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

Western brackenfern, Pteridium aquilinum

Asarum hartwegii, Hartweg’s Wild Ginger

California Indian Pink, Silene californica

Checker Lily, Fritillaria affinis var. affinis

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

Pacific bleeding heart, Dicentra formosa

Lewis Creek pond

Sticky Cinquefoil, Potentilla glandulosa

Unknown..can someone ID this?

 

Lewis Creek moss rock

 

Lewis Creek mossy stump

 

Lewis Creek Trail heads under a tree

 

Western Wallflower, Erysimum capitatum

 

Western Azalea, Rhododendron occidentale

 

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