Heron Lake Camping Trip

 

Our exploration of Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch were only a side dish to the main course of Heron Lake.

We were to meet up with the twinlings’ Boy Scout Troop on Friday afternoon and spend the weekend camping, hiking, swimming, canoeing, and kayaking.

I got lost up near Tierra Amarilla, which is very unlike me, but it’s totally my fault because, while I did glance at the State Park map online, I never once looked at a road map, even though I do have several maps of New Mexico that I keep in my van. The confusion occurred because there are two state parks, El Vado Lake and Heron Lake, in close proximity to one another. In fact there is a 5-mile hiking trail that travels between the two of them, alongside the Chama River. (Which we did a little hiking on, to find a letterbox, during our trip)

In addition, from several points on the road to El Vado Lake, you can even see Heron Lake in the valley below. On the State Park map it looked like the two state parks were along the same road. But in reality they were located on totally different roads.

(A photo of El Vado Lake taken from the Rio Chama Trail)

Looking back I did think it was weird that the first road we drove down only showed signs for El Vado Lake. But we drove the 11 miles all the way down to El Vado Lake and entered the campground anyway. 

I think someone should have placed a sign for Heron Lake, at the turn-off for El Vado Lake, that had an arrow pointing to the next turn-off, so folks would know to go just a mile farther for the turn-off for the road to Heron Lake.

But it worked out in the end and something funny happened along the way, and something amazing, too. We decided to stop by the first campsite we saw with people, and ask if they knew how to get to Heron Lake, and (in my best Gomer Pyle voice) “Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!”, it was some friends of my twinling Jax. Actually, it was the family of one of his Ft. Lone Tree Campers that he took care of when he was a counselor a couple weeks ago. So, we had some fun chatting for a few minutes and were made to promise we’d stop by on our way back home on Sunday.

And the cherry on top was while we were driving out of the park, several beautiful Elk crossed the road right in front of us, les than 20 feet away. One of them stopped right in the middle of road and stared at us, but I was too mesmerized to grab my camera for a photo. By the time it registered to find my camera, the Elk had already leapt up the hillside and were in the tree cover. Bummer!

(Relaxing by the lake with my Dobbie Girl)

We discovered that the road to El Vado was twice as long as the road to Heron Lake, and it was more desolate, wild and western, with loads of sage and tumbleweeds, but not much green. The road to Heron Lake was less than 5 miles long and was a joy to drive down, with picturesque farms and fields of green filled with beautiful horses, lining both sides. At one point along the way, we were treated with another surprise when a Doe and her twin fawns came bounding across the road about 50 feet in front of us. I did remember my camera this time, but the little family were moving very quickly across the horse pasture and by the time I could get my camera focused they were already on the opposite side of the field. In retrospect,I should have photographed the herd of horses that all lifted their heads and perked their ears forward, to watch the deer bounding across their pasture. They were pretty funny.

  

We did find it interesting that where we were was so close to Chama(only 12 miles), as well as Southern Colorado(about 30 miles), which are two more places we want to do more letterboxing and exploring…….Another time. sigh.

 

So, even with our letterboxing and exploring in Abiquiu, stopping off to visit Echo Amphitheater (more on that in another post) and getting a little side-tracked at El Vado Lake, we still managed to make it to Heron Lake with plenty of time to pitch our tent, cook some dinner and enjoy a gorgeous sunset.

Of course, I took a few more than just one photo. hehe.

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And I woke up early in the morning, before the sun had risen, and before all the Boy Scouts had opened their eyes, and Dobbie Girl and I went for a walk alongside the lake. We had been told the night before that a mountain lion had been spotted in the campground the previous evening and had killed a deer, so I was on alert for the big cat, as well as any signs of wildlife. And I did find a meandering trail of mountain lion paw prints (Huge! Bigger ‘round than my hand with fingers fully extended), along with deer and Elk hoofprints, and some other small mammal pawprints, but otherwise our walk was pretty uneventful. We walked for the better part of an hour and watched sailboats and partyboats slipping into the lake while the sun rose above the cliffs. It was very relaxing and a great way to start the day.

After breakfast, the Boy Scouts had a Service Project to work on and they all loaded into several cars to work on spreading gravel in several campsites in another section of the park. Besides being a good example, doing Service Projects provides certain perks for the Troop, such as complimentary camping, so the boys are always eager to help out.

(One of our Scout Leader’s tents reminded me of our recent visit to Roswell to see the Aliens. A sort of combination spaceship/teepee design. I like it.)

While they were working, Jen and I hung out beside the lake, her playing in the water and me photographing whatever caught my eye.

(This is our tent….not as exciting as the Alien Spaceship design, but easy to pitch with the built-in poles. Takes less than 3 minutes and I can do it by myself. It’s also roomy enough for 4 adults…..5 if you don’t mind being packed in like sardines…..6 if you like to spoon one another)

For a short time on Saturday morning, the conditions were perfect for some cloud reflections and I was thrilled to be able to catch some images with camera.

The water was smooth, calm and mirror-like, and the clouds were low and perfectly shaped.

The rest of the weekend, the water was choppy or blurry and the sky perfectly clear or the clouds were thready and wispy. Photography is all about being in the right place at the right time and being prepared to shoot.

 

I did play in the water a little bit, too. The water was the perfect temperature and very shallow and clear. And the smooth, flat shale rock, lining the shore were perfect for teaching Jen how to skip stones. We had a few of them skipping 4 and 5 times.  

Dobbie says, “Every dog should get the opportunity to play in a lake”

Remember that Dobbie spent the first two years of her life inside a cage, in a Puppy Mill. All outdoor experiences are new for her. What surprises me most about my dog, is how she takes everything in stride and is always willing to go someplace different and try new things. This was the first time that Dobbie has ever willingly waded into a body of water, so I was very excited and proud of her.

Dobbie says, “Swimming in fun!…And so is the drying-off part, too!”

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There was also mud bathing, too.

People pay a lot of money for mud treatments.

Jen slathered it on for free.

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After the boys got back from their Service Project, we all had lunch and then some of the boys loaded up and rode over to the Dam to do some High Diving (from 20-40 feet, depending upon the rock platform they dove from) off the cliffs beside the Dam, while some stayed back at the campsite to go kayaking. Jem was one of those who wanted to High Dive, while Jax and another Scout wanted to kayak.

So, since Jen and Dobbie and I were hanging out at the beach, the photos I have are of Jax, though I wish I could have seen Jem High Diving. He said it was a rush!

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Meanwhile Jax was having a blast kayaking and was out there for several hours, skimming across the lake to a little island in the middle.

 

(That island was about a mile away from the shore and my zoom struggled to focus. Two other Boy Scouts are pulling up their kayak on the left. Jax is on the far right, I think, putting his life vest and oar in the kayak, so the 4 boys could go explore the island)

 

Rowing back to shore.

Up Next: The Day Wasn’t Over……