One of my favorite things about hiking is the unexpected interactions with life in the forest. Yesterday, on my weekly family and friends hike, we came across a patch teeming with lady bugs along the Gabrieleno Trail. My friend Lorenzo and I took great delight in photographing and watching them well past the time when the rest of our group had lost interest. I’ve only seen this many one other time which was with my brother in August 2011 along the Vincent Gulch Trail by the San Gabriel River. Click on an image to enlarge and begin a slide show.