Sightseeing around Bluewater Lake

Roasting hot dogs

Dale and I have been at Bluewater for nearly a week. It’s been nice and cool most days, with overnight lows in the 40s. We have had wind and light rain the last couple days, putting a little damper on outdoor adventures.

One day, we hiked the Canyonside Trail. This trail is less than a mile total, but it’s a little rugged climbing down the mountainside, hiking along the stream, balancing on rocks and downed logs to cross the stream twice, and then climbing back up to the campground. But it was a very nice day, and there was beautiful scenery to enjoy. We found several swallows nests attached under the cliffs, but no other wildlife.

Zoom in to see the swallow’s nests attached to the cliff wall

We took a day trip down to Bandera Volcano and the Ice Cave. Visitors to this attraction can hike 3/4 mile up to the volcano (and back), reading interesting facts along the way about the history of the area and see many lava formations.

When we returned to the base, we then ventured a half mile down to the ice cave. This interesting cavern stays at 30° year round inside the mouth, but just 10’ back from the opening, it’s normal air temperature. The ice floor is centuries old and about 25’ deep. Visitors are limited to viewing the ice formations from a platform just above the opening of the cave.

Dale wanted to show me where he had camped last year on the west side of the lake, and also check out if I could get an AT&T signal over there, so one day we took Hanna and drove up I-40 to Thoreau and down the back road to the lake. There is just a very primitive campground there in the park, with pit toilets. But then we drove out along a forest road for a short distance and found the large, open, beautiful spot where he had disperse camped. It was outside the park, hidden from the road, and he said he stayed there three weeks because it was so nice for him.

Yesterday morning, we walked up to the dam overlook and just happened to time it when a maintenance worker was opening one of the spillway pipes. We saw first a trickle of black water come through the sluice, then a rush of brown water, and finally a clean gusher that shot out a few feet from the dam wall. Then we watched as the worker locked the door, climbed a ladder up the side of the dam, walked across the top of the dam, and disappeared out of our sight. By the time we got back to the trailhead, he was coming up the road in his truck. I’d like to go back to the dam overlook tomorrow morning to see if the water is still running or if he closed it back down today.

Today, we drove into Grants and went through the Mining Museum. Seniors get a bargain rate of $3, and that included a video and a walking tour of an underground uranium mine. It was quite interesting, with recordings from several former miners describing the process, different elements and areas of the mine as we studied the old equipment and remnants of ore left behind. The miners made a very good salary for their difficult and dangerous work, but many of them died from lung cancer after exposure to uranium dust for so many years.

We are heading out tomorrow for Navajo Lake. We’ll make a two day trip of the journey. I’m looking forward to staying again in a place Mom and Dad loved to visit in their retirement RVing years. See you down the road!