June Lake Aspens.

June Lake is on the eastern side of the California-Nevada Sierra Mountains. Along one side of the lake are aspens that have glorious color in the autumn. When my children were growing up, we went camping at June Lake every year and have many fond memories of our time there when we would fish and hike. One year as we were hiking, our Alaskan Malamute, Nikki, thought she could ford a rapidly moving stream. She was caught up and went down a very steep, boulder strewn waterfall! We all went tearing down the mountain after her (I don't know why we did this as there was no way any one of us could've gotten her out of that predicament). She got herself out with only one minor cut below her eye. She was very stiff and sore the next day, but handled it all rather well. We still think of that time and know it was nothing short of a miracle that she survived! Bears from nearby Yosemite would visit this campground frequently. One time we were sitting around our evening campfire and I actually smelled the bear that walked past our camp - a very musky odor! The next day we heard from fellow campers that this particular bear had sat near their tent and watched as their tethered dog barked at him. He must've known the dog couldn't charge and was quite arrogant about it. My memories are so vivid of this place and this painting does NOT do it justice. Maybe someday I'll be able to really capture the magnificence of it.