Backyard Kayaking

 

During our generous New Mexico summer monsoon season this year, my friend Barb invited me over to kayak in her backyard. Her property was a part of a large ranch where they grew pinto beans, so the ranch owners had built natural water tanks into the ground to cache rain water so they could irrigate their bean fields.

One of these water tanks is located on the back of my friend Barb’s property, and this year, due to our generous monsoon rains, hers filled up with water, deep and wide enough to enjoy some backyard kayaking.

 

Barb’s husband Barry took some of these photos of us while we were kayaking in the pond. Barb and Barry were once the managers/founders of The Lucky 13 Donkey Rescue. Now they just own 2 personal donkeys, along with 2 mules and a horse, and a small pack of Boxers.

 

Kayaking with donkeys!

 

The equines were all very curious about the kayaks.

Barb gave a ride to one of her Boxers.

It was a lot of fun to watch the reaction of the equines to the kayaks and the dog in the kayak.

Just hanging out…..

 

Their mule, Jacob, tried to haul Barb’s kayak back onto shore using the handhold rope.

See the fence out in front of my kayak? That’s the fence between Barb and her neighbor. As you can see it is underneath the water and we could kayak right over the fence and into her neighbor’s yard.

Barb and I had a fun time racing one another, playing beach ball hockey and just relaxing on the water.

Barb’s beautiful mare Alex is a seahorse and loves water. She often swims in this pond, when it’s not as deep as it was during the monsoon season. The middle of the pond was over 10 feet deep!

I was thrilled to be in a kayak on the water. Who knew I’d be able to go kayaking just 10 minutes from my house…in my friend’s backyard?!

The sky grew dark and we had a few sprinkles while we were out there on the pond, but we were able to enjoy about an hour and a half of kayaking, before another thunder storm moved in and dumped more rain.

 

This was definitely one of the highlights of my summer!

Paddling, Mudding, and Hiking

 

After Jem got back from Cliff Diving, he wanted to go canoeing or kayaking, as did most of the other Boy Scouts who had been diving from off the Heron Lake Dam.

Crazy! He looks so grown up, but only 14 years old and already 6’2”!

The group headed out in an armada of boats. There’s Jem in the front of the white canoe.

And Jax is in the front of this orange canoe.

See that blue shape in the water, among the center of the boats? That was a German Exchange Student that came along with one of the Boy Scout families for the camping trip. His name was Marcus and he wanted to swim the entire mile-plus distance from the shore to the little island. He was wearing a safety vest, but he did swim the entire distance all on his own. Wow!

While they paddled (and swam) to the island I hung out at the beach taking some pics of some of the Scouts playing on the beach……..in the mud.

It was amazing how deep they managed to bury themselves.

They seemed to be enjoying their own Mud Spa experience…..a little too much.

Swamp Monster!

 

Jem switched places on the way back from the island and was able to kayak back instead of canoe.

And then someone asked me if I wanted to take a turn with the paddles. Oh yeah! I love boating!

I got someone to keep an eye on Jen and Dobbie. And I was surprised that Jax volunteered to go with me, because he had been out on the canoes and kayaks all day by that time.

So Jax hopped into the canoe with me and we headed out to the island with two other parents in kayaks and another kayak with a couple of younger Boy Scouts.

Jax and I were a well-oiled rowing machine and we kept having to slow down to wait up for the younger Scouts, who were already tiring out half-way across the lake. One of the kayaking parents, was smart to pack a rope, because, after we reached the island, he used it to tow those two tired Boy Scouts back to shore.

I was surprised at how strong and effortlessly I was able to power across the lake. I felt alive and elated. It felt great to get out and explore and have fun with my son. We talked and laughed the entire way. It was truly a highlight of our weekend.

Dobbie missed me terribly while I was gone. If we had had a doggie safety vest, I would have taken her with me. But she sure was happy when she saw me paddling back to shore!

What a sweet reunion!

Next time you get to go out, too, Dobbie. I love my little Chiweenie girl!

As the sun started to drop lower in the sky, we gathered together with the Boy Scouts for a Potluck meal and after dinner, the kidlets and I decided we wanted to check out the Rio Chama Trail and the old Suspension Bridge, while the Boy Scouts had made plans to attend a Ranger Talk at the Nature Center about Rattlesnakes. Our hope was to hike the beginning of the Rio Chama Trail and place a letterbox near the old Suspension Bridge, and then join up with the Boy Scouts at the Nature Center. Pretty ambitious plans considering the sun was almost on the horizon.

And I might not have chosen our plans if I had known how rugged and steep that first 1/2 mile of trail really was as it traveled down the stairs along the cap rock of the Chama River Canyon.

(This is the platform and stairs leading down from the top)

And switch-backed down to the river.

It was totally worth it, of course, and I’m so glad we took on the challenge, because the old, swaying, rocking, bouncing, wooden Suspension Bridge is slated for replacement by next summer with a brand new, boring, safe metal bridge. (Now why do they have to go ruin a great piece of history and adventure?)

Such a great old bridge, too.

After placing the letterbox on the other side of the canyon above the bridge we headed back across the river, our destination: The top of that cap rock along the canyon wall.

(See the platform and stairs leading down the wall across the canyon? That was our destination. It was much tougher hiking back up that steep, switch-back, cap rock canyon wall, than it was coming down. That’s for sure! Whew!)

But we made it just as the sun dipped below the horizon, and even caught the last half of the Rattlesnake Ranger Talk, too! Wooo! Awesome day!    

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……