We stopped for lunch around California Falls on our way down the trail Saturday afternoon. The landscape all around us was amazing, you could easily see tens of miles in every direction.

This area is covered with snow for a majority of the year – on average there is 300-500 inches (that’s 25 – 41 feet!) of snowfall each winter. The vegetation that does survive is especially strong, and can endure these conditions.

Right near where we were resting was this scene, a handful of small conifers, knurled from the winter snows, growing out of the solid rock hills. From afar these trees – like the ones on the distant mountain side – look like any pine tree you may have seen in the past. Upon closer examination you can see how these trees can survive those long winter months. Their trunks are wide and strong, every branch almost brittle to the touch.