City Lake

The canoe trip was wonderful! My son and I paddled all over City Lake starting toward the dam and water treatment center back toward the quarry and Caney Creek. There we saw an eagle soar away from its huge nest atop a tall pine tree. We wished that we had binoculars and could see if perhaps her young were stirring way up there. The air was calm and the water serene. Cows were grazing on a nearby hill and catfish were gulping bits of something from the top of the water. We watched a duck dive under the water and come up further away from us. We paddled to the far side of the lake toward Carrizo Creek. We beached the canoe on a jutting peninsula and after looking around, we pulled the canoe over a low spot and ventured up the creek a little ways. At one point we had to lean back in the canoe and glide under a fallen tree. A little further and we beached the canoe once again. On foot we continued up Carrizo Creek to look for evidence of wild life. We were not disappointed. Beavers had dropped trees and built a dam. We took pictures of the gnaw marks on the trees and nubs. It is incredible that such a small animal could chew through those trees. We meandered with the stream and saw deer tracks, honeysuckle, blackberry vines, cane, wild flowers, and clear flowing water. At one point we came across another beaver dam, and on the other side a pair of mallard ducks. We both sat there listening to hear what we could hear, each not wanting to leave for fear of missing something. We knew we were not the only ones out there, but so it seemed. Impatience got the best of us and we hiked back to the canoe and worked our way back out onto the lake. By then the wind had picked up and our paddling back to the boat launch was labored. Some fishermen had been at the boat launch almost as long as we were out on the lake. They helped us load up the canoe and back home we went to finish our day.

"But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31