Lake Wright-Patman

We went for a last paddle before Don went out of town for the next three weeks to Lake Wright-Patman out of Texarkana. It was an easy drive up to the lake...about 80 miles or so. It is a huge lake and we had it practically all to ourselves. The whole 3 hours we were there I think we saw maybe 4 boats.



We had a great paddle. But it was very hot. We stopped twice to take a swim to cool off. We saw a lot of birds, but as soon as they saw us...off they flew!



We decided to paddle out to what looked like an island, but it turned out to be just a narrow peninsula of land. We saw some huge fish skeletons on the bank, so this must be a really great fishing lake...with very few fishermen! We got out to take a cooling swim and found out that the ground below the water was pretty much quicksand, so we got back in the boats and tried to scrape off the caked on clay that was on our shoes. We had to really scrub to get it off. After that, we decided to head back to the put in. There were lots of gulls sitting on posts that were in the middle of the lake.



I could not get close enough to take a really good picture. I had read that this lake has a huge number of gulls near the dam, so next time, I think we will put in closer to the dam area. Maybe the birds won't be so skittish there.

Well, we finally made it back to the ramp. We decided to take a cooling swim before packing up and leaving so we paddled over to the swimming area. Then we got back in the boats to head to the ramp, where I finally got a picture of an egret that was staying put long enough for me to get fairly close.



It was a nice lake and we got some really good long distance paddling in. I hope to go back when it is a bit cooler.

We leave for Mill Creek - Table Rock Friday...can't wait!

Happy Paddling!
Cathy