Waning Wildflowers at Cascade Pass

Last week, I hiked to Cascade Pass in North Cascades National Park, hoping to catch the last hurrah of the high-elevation wildflowers. I didn't continue all the way up toward Sahale Arm, as many hikers and backpackers do, but wandered a short distance in that direction - as I had suspected, the highest concentration of remaining wildflowers was in this area. First, my best image from this setting. Flowers in the foreground include pearly everlasting (white), paintbrush (red), and aster (purple). F/18.

Next, a view looking down the valley of the North Fork of the Cascade River. I wanted to juxtapose the valley itself and the clouds above. Despite the sunny appearance of this image, rain was falling when I took it. F/16.

Here are two landscapes with a mountain-through-trees concept. The first one might be my favorite; the trunks provide a more prominent linear element, and the jagged mountain is more eye-catching. F/16 in both cases.

Finally, some aster blooming to the northwest of the pass. I initially tried this with a wide depth of field, but the foreground flowers were so close to the lens that I had trouble getting both those and the mountain sharp. I like this composition, but due to the harshness of the lighting on the flowers, I am not confident that the detail would look good in print. F/6.3.