Thursday, February 28, 2019, was our last full day at Lake Pleasant. We started off by taking a coffee walk along the Wild Burro Trail. We could hear the burros braying just over the hill, but we never saw them. We thought about continuing down the trail, but we ran out of coffee. The burros would have to wait.
After breakfast, we took the kayaks down Desert Tortoise Road. With all the recent snow melt, the lake levels are higher than usual. This may be the first time we've ever launched from the middle of the road!
At the end of the road, we turned our kayaks left across the water into Two Cow Cove. We had to avoid a few fisherman as we worked our way around the cove toward Two Cow Creek. At the end of the cove, in the creek, was a culvert. We can't seem to get away from culverts! However, this one was too small to travel through.
As we worked our way over from Two Cow Cove to One Cow Cove, we paddled through a forest of palo verde trees that, due to recent heavy rains, have been flooded by rising lake waters.
As we worked our way around the cove, the Wild Burro Trail came down to the water's edge. It didn't take us long to find the wild burros.
The first band contained three individuals. We watched for a few minutes as several hikers tried to take selfies with the burros. We're not sure who were the bigger asses.
As we paddled along, we saw a second band that had at least 8 members. Here's a couple of cuties:
With all the recent rain and snow in Arizona, the lake levels are higher than they have been in years. Many of the wild flowers are actually blooming underwater!
As we worked our way out of One Cow Cove, we encountered this Great Blue Heron hunting for lizards on shore.
We ran into the heron again after lunch. Follow the link to see a video of the great blue heron as it grew impatient and flew away.
Arizona and South California are experiencing a super bloom. Just as the flowers began growing, so did the lake level. Paddling over flower beds was a unique experience.
The ducks don't seem to mind. All the extra plants mean more nesting material.
Our paddle wasn't all birds and burros, we did take some time out to admire the rocks!
Tomorrow we head into Phoenix were we will meet up with Eileen and Tom before heading to the Grand Canyon. Stay tuned.
So glad you enjoyed Lake Pleasant and we were able to spend some time together. Safe travels🤗 S2bingtravelers
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