Sierra High Country

I took a few days for an impromptu camping and painting trip. I made Caples Lake, near Carson Pass, my base of operations, and was rewarded by spectacular high elevation wildflower displays and lovely weather. The photo above is near Winnemucca Lake in the Mokelumne Wilderness. There's nothing like hiking in the high country in the Sierra Nevada, but I was definately feeling the elevation on that hike. I could have spent several more days exploring the area and painting. As it was, I cranked out 10 paintings in three days, and have a lot of photographs to sort through. Some of my favorite paintings are from the end of the day when I thought I was too tired to paint and had to concentrate on staying focused, so perhaps there's a lesson there about learning to just be in the moment and not think too hard. I'll be posting the individual paintings once they're dry enough to photograph.