S. Yuba

Wanting a wilder area, we skipped Spenceville, where the 9 o'clock group was going, and headed to the S. Yuba campground on the other side of Edwards Crossing. Just the two of us. The cold start was icy but warmed quickly when the sun hit. At Humbug Creek, we sat at a picnic table for lunch. Rather quickly we found we were not alone but the goal of hoards of lady bugs

On they came, at first just a few.  

Soon we realized the  ground was seething with them. The whole area was a red orange color. When we were quiet I could hear the soft pitter patter of their bodies falling off trees they were climbing. We amused ourselves by trying to feed them. Not having aphids handy, we tried a bit of carrot and then smoked salmon.  No luck. But they sure seemed intent on going where they weren't. 

We brushed lady bugs off and returned down the trail. Having not met anyone in the morning, we were surprised by a few hikers and a miner and a couple of guys on mountain bikes. We had hiked 9.5 miles with about a 1500 ft elevation gain.