On Monday, like millions of others in the United States, I went outdoors. I wasn’t in the path of totality, I was at just under 80%. Because of this I didn’t plan on photographing the actual eclipse, I just wanted to enjoy the moment and the unique light.
With all the haze and smoke from nearby fires I decided to go up to Sonora Pass to watch. This was the best decision of the day! I got there early in the morning and it was so extra beautiful. It had rained the afternoon before and everything was sparkly and clean. The morning birds will still flying around and gathering breakfast. I forgot how loud Clark’s Nutcrackers can be!
The morning light brought out the best of these spent coneflowers (or possibly sneezeweed)
Gratuitous curved shadows 🙂 Â
The winter rains certainly brought an abundance of flowers this summer! Many were past peak bloom, but there were still plenty in full glory – asters, paintbrushes, coneflowers, sneezeweeds, penstemons, and many many more.
Penstemons soaking up the sunshine.
Coneflowers in the early morning light
Here’s one of the reasons I went up to the pass for the eclipse – these brilliant clear blue skies! Â To the east were some hazy clouds and a bit of drift smoke, but not enough to inhibit viewing.
The one thing photographs will not be able to convey is the wonderful smells. There was mint, there was sage, lower down was the Jeffrey and Ponderosa pines. It was such a wonderful clean fresh mountainy smell.
What are you waiting for!? Head on up for a hike!
It really was special light, these are lovely!
Thank you Ellie!!