Lake Pleasant Regional Park

November 23, 2017 • Leave a Comment

Finally ... a lake!

Experience. That’s the only way to learn.
We are spending a month at Lake Pleasant Regional Park, 30 minutes north of metro Phoenix, and will never inhabit a state or regional park again for that long.

Not that there is anything wrong with them! Au contraire. They are amazing places to camp, kayak, hike, picnic, relax, star gaze…just not for a month. Not for me.

I miss being able to waste water freely down the drain and flush the golden toilet as often as I like. Having to stock pile dishes and walk to the bathroom in the veil of night gets old.

And I won’t get into the lack of wifi.

But we are surviving, and enjoying our time here. We have no choice but to relax, both on and off the water. We read books, we watch sailboats drift by, we hike, we hunt for great-horned owls, we kayak, we chat with park rangers, we nap and we visit with good friends.

What an incredible place. Over 23,000 acres located in the saguaro-laden Sonoran Desert. Almost 10,000 acres of that is lake front. Camping with a view.

The trails keep us busy, but heat keeps us from experiencing all of them. It is unseasonably warm … again. But thanks to Ranger Terry we got out on a four-mile bird hike into desert, up and down hills, through a wash and alongside a creek that we had no idea existed. Weaving our way through old, age-arched mesquite trees gave us both peace and shade. It was here the great horned owl chose to live. Wise old owl.

Other ranger-led activities included bird videos, eagle talks and morning hikes. No shortage of things to do to keep the mind, body and spirit engaged.

And when we grow tired of cooking or our closet grows short of clothing, we wander over to Scorpion Bay to take advantage of the floating restaurant or the wifi or the laundry facilities.

In a few days we must pack up and head further west. We will leave behind the spectacular sunsets that Arizona is known for. But the beautiful state of Nevada is calling and we will soon be parked close to the shore of the Colorado River and a short, albeit bumpy drive, to the sandy beach of Lake Mohave.

As I write this, it is Thanksgiving Day in U.S., and Reg and I have almost too much to be thankful for.

Keywords: arizona, camping, fall, fifth wheel, hiking, kayaking, lake, lake pleasant, regional park, retired, rv, sunsets

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