We kayaked, biked, and hiked without moving the car!

In the first few days in Angel Fire, New Mexico, we spent time driving the area with Denisa's Mother. Besides showing her some beautiful mountain scenery, we were also making lists of places that we wanted to return to for more active visits. One of those places was the Monte Verde Lake.

In the country club neighborhood south of Angel Fire, this is a public lake. It does cost to fish here, but anyone can bring a kayak and launch it onto this pretty little mountain lake.

We had really planned to hike today, but seeing that glassy lake reflecting the clouds overhead convinced us that it was time to kayak instead.

We paddled around the outside edges of the water, where it was easy to take wildlife pictures. Denisa liked this duck hen almost blending in with the grain of the log where she was sitting.

Her mate was keeping watch, and we saw him chase off another suitor who got too close.

There were plenty of handsome drakes, posing on photogenic lake wood and begging for Denisa to take more pictures.

Other family units have obviously been finalized, and we paddled around this mother and her eight ducklings.

The border between the two countries is closed this year, so these Canadian geese are spending their summer in the mountains of the United States. Even though we saw larger families, this couple was keeping a close eye on their single gosling.

We enjoyed a full lap around the lake before the clouds gathered. Two of the guys that work here drove up to the edge of the water to let us know that lightning was in the area, so we headed for the boat dock. We were lucky to get the kayak put away before the rain shower started. We waited out the little bit of rain and decided to take another lap around the lake--but on our bikes this time.

While paddling, we noticed several bikers making use of the trail that circled the lake. It looked like another great way to get some exercise without even moving the car.

Probably our most unusual water picture was actually taken from the bike ride. This muskrat came right to the water's edge to gather green stems, then held it in his mouth as he swam away.

We're really surprised to get the bikes off their rack on the car, as Denisa isn't a fan of riding up-hill. So finding a flat lake-side trail in the mountains was fun. But the real reason we came to Monte Verde today was to hike the Lady Slipper Trail.

We actually googled what a "lady slipper" was while we were on this hike. It's a wild orchid with two leaves and one bright pink bulbous bloom. We would insert the picture of the lady slipper we found on the hike--if only we had found one. So instead we'll add this odd wildflower with many leaves and many blooms that are just beginning to open.

We went from the lush grass near the water to the dry path down the avenue of big pines. This is a very diverse trail.

Denisa loves a loop trail, and this one is actually made of three intertwined loops. We made it to the highest elevation of the trail--and took this picture at the view point.

As we left the Lady Slipper Trail, we walked around the lake, back to the car where we started this morning. When we parked the car hours ago, we had no idea what our day would bring. We had a long, full day of  kayaking, then biking, then hiking--without even moving the car!