The lakes and meadows at the foot of Mount Jefferson lay under a blanket of snow even in mid-July this year. Although springtime snowpack has decreased by as much as 25 percent in the Pacific Northwest over the last 50 years, melt-out was late this year. The persistent remnants of winter tightly compressed summer in the high country and produced a September synchrony of wildflower blooming, so that when Kate and I backpacked into Jefferson Park last week we were greeted unexpectedly with a profusion of color -- which you'll just have to imagine since we left the AirCam behind.
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