The wind was incessant and unrelenting. The tiny flowers struggled to hold on, dragged by the breeze that blew up the rolling hills. It was a battle that the flowers would eventually succumb to, but not yet. And until then, these tiny balsamroot blooms would grace the green hillscapes with their colorful blooms, lending a brief bit of yellow to the otherwise brown and dusty slopes on the Columbia River Gorge.

The sun had't crested the distant range, and in the shadow of the morning light, I spied a dusty rustbucket nestled in a field of balsamroot. I was still contemplating how it made its way down here, far away from the nearby roads and ranches, when the sun slowly appeared, blooming with a vibrant sunstar over the eager balsamroot.

Columbia River Gorge

WA USA