Durrance Lake

We decided to take advantage of mutual days off and go for a hike. We had wanted to do Mount Work but it started to rain as we pulled into the parking lot so we decided to just do the hike around Durrance Lake instead. The rain let up for the first half of the hike which was perfect because that was the part with no tree cover. The lake itself is really nice. It is stocked with rainbow trout so there were a fair number of people out fishing. It is apparently also a popular swimming place in the summer.

The hike starts out really easy.  But that was ok because there were lots of flowers to look at. I took a plant guide with us but without color pictures or detailed drawings it was really hard to identify what we were looking at. Of course we recognized some of the things we were looking at but others I never bothered to learn the names. I think it is time for a better plant guide.

We also came across something that looked and smelled like carrot. But when you pulled it out of the ground it had only wispy roots.

The trail then changes. It disappears into the forest. It gets narrow and becomes hilly. It is still really nice though and not too challenging. I think the most challenging part was trying not to fall in the lake at the narrowest parts.

There were lots more flowers and this giant skunk cabbage. I loved all the flora. We saw lot of nurse trees and plenty of blackberry, huckleberry, several types of ferns, oregon grape, etc.

I was really disappointed that we didn't see more wildlife. We stood by the lake and watched the trout jump at the mosquitoes but that was it. No birds or squirrels. I heard a hawk and we saw a bunny on the side of the road (but it wasn't a wild rabbit it was someones pet that I guess got loose).
It was actually a really nice walk and seemed that we came at just the right time of year for flowers. I think we will go back to Mount Work another day and do one of the more strenuous hikes and I'd like to come back to Durrance Lake in the summer because it looks like a really nice swimming lake.