Spring Wildflowers of the Enchampments

Lyall's Mariposa Lily
Calochortus lyallii

The Enchampments are simply splendid. Huge craggy peak after peak ascend above a pristine lake and tarn filled high valley basin!! 
There's plenty of miles to get to the lake filled basin and even though the landscape of snowy peaks and blue flowing water is the main attraction don't forget about the wildflowers.
I ascended into the enchampments in late May and along the lower and middle section of Snow lake trail wildflowers were blooming in abundance.
As i hiked up the trail the elevation change made a series of different species of flowers blooming.
I may have named some of these plants wrong, if so please let me know. There are several i couldn't identify, again if you know their names please let me know. 
Here they are, enjoy:

Slender Hawkweed?
Hieracium gracile

Yarrow
Achillea millefolium

Arctic Lupine
Lupinus arcticus

Elmera racemosa

Hooker's Onion?
Allium acuminatum

Snowbrush
Ceanothus velutinus

Nootka Rose
Rosa nutkana

Spring Gold
Lomatium utriculatum

?

Tweedy's Lewisia
Lewisia tweedyi

False Solomon's Seal
Smilacina racemosa

Common Red Paintbrush
Castilleja miniata

A type of Paintbrush

Harsh Paintbrush
Castilleja hispida

Tweedy's Lewisia
Lewisia Tweedyi

?

False Bugbane
Trautvetteria caroliniensis

Hooker's Fairybells
Disporum hookeri

Dull Oregon Grape
Mahonia nervosa

Mountain Arnica
Arnica latifolia

Saskatoon
Amelanchier alnifolia

Some kind of colorful fungus on a Douglas maple leaf
Acer glabrum

Golden Columbine
Aquilegia flavescens

Black Gooseberry
Ribes lacustre

Tall Mountain Shootingstar
Dodecatheon jeffreyi

Tall Bluebells
Mertensia paniculata

?

Sticky Currant?
Ribes viscosissimum

?

?

?

Yellow Fawn Lily
Erythronium grandiflorum

Fairyslipper
Calypso bulbosa

Field Mustard Rape
Brassica campestris

Silky Phacelia
Phacelia sericea

What a Gem in Gem lake: Alpine lakes wilderness

Snow lake

If your an avid hiker, then the two words Snow Lake is a quick reference for a crowded accent up to a huge beautiful alpine lake. Its usually packed on all non rainy weekends and can be bumper to bumper up and down the trail .
But it's well worth it as any hiker has to go at least once. The best time to go is on a weekday or in the off season to miss the crowds. There's also another way to visit the area...... via backpacking.
I headed up the Snow lake trail last fall but  hiked past Snow lake to explore the lakes beyond.
Gem lake, Lower Wildcat lake and Upper Wildcat lake lay beyond Snow lake among many other numerous off trail lakes.
Gem lake is quite a gem with several nice camping sites but can also be packed with backpackers like Snow lake. My advice is to head to Upper Wildcat lake.

Thunderstorms presiding over Upper Wildcat lake

                 
The trail to Upper Wildcat is overgrown and can be hard to follow but only lasts about .3 miles beyond Lower Wildcat.
Lower wildcat doesn't have much to see as its banks are thick with brush and no scenery of the above mountains. The trail looks like it ends at Lower wildcat but don't be fooled, cross the little foot bridge on the right side of the trail and get cozy with the under story of fauna. Very soon you'll be in solitude along Upper Wildcats shoreline pitching your tent. Bring your fishing pole as the fish should be biting!!
I had no luck fishing at Gem lake but caught one nice brook trout at Upper Wildcat along with several bites within one hour. 
Feeling adventurous? Head off trail over Upper Wildcat's North ridge and the lake list expands: Lake Caroline, Hatchet lake, Derrick lake, Little Derrick lake, Horseshoe lake, Shamrock lake and Elbow lake.
My plan was to make it to Lake Caroline but thunderstorms stopped my plans so i rested awhile longer at Upper Wildcat.
The following day before heading back to my car I climbed Mount Roosevelt. This is a quick steep climb which only requires scrambling skills. To get there follow the trail on top of the west ridge above Gem lake. Just keep following the trail as its pretty self explanatory once you find the trail.
Hopefully some day I'll head back and see  all the lakes, with such close proximity to each other these lakes would be a blast to explore.

Heading up to Snow lake

First break at Snow lake

Gem lake

My campsite up above Gem lake

The start of the sunset

The view from my campsite looking at Gem lake

Sunset

Another fishing break at Gem lake

Sunset

Looking east from Mount Roosevelt 

Looking north from Mount Roosevelt 

Kaleetan Peak on the R and Chair Peak on the L looking south

Snow Lake from Mount Roosevelt

I found a friend in Gem lake