Clocks Go Ahead Tonight, Broken-wing Weber, Bottomless Lake State Park tour

Today, Saturday, Mar. 10^th we were up within 10 minutes of each other. After a restless sleep on Thursday night, for some reason, I slept really well last night. 

It was 7:10 when I woke. What a great looking morning! The sun has full control of the blue sky yet I felt no encouragement to get out and walk. I think that was simply because today is a rest day for us and I have all day to take jaunts around the area if and when I choose.

At the corner of Hwy 380 and Bottomless Lake Rd (409)
there are 3 historic markers
Unfortunately, not everyone respects such informative markers

Some 'morons' chose to damage them making it difficult
for us to read the stories

Very disturbing to see shot gun shells all over the parking lot

We had our tea and coffee together and caught up on blog reading while having a half grapefruit each. The temperature was hovering around 46F and quickly rose to 64F by 9:30. We both got cleaned up, put our shorts on, took our walking sticks and hopped in Black Beauty. We wanted to tour the park a bit and check out the ‘Bottomless’ lakes here. Interesting story of where the famed name came from.

I love reading how places get their names

While Bill was talking to his Dad this morning, I noticed this fellow walking on the road up on the mountain behind us

This is where I saw him without the zoom
Yup, I have good eye sight and I notice things

Leaving the Lea Lakes Rec Area where we are camped we pulled into the Lower Ridge primitive camp area and parked. There were quite a few lakes named on the placard so we read that first and then started walking. The first one is called The Inkwell, aptly named because it is encircled by a craggy red rock wall and seems to drop right down into a well. Standing there on the edge, looking down about 20 feet, we could see fish taunting the visitors.

The Visitor Centre was closed when we were nearby
so I don't have the information on how deep each of these lakes are
but trust me, they are NOT bottomless

We hiked up over the ridge where we had an awesome view of Devil's Inkwell Lake and around the base, down to the beach of Pasture Lake. This lake was about the side of the pond back home at The Ridge, minus all the weedy growth.

"Hey!" Bill says, "Check out the alligator!"

From the road you can't see the lake

The beautiful Devil's Inkwell can be viewed
with a wee walk

No fishing and these little 5" guys know it!

We walked up this rocky path (my heart was pumping because of the water!)

And we had this great view over Pasture Lake and some of the State park
We followed the sandy/rocky path down the hill and around to that sandy beach

Bill descended down this steep trail but I didn't

We continued to walk around the lake to get to the beach on the far (south) side

Not a selfie, Bill took this one

Our selfie

There is no swimming or fishing in these lakes but a couple of them looked like they would be great places to kayak. Next was Figure Eight Lake , two lakes not joined but close together and in the shape of an 8.

One end of the Figure 8 Lakes, couldn't get them both in the same picture
They were both very large

Mirror Lake from above

Walking a bit further, we stopped at Mirror Lake where from our vantage point, we could see a young family, Mom, Dad, child and 2 dogs on the sandy beach. This lake, again aptly named, was two bodies of water joined by a shallow strip. When they left, we walked over and down the steep rocky steps to the beach. 

Rock sitting
If I appear a little insecure, it is probably because it was a bit of a chore to get on that rock!

My sweetie looks quite comfy on the tree root step

 The lake on the right is the only side suitable for fish The left side has too much saline for them to survive. We had to take some photos to prove we were there.

"did you see that?"

We drove further down and parked near the Visitor Centre. Hiking back on the trail we walked to the edge of the last one we would see here. This one was called Cottonwood Lake and it was very cool to stand on a rocky cliff looking down. There were quite a few Prickly Pear Cactus growing up the sides of the ridge. 

I offered to take a picture of a young couple on the edge, if they promised not to fall in, and they in turn did the same for us. She called it team work! 

Cottonwood Lake

Off they went and we began chatting with another lady there with her dog, Lucky. We walked back together and she told us of how she and her husband bought an old 1980 Casita trailer two weeks ago.

Bill leads the way to Cottonwood Lake
Notice the couple at the edge of the cliff?

They only do day or weekend trips and have a few things to fix up inside although she seemed to love its dated decor. Sandra and Bill (!) were a nice couple and gave us (‘such nice people’) lots of encouragement to come back again to their country. They had a lot to share of places to see in the area, living in Roswell now, where his home roots are. Wishing each other safe journey, we hopped in the truck to head back.

The day was certainly a hot one, reaching 81F in the heat of the sun. We were thankful for the wind today or it would have been ridiculously hot. Earlier this morning, a strong gust of wind blew our Weber Q off the picnic table. We didn’t see it until later as Black Beauty blocks the view for the most part. Weber is fine although one of the side trays broke. We don’t always use both trays but Bill is going to try a repair job anyway.

A nice write-up about one of our favourite desert critters

And one of the most frequent cactus

We sat inside and discussed tomorrow’s travel day and how far we plan to go. Well, Jello aside, we know of a few destinations where we can stop but hope to go further than Amarillo, Texas if possible. We will be entering a new time zone tomorrow after setting our clocks ahead tonight for Daylight Saving Time. Destination tomorrow is up to my driver and I totally trust Bill’s mindset. He knows when he needs a break and I know when I need one. 

Don't forget!

We moved outside and Bill packed Broken-Wing Weber away and once we moved inside, our chairs etc. Supper tonight is mini sausages and mac and cheese with a veggie on the side.

It was good!
Bill likes ketchup on his KD

 It would be nice if we could get our butts up early and on the road. We’ll have to tell Clemson “no sleeping in!”. This has been a great day. I’m enjoying my J.A. Jance book already and Bill will be looking for a new one to read tonight. He finished David Baldacci’s ‘The Winner’ last night at midnight or thereabouts.

Tonight's sky
We sat outside for a while and watched trailers move around in the dark
It sure is filling up on this weekend marking the beginning of Spring break!

I hope you’ve had fun today too. Thank you for taking the time to stop by and see what gabby had to say. I’d love to hear from you if you so choose to leave a comment.