Yes, there is sun, lots of it, undiluted by moisture or by smog. Plants like greenleaf manzanita protect themselves with sun-tracking leaves that are angled vertically to the sun to minimize exposure. Unbelieveably, scarlet penstemon grow profusely, seemingly out of the rubble on the steep slopes.
Alumroots fill in the crevices wedged out by alternate freezing and thawing during the winter.
Pine drops poke through the litter under the trees. Rufous hummingbirds play chase amongst the red flowers, sometimes resting on dead branches. Families of hermit warblers and golden-crowned kinglets circulate in the tops of the Jeffrey pines, young begging for food. Summer reigns in this high mountain kingdom. The slopes here are somewhat, but only slightly, less steep, and there is even a little bit of soil as we know it.