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We had great time at Woods Canyon Lake area but it was super windy and a bit cold for swimming. It was perfect hiking weather but my paws were a little sore so mommy thought it was time to go back to warmer weather and a lake we could SUP on.
After leaving Woods Canyon, we checked out Willow Springs Lake since it was so close. We got there at the perfect time because they were stocking the lake. That was cool to see.
After that we made the trip back down the 87 to Payson. We stopped in Payson at a really cool ice cream shop called Scoops because they had free Wifii. Of course mommy was forced to get ice cream while she used their Wifii! The place was so cool. They had plugs that pulled down from the ceiling and they had ice cream scoops on them! Mommy got her work done while I got some much needed sleep in Spirit. There was also a free dump station at the Giant Gas Station in town so we got that business taken care of too! What a productive stop!
The road back down to Fountain Hills was so mountainous. It was a constant up or down.
We decided to check out Bartlett Lake. With a $8. Tonto pass you can camp anywhere there. We got the pass at the Gas Station in Payson and we were all set to go. The road back to the lake was paved and not too long before I got a great view of the lake. I was so excited! It was HUGE!
Once again, mommy found us the perfect site. She has some good camping karma! We had a beach on BOTH sides of Spirit! It was awesome!
We got there just in time for another beautiful sunset!
The next day, we packed the SUP up and headed to the marina. It was such a nice paddle with hardly any wind. Great views of more cactus!
It was 4.5 miles to the marina from Yellow Jacket camping area where we were staying. There was cell coverage there so mommy did her texting and social media posting so everyone knew we were still alive and having fun.
We took our time going back. We stopped and had snacks at a nice beach.
Then we stopped so I could swim a few more times and we found a great rock for me to rock dive from.
We even saw some flowers blooming on the cactus. They were very pretty.
We were gone for 7 hours and mommy paddled 11 miles! We got back to camp and I got to enjoy my bone while mommy read again. She finished her 2nd book on this trip. We chatted with all our neighbors. Everyone was very nice and we liked hearing their stories. That is one of the best parts mommy loves about camping is meeting all the people!
We took the SUP out for a sunset paddle. The sunsets sure are pretty here!
The next day it was a little bit windier and mommy knew it was going to be a workout day! We paddled to the other end of the lake. There was hardly anyone on the water yet.
We found a hill and of course mommy had to climb it—in her BARE FEET!
We paddled to the very end of the lake. There was some cool rocks that came straight down to the water!
The paddle back was very, very windy! It was a workout for sure! Good thing we only went 3.5 miles down. I took a nap while mommy worked hard to get us back to camp!
We took our time going back (didn’t really have a choice!) and stopped in a few coves to escape the wind and swim.
We had all day so we weren’t worried. We got back to camp at noon and hung out on one of the beaches that we had at camp. Look how cool our camp was! Watch the video mommy made HERE!
We swam and hung out and then Shelley and Kayden showed up with the 3 dogs! It was craziness after that but so fun to have visitors!
The dogs were so funny. Dobby just wanted to sit in the fire pit!
Nikki just wanted to watch for fish.
And we got Zippy on the SUP!!
They slept in a giant tent but the new neighbors were up drinking half of the night so they didn’t get much sleep.
And THAT is why we are leaving! We want to get out of here before the lake is packed for the weekend. So it is time to move on and head north and find a spot with less people. The adventure continues as we have no idea where we are going next but have a feeling it will include Sedona so stay tuned!
Thanks for following our journey. We are having so much fun!
