Cleaning Lake Walk

At first I was very against the whole notion of draining the lakes and reservoirs around here because it seems like a complete waste of resources to dump all that water. When I did a little more research though, I did learn that there were a few reasons for the draining which ended up being pretty important.

The main reason for it is that when all of the snow melts after the winter is over, there is plenty of space for the rivers, lakes and reservoirs to fill right back up with everything melting! This helps ensure that there aren't rivers and reservoirs overflowing and causing issues and flood damages. That makes sense for sure!

The other reason that they drain them is so that the shorelines can be preserved and kill the weeds and grasses that tend to grow wild and flourish around here. This also makes sense to me because the darn weeds are intense on the lake! By the end of the summer it's very difficult to fish in the areas because the weeds are so pervasive! What that also means for the shoreline is that it's well exposed for us to poke around and see if we can find any trash to pick up! The little man and I are going to be out doing these missions for the next many weekends while the weather is cold but not frigid, so that we can clean up our favorite fishing hole!

I didn't get a picture of the bag full but this was the start of the cleaning expedition that we went on. It was almost 3/4 full by the time we were finished! It felt great to get out there and pick up the shit that people were leaving behind. I didn't grab the litany of pieces of glass that were on the ground because I was focusing more on the bigger trash items that I don't want the fish to get stuck on or anything. The glass I'm not too worried about the fish getting tangled in that but the other crap here is dangerous for the little things!

Once we were done with the bag, I dumped it in the dumpster near where we live and all the trash in our area gets burned in a giant incinerator, so I know it won't end up back in the rivers, lakes and oceans!

It felt great to get out there though and enjoy the absolutely beautiful scenery! I love walking around this area, it's got a lot of great fluctuations to the terrain and really makes it interesting to walk around. I'm glad that I got a decent look at this region now though because we plan on coming back here quite often in the spring for some nice fishing! I like to see the changes that occur such as where the deeper spots are, the really shallow areas and the like. That helps us figure out where the fish are going to be lurking, particularly the bigger ones we are trying to catch!

What's cool is the area also has this beautiful little waterfall! In the summertime this area is well immersed in water so the waterfall isn't visible but in the winter when it's drained, you get a great look at it! I know there's one other area on the other side of the lake that we want to get to, there's a dam somewhere that we need to find. I'd love to go exploring around that to see if there is any way for us to walk over there and do some fishing! I know the people who have boats love that area and do well.

The waterfall here though was a big surprise! I think I drove by it once last year and briefly saw it but it was great to have the water lower and get a good look at it. I've got a post coming up in a few days with some closer pictures of it!

We had a pretty successful cleaning adventure here that's for sure! We did a fair bit of it and nearly filled a shopping bag with junk. I'm going to be coming back here with the little man several more times before we move onto other fishing areas that we like to visit and give those a clean as well, so that we can get some of the shit out of these lakes. I know not everyone appreciates doing this type of stuff which is sadly why they get so dirty but one of the things that I'm trying to show the little man is one of the things I'm trying to live by "be the change you want to see" so that he goes into his life with that in mind and principle.