Saturday, June 16. I drove up to the Vermillion Valley one the Kaiser Pass Road. Paved but rough, one lane, mostly on hillsides, few places to pass.

I took a side trip first to Florence Lake.

The Florence Lake store.

Then on to Lake Thomas Edison. This sign is just before the Vermillon Valley Resort ... at the end of 20+ miles on the one-lane Kaiser Pass Road.

My campsite at the Vermillion Campground.

After dinner at VVR, I walked around. Lake Thomas Edison and the VVR water taxi.

Lake Thomas Edison was low, exposing stumps from before the reservoir flooded the valley in the 1950's.

Sunday, June 17. The Bear Diversion Dam, my trailhead.

Bear Creek as it flows into the Bear Diversion Dam Reservoir.

Just upstream was this gaging station.

Calochortus leichtlinii. Leichtlin's mariposa lily.

A mix: Penstemon newberryi (mountain pride) and Castilleja sp. (paintbrush).

A nice pool on Bear Creek.

After a few miles the trail moves away from Bear Creek, into forest or onto open granite. Look close to see all the sedum.

Seven miles in, the Bear Creek Trail hits the John Muir Trail.

I made camp about 2/3 mile south on the JMT, in an open spot to minimize the bugs.

Bear Creek near camp ... and right where I will camp the following Saturday.

Monday, June 18. Today's route starts south on the JMT, along Bear Creek.

The Lake Italy Trail Junction.

The Hilgard Fork of Bear Creek, a bit above the junction.

Primula jeffreyi. (Formerly Dodecatheon jeffreyi.) Jeffrey's shooting star. These were a very common flower on this trip.

On the Lake Italy Trail.

Above that meadow was one of several rocky streches, including one where the trail wasn't that easy to find.

Back to the woods and the Hilgard Fork.