Conboy Lake Wildlife Refuge, June 11, 2026

Conboy Lake Wildlife Refuge has only one trail, the Willard Springs trail. It begins at the parking area and edges out toward the fields where often sandhill cranes and elk roam. Then it goes into the pine forest, to the springs. It winds back in the forest to the parking area again.

I parked along the main road, near where the trail has an entry point, and followed this into the forest. This was the second time I “hiked” this trail this year. This is an open pine forest on the edges of Mt Adams in Washington. The terrain is fairly level, so my gimpy body and my trekking poles didn’t have too tough a time. I went out through the forest, seeing lots of bracken ferns and trailing blackberries. Along the way there were lots of pinewoods or dusky horkelia and western starflowers. Interspersed were some pinedrops and a few young little princes pine and pipsissewa; these had buds but no flowers yet.

Pinewoods or Dusky Horkelia were blooming all along the trail.

A young Pinedrops plant. There were a few of these scattered in this open forest.

Scarlet Gilia was growing near the entrance to the Refuge and along the road in, but I didn’t find any on the trail. There were also lots of red columbine growing along the trail as I hiked in.

And there it was! An old, rusty mailbox sitting on a stump. Why? Because someone wanted it there. Quite a nice touch I think.

After a short rest, I took a spur off the main trail, that lead me past this aspen grove and connected with the main trail loop. In the aspen forest there were lots of Ox-eye Daisies, and common chickweed and some Bird’s foot Trefoil.

Many of these Ox-eye Daisies were blooming along the trail. Before I got into the aspen grove, I came across one of my very favorite wildflowers: the Phantom Orchid. It is a mycotrophic plant, meaning it has no green parts, gets its nutrients as a parasite, from other plants. It is rare and unique.

I was surprised to find some of these growing in with green plants as opposed to in the pine needle duff where others were growing.

All in all it was a beautiful, sunny day in this unique area.