North Rim, Grand Canyon National
For flowers, summer is short at the high altitudes of the Kaibab Plateau - typically 7,000 feet to over 9,000 feet. Though short, summer in the predominately ponderosa pine forest of the Mountain Lying Down (as the local Paiute people call the plateau - Kaibab is a Paiute word meaning Mountain Lying Down), is full of new and continuing life. And, no other life springs so vibrantly from the recently frozen soils than wildflowers, which often carpet the forest floor across the plateau - especially after good winter's snow (which can reach well above ten feet of snowfall). Along with fields of lupine, the sunflower Many-Flowered Goldeneye (Heliomeris multiflora) often dominate the forest floor in spots as they grow up to three feet tall. These fields of tall flowers can often glow with the late afternoon light. Photo © copyright by Chris Eaton.