The Emerald Kingdom

San Juan Mountains, Colorado As I stood alone, high in this rocky wildflower basin wiping the rain drops from my lens and the wind blew up from the valley below, I couldn't help but think of this magical kingdom I was looking down upon. With one of Colorado’s most iconic 14,000 ft (4,267.2 m) peaks protecting his domain and his emerald treasure that is continually fed by the alpine springs flowing down the mountain side. As the storm began to clear, it let wonderful light in, basking the rocky throne in a rose colored alpine glow. It had rained all afternoon and everything was wet with moisture, when the filtered light trickled in, it gave a subtle glow to everything facing west and saturated the breathtaking colors of summer. As I stood in this steep boulder laden slope, I was in amazement of the amount of wildflowers I was looking down upon. A true treasure of the San Juan Mountains, showing the importance of protecting these wilderness areas to preserve the WILD of the mountains. T