AA-2026-1468B2
On the image
A sprawling subalpine meadow cuts into a forested mountainside, scattered with pale limestone outcroppings and dense stands of conifers that look less like a forest and more like someone's idea of order imposed on wilderness. Small figures are visible in the middle distance, tourists or hikers who have driven or walked to this accessible high point and are now standing around trying to figure out what to do next. The scene carries the confident ease of the 1960s or early 1970s, when a paved road to a high-altitude meadow seemed like an unambiguous good and a clearing in the woods warranted a family outing. The geology is striking—those pale scree slopes and limestone faces suggest glacial activity and weathering—but what the photograph actually documents is the moment when Americans discovered they could drive to the edge of wild country and stand in it without hiking very far. The coniferous forest framing the view is thick and uniform enough to suggest replanting or fire recovery, the kind of landscape that looks natural only if you don't ask when it got that way.
Visually related — by likeness
Alpine meadow with limestone scarps, likely Pacific Northwest or Northern Rockie. 1955–1975. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-1468B2. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/alpine-meadow-with-limestone-scarps-likely-pacific-northwest-or-northern-rockie.
@misc{aaAA20261468B2,
title = {Alpine meadow with limestone scarps, likely Pacific Northwest or Northern Rockie},
year = {1955–1975},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-1468B2},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/alpine-meadow-with-limestone-scarps-likely-pacific-northwest-or-northern-rockie}
}TY - ART TI - Alpine meadow with limestone scarps, likely Pacific Northwest or Northern Rockie PY - 1955–1975 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-1468B2 UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/alpine-meadow-with-limestone-scarps-likely-pacific-northwest-or-northern-rockie ER -
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