time, knowledgeable birders that they identify it as a Swainson’s Hawk.