Preparation

An American Pika haying in the talus of Bug Dome.

Woke up at Sunrise High Sierra Camp this morning to the first light of day stratifying the jagged Sierra horizon into orange, yellow, and indigo. After a quiet morning staring at the mountains, listening to the birds as gentle breezes blew through the trees, I ventured up the slopes of Bug Dome in search of wildflowers and butterflies. The summit bore species previously unseen and a breathtaking view of the eastern part of the range that I'd unknowingly deeply missed. On the way down, I stopped in the rock field at the base to watch the pikas in their evening collection of grasses. That which they accumulate is laid in the sun to cure and then stored for the lengthy High Sierra winter, to act as the pika's sole food source when the landscape is buried in snow.

I've blipped this adorable and endearing phenomenon twice before, here and here.