Kanopolis Lake – Day 2 5-14-12

I got up pretty early this morning.  I went out on my front porch and there were 3 deer in the yard of the cabin next door.  I tried to sneak in my cabin to grab my camera, but my door squeaks and it scared them off. Note to self, always have camera on ya.  The way the lake is positioned and where my cabin in, I don’t get a good view of the sun rises and sun sets. I did get to see a little of the sun rise while I was cooking breakfast.  I made bacon and eggs.  After I hand washed the dishes, ugh, I got ready and headed over to Horse Thief Canyon trails.

I decided my first trail would be an easy 2 mile hike.  It was a trail that is for hiking only.  At 7:30am on a Monday morning, I was the only person moving around this entire park.  I made it to trailhead and loaded up my backpack.  It weighted a ton.  Other than my gun and a water pack, I am not sure what makes the thing so heavy.  I started my GPS so I could find my way back to my truck if I got lost.  And if I got injured on the trail it would give me coordinates to give the search crew. The ground on this trail is a very fine orange sand.  So, my brand new Keens got dirty right off the bat.  There are some really neat rock formations with some interesting colors to them.  All the rock is very soft and there are areas where people have carved their names into the rocks.  I made it up to the first little cave after only having to get my feet in 2 water crossings.  One little stream had a very skinny log over it.  I got over it pretty gracefully, but still got wet.  My Keens held up very nice because my feet never felt wet.  All hail Gortex!  I got to the top of the cave cliff and pulled out my Gorilla tripod and took a few fun pics of me.  That’s what sux about taking vacations alone, you usually only get that arm held out pic.  The Gorilla set up very nicely on a rock. I sat there for a while and enjoyed the quiet.  There were a lot of birds out.  I saw that bright yellow and black bird.  This time I was able to see it thru my binocs, cuz they were around my neck like a good tourist.  I saw this other bird that was white and black that was real pretty.  Then I saw what looked like an animal running up a hill across the way from me.  I figured out it was a dog accompanied by his owner.  Guess there are other people out hiking alone at that time on a Monday morning.  I hiked a little more along that trail and found quite a few more really cool rock formations.  Then I met up with the Rockin K trail, which is the main multi-purpose trail around the area.  This was mostly flat prairie land.  I came across a herd of cattle that I was able to get pretty close too.  I tried not to be too disruptive but they all noticed me.  They stood there and stared at me like I had 3 heads.  I felt a little uncomfortable.  They were the only animal wildlife I saw on the trail.  On the way to the trail, I saw a deer and a turkey.  I found my way back to my truck and the GPS said I had hiked 2.26 miles.  As I rounded the corner to my truck I saw a herd of young kids starting their hike.  I was very glad I was done for the morning.

I decided that my truck was going to need gas to get around the lake for a few more days.  I decided to drive to Ellsworth. I thought it would be a bigger place, but there wasn’t much there. I got some gas and asked if there was any place in town that had free wi-fi.  I was pointed to the Ellsworth Steakhouse.  I had noticed at the gas station, that there was a lot of men in this town.  When I got to the steakhouse I was the only female other than a waitress.  This place was like Alaska or something.  I had me a hamburger and I was able to upload my blog and photos.  I probably won’t drive to Ellsworth tomorrow to upload this one.  I’ll probably just upload it as soon as I can when I get back to civilization.

After I got back from Ellsworth, and after I got done updating my blog, I decided to try a beginner trail that they had on the map.  So, I got my bike gear on, my backpack geared up, loaded the bike up and headed back over to the north side of the lake, which at lake speed is about 15 min.  Once I got almost to the trailhead I realized I had left my helmet back at the cabin.  So, I turned around and made the trek back to my cabin on the south side of the dam.  Debated scraping the biking idea and just getting the kayak in the water since it was so hot, but decided I’ll do this bike ride then hit the lake.  Then I headed back over to the trailhead.  After I got on the bike I realized I was sore from riding yesterday and I was having some trouble putting my ass on the seat.  The sign for the trail was in the middle of a prairie and had an arrow pointing right into it.  I saw no trail except a little road just to the left so I took it.  It eventually ended in a manure pile (the trailhead was over at the horse people camp ground).  I finally found a trail sign, but again it pointed to somewhere where there was no trail.  So, I took it for about 1/2 a mile before I ended back at my truck.  I decided to scrap that idea, especially after I flicked a tiny little tick off my leg.  I went back to my cabin and loaded up the kayak.

So, I made another outfit change. One of the swimsuits I brought no longer fit so I’m down to 1 swim suit for the weekend.  I loaded the kayak up and went to the marina to make sure there weren’t any regulations regarding kayaks.  While I was trying to read some boating regulations, I heard the lady say something to some people trying to get a camping spot about them shutting down the water on the whole south end of the lake. After I found out that there wasn’t anything I needed to put my kayak on the water, I asked about the water situation.  She said they are shutting down the water to all the south side, but she didn’t know if it included my cabin.  So, I went and introduced myself to my camp host.  They had just gotten done taking showers because they knew that the water was getting shut off.  She said that she checked and they told her it wouldn’t affect me. I am the only person staying in any of the cabins this week.  She called the office and they told her that it won’t get turned off until tomorrow morning.  I was like, well, I’m staying till Wednesday morning.  She said she was told it wouldn't affect me. So, if I don’t have any water in the morning, I guess I’ll be coming home early.

Then I drove around the south side of the lake looking for a good place to put my kayak in.  This lake has lots of bluffs and it can be a climb to the shore, and the boat ramp was busy and pretty rocky.  So, I went to the swimming area and put in there. You don’t get very far very fast on a kayak.  I am still trying to get the hang of it and figure out how not to zig zag across the lake.  I stayed pretty close to shore just in case something went crazy.  There was no wind and the water was like glass.  I made a short little trip then headed back. Glad I have that waterproof camera so I can take it with me.

I came back to the cabin and sprayed down they kayak.  Don’t want to drag zebra muscles around and I had to clean all the mud off.  I hadn’t picked the best put in spot.  Then I fired up the grill and grilled me some chicken.  That free range, hormone free chicken is BS.  It did not grill very well, but it was all the po dunk IGA had.  I’m glad I had downloaded a bunch of songs to the almighty Cloud, otherwise it would be very quiet around here.  I don’t take it outside, but it is nice to have while I’m making dinner and blogging and stuff inside.  So, I guess now I’ll do the dishes while I still have water, go out and watch the sunset, then start thinking about trying to sleep.  I will probably do a longer hike tomorrow.  I think I gave up on thinking I’m gonna mountain bike this place.  Miller’s is a pretty technical place to ride, but it doesn’t prepare me for steep hills and very sandy terrain.  I think there is a place down by the trailhead I went to this morning where there is a boat ramp and I think I’ll put the kayak in there tomorrow.