Aquilegia pubescens

I have found the most beautiful thing ever, and it is called the Alpine Columbine! Look at this thing! Beautiful!

My friend Jonathan and I decided to climb (hike, really) to the summit of Amelia Earhart Peak, which stands 11,974 feet above sea level and a good 3 hours trek from Vogelsang High Sierra Camp. On our way up, we started seeing shriveled versions of this flower, and Jonathan hypothesized that we might find some in bloom higher up the slope. Boy was he right! Look at this thing!

Some interesting notes about the naming of this flower:
- "Columbine" denotes dove, which refers to the shape of the petals as doves perched around a fountain
- "Aquilegia" denotes eagle, which refers to the shape of the spurs as eagle's talons

The Alpine Columbine in its pure form is entirely white. However, we saw many with varying degrees of pink and purple in them, which comes from hybridization with the equally brilliant Crimson Columbine.

This is flower heaven right here.