A moodier edit of an image I made and shared last month. These Jacob's Ladder flowers are among my favorite blooms on the planet.

I photographed these small, delicate Jacob's Ladder flowers in early July this summer.

Enlightened (July 2025)

Geum rossii subspecies turbinatum (Alpine Avens)

A Rosy Paintbrush with a few Mountain Bluebells behind it, illuminated by soft morning light.

What I see looking
at a wildflower blooming—
indescribable…

Mountain Marsh Marigold (Caltha leptosepala)

Wild Paint (July 2025)

Red petals reaching,
Absorbing rays of the wild—
Spirits manifest.

“A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it. It just blooms.”
― Zen Shin

Mountain Clover, aka Parry's Clover (Trifolium parryi)

Morning Mountain Meadow (July 2025)

Whipple's penstemon (July 2025)

I love wildflower season in the San Juans. And one of my favorite wildflowers to experience is Jacob's Ladder. Thankfully, the Crater Lake Trail had a seemingly endless supply ready for me this past weekend.

Though it is a parasitic plant, this specimen of Pedicularis groenlandica—aka Elephant's head—that I encountered yesterday morning may be one of the coolest wildflowers I've ever photographed.