Buntzen Lake

It had been awhile since I was last out to Buntzen Lake and I had never hiked the path around the lake, so today was the day. Ethan and I set out to explore the further sides of the small lake that parallels Indian Arm. I am not sure how much of the lake is natural as a dam keeps the level up and feeds a small power plant.

It was a warm day and quite bright, so it looked like a good day for a few photos. We decided to travel clockwise around the lake and so headed off to the south from the main beach and parking area, traveling first through the energy trail. This early part of the trail has one viewpoint I consider perhaps the nicest of the lake. It looks south and captures some interesting tree trunks which in early morning can have a special glow as the mists rise above the lake. This trip we unfortunately didn’t have any mists to view.

Heading across the foot bridge we saw we met a number of people admiring the views of the marshy part of the lake. This area is particularly beautiful when the mists are out as we were told by one couple who had been here earlier this morning. Heading north along the west side of the lake takes us along a road and offered us few views of the lake or anything else that caught my eye. When the road ended we followed a well used trail, I scampered off it to catch a few glimpses of the rougher parts of the lake. We continued along the trail for what seemed an eternity. The heat and the weight of the camera gear finally did me in and I had to pass the bag to Ethan – he had no problems fortunately. I guess I am in far worse shape then I thought. The trail wasn’t that bad, it did have a number of ups and downs but nothing severe.