Infrared; the petals are pink.
 

 
Negative infrared at night.
 

 
The Missouri Lakes might be the most popular area for backpackers in the Holy Cross Wilderness. That said, the area is rather large and we found a private, beautiful site easily. The site was at 11,500 feet.
 

 
We were planning on backpacking to the Buchanan Pass area for the night, up to tree line from the western boundary of the Indian Peaks Wilderness. After 3 miles we stopped for rain and waited as lightning hit the surrounding peaks. The storm lasted 3 hours before we turned around and hiked out. There wasn't enough time left to hike to our destination and we wanted to hike through the wet forest instead of spending the remaining daylight in tents. It seemed like a good choice when we passed some firefighters on the way down.
 

 
These lodgepole pines are hosts of the Mountain pine beetle. Entire forests and mountainsides in Colorado are slowly being cleared by the beetle. Even my hometown will experience its destruction within a few years. It prefers a diet of Lodgepole and Ponderosa pines. The Mountain pine beetle is a native species, and this is a natural process, so the only thing to do is enjoy the colors and be very careful with fire, gas and stoves. Campfires are already illegal during most of the backpacking season in most Colorado wilderness areas.
 

 
We saw this cow early in our hike. She was hiding from the morning sun and heat in a shaded, marshy valley. The sight of us didn't seem to bother her but we kept a good distance.
 

 
The roots and stem of the Fireweed are edible and provide a good source of vitamin C. I've found it throughout the Colorado Rockies and throughout the Boreal forest in places like Michigan, Minnesota and Alaska.
 

 
Also known as Indian Paintbrush, Prairie-fire and Owl's Clover. Castillejas are incredibly common throughout the West. There are over 200 species of them.
 

 
This marshy area in Voyageurs National Park is called the Beaver Pond. I spent a few hours here watching for moose in the morning. I didn't see any moose or other people, but a pheasant and I scared the living daylights out of each other.
 

 
Drunken karaoke of obscure country songs was the astonishingly loud soundtrack to this scene. Orr (henceforth: Orrtucky) gave me goosebumps.
 

 
This is Honey, a rather portly black bear at the North American Bear Center in Ely, Minnesota.
 

 
Another shot of Honey.
 

 
Following a blue heron at 5:30AM.
 

 
I camped this night on the left, the peninsula of an island campsite. Throughout my trip I stayed on 3 different island campsites and 2 different land campsites. A bear visited me here around 3 AM but only stayed for a few minutes. It quickly lost interest in my bear canister and then ran away when I started talking and hammering my small shovel against my camera tripod.
 

 
There are few things more relaxing than drifting solo through a calm wilderness at dusk in a canoe. 10 hours of paddling is past, camp is in order and clean, a hearty dinner sits heavy and a smelly sleeping bag awaits. Everything requiring thoughtful attention is past and nothing requiring effort remains. There is nothing else to do at night than canoe along the shores and in the bays, and that's just fine. I took a book, Hemingway, but it seemed like a sin.
 

 
A canoe can easily fly if the weather is perfect. When sky and water become indistinguishable, peaceful gliding on the surface of a lake is as close to flying as any human has ever come. Look up or down and there are sparse, stringy clouds in endless blue sky. Look to the sides, front or back and there are trees in midair, harmoniously mirrored on the tops and bottoms of islands in the sky.
 

 
From my campsite on Birch Lake.