Lewis Creek: The Wildflowers

Lewis Creek is about 7 miles south of Yosemite National Park, CA. The trail all along it with the flowers,waterfalls and natural beauty are a lovely alternative to visiting the Park if you have limited time, or if you want to avoid crowds, or if the roads are snowy in the Spring. I described the trail and the swarms of ladybugs in Part One.

Lewis Creek Trail Part Two: The Wildflowers

Sierra’s Call
by Clifford Corlieu

Give me the mountains,
The glorious mountains,
Whose beauties all come from the snows,
Where nature’s hand blesses
The soul with caresses
Of free life and quiet repose…

The wildflowers of Lewis Creek

Walking the Lewis Creek Trail at the end of May is heaven for the wildflower lover. On my first visit, I didn’t know any of the true names and had only begun to be interested in natives in my own garden. Now as I look at these photos, I recognize a few, have looked up a few and enjoy seeing them all.

The trail is beautiful and mossy green, the walk is easy and about 3 miles round trip, the distance I used to walk every day when I lived in the suburbs. A cloudy-bright day in Spring, preferably after a rain, is the best time to go.

Two beautiful waterfalls are at either end of the trail, Corlieu Fall, named after a local rancher and poet, and Red Rock Fall upstream. In between, along this trail, are the flowers. Come see…

 

Hartweg's Iris, Iris hartwegii

Hartweg’s Iris, Iris hartwegii

Western brackenfern, Pteridium aquilinum

Western brackenfern, Pteridium aquilinum

Asarum hartwegii, Hartweg's Wild Ginger

Asarum hartwegii, Hartweg’s Wild Ginger

California Indian Pink, Silene californica

California Indian Pink, Silene californica

Checker Lily, Fritillaria affinis var. affinis

Checker Lily, Fritillaria affinis var. affinis

California Strawberry, Fragaria vesca

California Strawberry, Fragaria vesca

The trail closely follows the creek the whole way offering views like this through the trees.

False Solomon's seal, Smilacina stellata

False Solomon’s seal, Smilacina stellata

Pacific bleeding heart, Dicentra formosa

Pacific bleeding heart, Dicentra formosa

 

Lewis Creek pond

Lewis Creek pond

 

Sticky Cinquefoil, Potentilla glandulosa

Sticky Cinquefoil, Potentilla glandulosa

Unknown..can someone ID this?

Unknown..can someone ID this?

 

Lewis Creek moss rock

Lewis Creek moss rock

 

Lewis Creek mossy stump

Lewis Creek mossy stump

 

Lewis Creek Trail heads under a tree

Lewis Creek Trail heads under a tree

 

Western Wallflower, Erysimum capitatum

Western Wallflower, Erysimum capitatum

 

Western Azalea, Rhododendron occidentale

Western Azalea, Rhododendron occidentale

 

Mossy pine and Pacific dogwood, Cornus nuttallii

Mossy pine roots and Pacific dogwood, Cornus nuttallii

This dogwood seems to form an airy halo around the sturdy roots of the pine.

Part 1  Lewis Creek: Converging Ladybugs converge

The trail. And, I come upon swarms of ladybugs and find out all about them and their travels from here to the Central Valley and back

14 comments

  1. Desiree -

    What a wonderful continuation of this stunning walk, Sue! I am wild about the mossy rocks, mossy stumps and mossy roots! I am unable to even hazard a guess at the plant you need identified 😉 Those ferns and brackens are so beautiful and I could almost smell the damp, dank earth beneath the layer of pine needles. I love how the azaleas are growing wild. I always associate them with cultivation 😉 Anywhere where there are trees, winding paths, lots of cooling water and the sound of birds is my idea of heaven 🙂 And I love walking beneath fallen trunks and across rustic bridges. This walk had all those elements…thank you!

  2. Curbstone Valley Farm -

    The Iris harwegii is just beautiful, I don’t think I’ve seen one before, the color is quite striking. It’s interesting seeing the Fritillaria and Solomon’s Seal now, as ours finished blooming a few weeks ago here. Always fun to compare though, and those roots on the pine are just wonderful. I love the appearance of tree roots like that, they almost don’t look real!

  3. Daricia -

    hi, i was excited to read your post today because we are planning a trip to california right now! this looks like another beautiful place to consider…i am glad to know about it. your unidentified plant looks like bedstraw of some sort to me. (Galium sp.)

  4. Daricia -

    hi, i was excited to read your post today because we are planning a trip to california right now! this looks like another beautiful place to consider…i am glad to know about it. your unidentified plant looks like bedstraw of some sort to me. (Galium sp.)

  5. Town Mouse -

    Isn’t it wonderful to go hiking and find old friends from the garden in the woods? Or to come home from a hike and find the same precious flowers in the garden? For me, that’s one of the best things about native plant gardening… Great plants.

  6. Town Mouse -

    Isn’t it wonderful to go hiking and find old friends from the garden in the woods? Or to come home from a hike and find the same precious flowers in the garden? For me, that’s one of the best things about native plant gardening… Great plants.

  7. James (Lost in the Landscape) -

    I love the mossy stump. Just looking at the photos makes me feel cooler and calmer, like I’ve just walked into a moist, shady forest. You’ve taken some great shots that give a wonderful sense of place, and the photo with the cinquefoil is extra-nice!

  8. Sue Langley -

    Thanks you all, Desiree, we have a 100 mile scenic loop starting from our little town where we go every year to see more of this scenery as summer goes on. The Hartweg Iris, I also love, Clare. This trail is about 3500 ft and we’ve found that spring lingers nicely in the higher country, even more so when you go higher to 6000-7000 ft towards Mammoth Pools. Daricia, I hope you have a wonderful trip! Hmm, I’ll have to check Galium…I’ve been pulling that out of my fields and meadows all spring. Even though it’s native, it’s a weed to me.

    I love seeing the flowers and plants here and in our surrounding area, Town Mouse. We take our dog for long walks and a trail like this is exceptionally beautiful! Thanks, James for your kind comments and for pointing out the cinquefoil. The two captions got glued together and one photo went into the Twilight Zone. Fixed! Now, what is that unidentified plant, folks? I guess I could send it to Dave’s Garden Plant ID forum…hahaha

  9. Justin -

    Dear Sue Langley:

    I’m writing to ask permission to reprint a graphic from your blog
    depicting potentilla glandulosa in a slide for our course. This course,
    called Introduction to Genetics and Evolution will be offered in the
    open, online course environment Coursera
    (https://www.coursera.org/course/geneticsevolution). The lectures,
    including those containing the picture in question, will be available
    only to registered students, but registration will be open to all.
    These courses are free for any student, and my use of this picture
    will be entirely educational, incorporated into the lecture. No
    profit will be generated by the use or the course. I’m happy to give
    attribution to the source of the graphic, too, but please clarify for
    me if this picture was taken by you (in which case I’d cite your website).

    If you are able to grant permission I will be very grateful. Since
    this is a non-profit educational use, we hope you can waive any
    licensing fees.

    If you could let me know as soon as possible, that’d be great, so we
    can begin to record the associated lecture segments.

    Thanks for considering it! — Justin

  10. Justin -

    Dear Sue Langley:

    I’m writing to ask permission to reprint a graphic from your blog
    depicting potentilla glandulosa in a slide for our course. This course,
    called Introduction to Genetics and Evolution will be offered in the
    open, online course environment Coursera
    (https://www.coursera.org/course/geneticsevolution). The lectures,
    including those containing the picture in question, will be available
    only to registered students, but registration will be open to all.
    These courses are free for any student, and my use of this picture
    will be entirely educational, incorporated into the lecture. No
    profit will be generated by the use or the course. I’m happy to give
    attribution to the source of the graphic, too, but please clarify for
    me if this picture was taken by you (in which case I’d cite your website).

    If you are able to grant permission I will be very grateful. Since
    this is a non-profit educational use, we hope you can waive any
    licensing fees.

    If you could let me know as soon as possible, that’d be great, so we
    can begin to record the associated lecture segments.

    Thanks for considering it! — Justin

Comments are closed.