At first glance this photo was rather bland, but the more I look at it the more I like it. Look at the different colors of rock on the left side of the stream, I love that. The dark green grass is fighting for life wherever it can survive for 6 short weeks each year.
There was a backpacker that fell in this river a couple years ago and lost his back back. I offered to retrieve the bag thinking I could land on a small flat portion of that grass. I ended up landing on the glacier 4 miles away and then walking down to it. A backpack that has soaked in a glacial stream for a week or two is virtually impossible to move. I estimated the bag to weigh an easy 240 pounds because of all the glacial silt packed in every fiber. I retrieved the good stuff and stashed the rest for a later pickup. I always enjoy the excuse to get out of the cub and go on a stroll.
November 28, 2010 — I posted this picture last night and received a request for the full story this morning. The backpacker was very fortunate because this whole thing could have ended much differently. Here is a link to the complete story.