Sunny views:
Alas, as sunset approached the clouds disappeared and I was left with a bright sun.
So I'm sorry these pictures are so glare-filled and contrasty, but such is life.
On the left side of these images you can see a few clumps of vegetation barely adhering to the rock surface.
Some of these clumps are detached pitcher
plants. I can here some of you saying, "Oh, it would be ok to collect those, right? They're doomed!" Ah, but are they?
Are they truly? You never know if one might just survive the abrasion and damage in the rapids below this cliff, and
establish itself in some new habitat opened by a scouring flood. It is at the edges of survival, like here, that evolutionary
selection pressures are particularly strong. Mess with these outlyers, and you're potentially discouraging the evolution
of interesting new forms. Obviously, I didn't take any.
By the way, these plants were separated far from me by the slippery water sheet. The
images were taken with a very long telephoto lens, probably my 200mm. (I wish I had taken my 500 mm F4.5
with me, but that's a monster to hike with.)
