October 28 -- A Dayhike to Treasure Lakes, And Some Mountain Birds...

It started off as a cold morning in Bishop at the RV park -- 34 degrees; time to head to the warmer desert-like climes of Overton, Nevada, which is where I'll be heading to spend the winter starting November 1. I headed west on Hwy 168, the road to Lake Sabrina, and turned off to South Lake. I arrived at the end of the road, and the trailhead to Bishop Pass and Treasure Lakes -- and, not surprisingly considering the cold (it was about 8:30am) I was the only one in the parking lot --

That's my dayhiking gear on the ground -- day pack, Canon 40D and EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS lens for landscapes and sitting upright, "The Big Boy", the 500 f/4 IS L lens on the Canon 7D camera body. I snap, strap and sling everything on, and head down the trail. Soon after I get a good look at South Lake, an "impoundment" of water that is used as a water source for Bishop -- but you can tell it's pretty low, a victim of the drought -- 

Some scenery along the trail as it makes its way into the John Muir Wilderness --

The trail then splits, going to Bishop Pass or Treasure Lakes, and I head right to Treasure Lakes. The trail eventually makes its way down; here's the view from the top -- 

The Treasure Lakes lie underneath the peak on the left, and behind the ridge below the peak. The trail down below crosses as stream, which has some pretty awesome reflections -- which will be on full display at the lakes -- 

On the other side of path of the meandering stream, the trail heads back up, and eventually you get a look back at South Lake, with the valley of south fork Bishop Creek behind it -- 

"Are we THERE yet?" Hmmm, looks pretty promising -- but no --

Then I come upon a Monarch Butterfly along the trail. It's trying to fly, but can't for some reason -- dying? I sure hope not. As it's not moving much, I get out my Canon extender and put it on the 17-55 lens for a macro of the butterfly; I was about 2 inches away from it here -- 

Finally the trail stops climbing, opens up -- 

And the first of the Treasure Lakes is there in all its glorious colors and reflections -- 

I wandered around the lake, with each vista before me pure eye-candy -- 

Then, after having lunch on a granite ledge with the 1st lake in front of me, I walked over to the 2nd lake; there was a sheen of ice still on it -- 

Icicles had formed on the creek coming from another of the lakes higher up -- 

Back to the first lake for one last look ---

A crescent moon was rising --

And back down at the creek, the reflections were still magical -- 

Though I used the 17-55 f/2.8 lens for all of the above photos, I was also using my 500 f/4 at the same time for birds; here are a few Mountain Chickadees --

Clark's Nutcrackers are fairly common -- and quite raucous -- in most of the mountain areas that I hike in --

I even got some photos of 2 Clark's tussling --

And to end an exhausting yet exhilarating day in the backcountry, I saw this Merlin way above me; only the 500 f/4 could have gotten these shots with such clarity --

I think today (Wednesday) will be a rest day... :o)