What a majestic sight! It's been a couple of years since we've been to the Eastern Sierra Mts. The biggest change is seeing beautiful snow covered mountains, abundant flowing rivers and waterfalls.
It's difficult to climb in the higher elevations right now unless you have all the needed snow gear so we opted for a trail that begins/ends at the portal for Mt Whitney and leads down to Lone Pine campground.
We didn't get many miles in since we were constantly stopping to enjoy the sights and sounds of the rushing streams alongside the trail.
Our trail was full of reminders from the mountains further south including this cabin which would fit in perfectly in Idyllwild.
There were other familiar sights like the bright red Snow Plant peeking through the forest floor and the American Robin boldly feeding near the river.
Seeing the Steller's Jay in this position was a first. It probably was "anting" which is a behavior that involves ants crawling on the bird's feathers where the ants emit a noxious formic acid. In doing so, the ant is more tasty to the jay. Perhaps, it was sunning itself. To learn more about "anting", go to allaboutbirds.org
The highlight of the hike started at the waterfall! While we were "feasting" our eyes on the spectacular cascading waterfall, a bird on the edge of the water caught our attention.
We recognized this little bird! We saw it for the first and only time on a stream in the Redwood forest last Summer. One unique feature besides its ability to swim underwater is the flash of white that appears when the extra eyelid is revealed.
We observed it gather up nesting material than it flew with a full beak onto a boulder in the middle of the rushing waterfall.
What happened next was amazing! It flew straight into the waterfall with its nesting material. After a few minutes, it emerged, shook off its feathers and flew off in search of more additions to its hidden nest. Wow! We stared at each other with big eyes and open mouths.
To be sure we really witnessed that unique behavior, we continue to watch the waterfall. Sure enough, it returned again and again bravely flying through the pounding water!
Later in the afternoon while getting a snack at a local souvenir shop, I saw lots of "I Climbed Mt Whitney" t-shirts. I longed for a t-shirt celebrate the incredible waterfall bird that we discovered in the shadow of Mt Whitney!
Click on photos to enlarge.
Photos and content by Robin Roberts.
