Looking for the Helgramites, Part II

 As I said in my previous post, we stopped at Silver Lake to eat lunch and to decide whether we wanted to double back to the Bears or continue on toward the Helgramites.  You see, in this area the lakes come in groups.  The above photo of our lunch spot was taken by my wife with her iPod Touch (This is not a paid ad, but if Apple likes it, I'll accept donations.). Click on the photo if you want to see what I'm eating.

 As I was eating lunch, I was scanning my surroundings and planning ahead for some photography.  The first thing that got my attention was this young White Pine growing out of a crack in a rock.  The pine might have actually made the crack.  I wondered how long the pine would last.  If it manages to get enough water and nutrients, it might actually split the rock wide open and grow to full height, rendering the rock irrelevant - except with the help of lichens and weathering, it might eventually enrich the soil down in the Great Valley.  I won't be around to check on all of that.

 Right next to that rock was a nice little patch of Asters, looking as fresh as Spring.

 Ironic, to me, that this little Silver Lake, is in a setting that looks remarkably similar to that of the larger Silver Lake in the Buck's Lake Wilderness.  Complete with its little islands.

 Looking back at where we'd been, we started to see more and more lakes.  This shot is taken toward the East and the Bear Lakes.  Taken with me wife's iPod Touch (another unpaid ad).

 Here's that flower that I first noticed on top of Grizzly Peak near Quincy.  I still don't know what it is.

 Another view backwards as we could tell we were about to go over a little ridge and descend into the hollow that contains the Helgramite Lakes. We would then not be able to see this scene until we got much higher.

 We took the above "scene" as an omen that we were about to encounter cows.  We even imagined we were hearing cow bells in the distance.

 Further evidence of cows.  At least it smelled a lot better (to me) than the copious dog poop we encountered on our more recent hike in the Alpine Meadows area.

Our first view of a Helgramite Lake. We saw ducks, but no cows!  However, we definitely heard cow bells at this point.  But where were they?