Paddling in the Caribbean or Montana?

We have really enjoyed the clear waters of Montana's rivers and lakes. So when we heard good things about two mountain lakes (Wade and Cliff Lakes) a short drive from our campground in Ennis, we just had to check them out. After an easy drive on the highway, we turned into a pasture?!? Surprisingly, the first three miles through the pasture were paved. Then the next three miles were on a wash-board rough pasture road. Surely no one else will make this trip, right?

The word is out about these twin lakes, and we had a hard time finding a parking place with the rest of the Labor Day crowd. But as soon as we got the kayak in the water we started a chant that we would repeat all day, "The water is so pretty!" It reminded us of the water we've seen in the Caribbean.

Its color changed with different lighting and different depths. But wherever we rowed, it was perfectly clear.

We could see the plants at the bottom of the lake, and we watched as several long trout swam by. (Don't bother with looking for the fish in the picture below--Denisa was too slow to catch one with the camera--or a hook.) 

As we rowed through this emerald-green water, we said it again, "The water is so pretty!"

Because the water was so clear, we could look down at the shore and see that the lake got deep very quickly. This is actually a spring-fed chasm that filled with water. So when we saw the steep hills that surround the lake, we can continue that angle to imagine the steep drop-off underneath the water.

The shores are lined with tall pine trees, but we found there are now fewer trees on the shore than earlier. As we glided near the edge of the lake we saw many had fallen into the water.

These tree skeletons are usually several feet below the water, but completely visible as we would glide over them in the kayak.

We had to keep watching to make sure our inflatable kayak didn't get caught on one of those limbs sticking up towards the lake's surface.

When we got hungry, we backed into a shady shore and ate our picnic. It was another great lunch view over that Caribbean blue water.

Even though there were hundreds of people near the boat launch, it felt like we had Wade Lake to ourselves once we got a half-mile from the dock. We did have to share the lake with a group of merganser ducks that were lined up on one of those fallen logs.

These pointy beak ducks have a swept back duck-tail hair style.

We thought that was the only wildlife sighting at Wade Lake. The foliage was thick along the lake, and we didn't see anything along the shore.

But wait! Suddenly there was movement among all that greenery. When we zoom in on that picture, we see that we were being watched!

We had a great time on a beautiful afternoon on Wade Lake. But after paddling around the entire lake, we couldn't help but wonder if Cliff Lake was as nice. From the crazy couple that will hike two trails in one day because we would hate to miss a good trail--we headed to the second lake. We didn't want to have to re-inflate the Sea Eagle kayak just to move it a mile down the road. So we tied it to the top of the car and drove slowly over the bumpy gravel road. We should have taken a picture because it was a pretty interesting sight.

We unloaded the boat from the top of the car at 4:00, and headed out on the second beautiful lake of the day. Cliff Lake has more cliff faces, and we are pretty excited about the blue skies we are seeing.

Have we mentioned that these two lakes have clear water in indescribable colors? The water is so pretty!

They also have some interesting water fowl. We watched as this cormorant took a couple steps on the water before he took to the air.

These birds actually spend more time under the water than in the air. They can dive to depths of 25 feet, and they use their wings and webbed feet to propel themselves under the water. Unlike ducks, cormorants' feathers aren't water-proof. So after their diving exercises, they must stand with their wings outstretched to get their feathers to dry.

We like our quiet kayak, that allows us to float closer to wildlife than a noisy boat. It was interesting to get close enough to see those webbed feet clinging to a branch on the side of the lake.

Once they are air-dryed, they are an interestingly regal bird.

As much as we liked Wade Lake earlier, we think we might like Cliff Lake even more. It was hard to get a picture of those tall cliffs, the blue sky, and that clear Caribbean blue water all in one picture--but we did it!

At the end of the lake, there were three different fingers of water to explore. Most days we would think we needed to paddle down all three. But we finally figured out we were tired. So we chose the shortest one, just so we could get that "we made it to the end" feeling of satisfaction.

It was 7:00 p.m. by the time we got back to the car. We were a little delayed because we had to stop to watch an osprey doing some fishing. We sat in the kayak and watched as he kept diving into the water.

It's hard to see in the picture, but he definitely caught a fish this time. Then we watched as an eagle flew out of the trees, trying to snatch the catch from him. It was a front row seat to a wildlife drama!

It was a great day spent on two beautiful mountain lakes. Between the two lakes, we were on the water around seven hours. Not a bad day at the office, huh? And have we mentioned how pretty the water was?

On the drive back to our motor home, we got to watch the sunset over Palisade Cliffs over the Madison River.

We think we like the sparkling water of Montana even more than the waters of the Caribbean!