The creeks have slowed. The biggest change from springtime is the proliferation of insect life. Larvae emerge from their twig and sand houses, crawl into the sun on top of a rock, and metamorphose into small flies and bugs. Grasshoppers emerge from eggs and begin hopping through the grassy meadows. The rushing, running water of the spring is gone.
Insect life centers on and around the mountain lakes.
Their surfaces become breeding grounds for insects too tiny to see. These in turn become food for larger flying insects which dance along the surface of the water whenever it is calm, eating the smaller ones. From the fish's eye view, the livin' is easy. Trout continue to spawn during the early summer, with females swimming up feeder streams to lay their eggs. Many of the eggs laid earlier in spring now hatch.