Kayaks & Crawdads

Article and photos by Anne Groebner

If I could name one thing that will make me smile every time, I would have to say that it’s the time I spend with friends. Add a few kayaks, some food, some fishing poles and a lake and you have the recipe for a pretty good time. Timing it so that it falls on a beautiful spring day and a few days before the Memorial Day weekend traffic, and it’s perfect! As much as we love our summer visitors, to full-time residents, timing is everything. It’s the difference between crowds of people and having a lake all to ourselves. Which is what happened when a group of us hit the shores of Big Bear Lake on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. We had the lake to ourselves, except for one other fisherman.

The group of us met at Hon-Dah’s Outdoor Sports to buy our permits, which cost about $10 for boating and $10 for fishing ($5 for kids). I bought an annual pass, which was only $30, because I plan on kayaking on reservation lakes more than three times this year. 

From Hon-Dah, we drove through McNary and just before we reached State Route (SR) 473 (Hawley Lake Road), about 10 miles from Hon-Dah Resort Casino on SR 260, we turned left (north) onto the road to Big Bear (Shush Be Tou, Apache for “Big Bear”) and Little Bear (Shush Be Zahze, Apache for “Little Bear”) Lakes. We kept to the right at the fork and parked near the boat ramp of Big Bear. These lakes on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation are some of the most beautiful. I was told that they are spring-fed and both of them were full and newly stocked with rainbow and Apache trout. Little Bear Lake, is to the left at the fork when driving in. Both lakes are pretty amazing.

After unloading kayaks, fishing poles, chairs, dogs, kids, and tons of food, we stood and gazed out across the lake, brimming with crystal clear water, tinted sky blue — until it was time to catch crawdads. The lakes in the White Mountains are full of crawdads, which isn’t a good thing because they are an invasive species. Catching them, however is pretty easy if you have a pole and some hot dogs. And if you think they are a delicacy, then you’re in luck! Kelly and Eric Estill’s daughters, Ayla and Lily, like to catch them, look at them and maybe touch them, but never eat them, they told me.

I was impressed at how adaptable these girls were to the outdoors. They never hesitated to jump in a kayak and tour the lake with their mom and pose for a cover-photo op while holding a fish, without being grossed out. They are definitely White Mountain girls! For those of you who ski, you know their dogs, Rain and Oreo, from Krissie’s Ski and Board in Pinetop. They will bring you a stick and if you throw it, they will fetch it — over and over and over. They never get tired. 

The dog who really surprised us was Terry Lester’s new rescue dog, Cola. At first she wasn’t sure about the water and only went in up to her knees — until someone threw a stick into the lake and she dove in after it. She is a labrador-pit mix. We guessed it was her lab DNA that kicked in. Of course Rain and Oreo jumped in to help because it was a big stick. For little dogs with short legs, they had more energy than that furry bunny with batteries.

Once I got my kayak in the water, I paddled to the west side of the lake and startled a great blue heron, who then flew over my head. When Kelly and I paddled to the marshy east end of the lake, we interrupted a few horses feasting on the tall grasses. They moved to higher ground, but we saw them circle the lake as the day wore on — even strolling across the dam. 

Carol saw a bird with a black body and a white collar. When Krissie and I paddled to the east end I spotted one sitting in a willow and took a picture with my iPhone. We spent some time looking at the photos and trying to figure out what it was. We finally agreed that it was a kingfisher and from my poor, low-res iPhone photo, my husband Dan verified that it was, in fact a banded kingfisher. 

We ate, we laughed, we wished happy birthday to Terry, caught crawdads and fished, kayaked, and just hung out. We succeeded in having a perfect day. When I left I said good-bye to everyone, knowing I’d see them soon, probably running an errand around town or walking my dogs around the neighborhood. And we will probably talk about how much fun we had and that we should do it again, soon and then we will return to our busy lives. 

Lazy days around a lake with friends are too few and far between. Life is full of unending errands and things to get done. It seems that spending time “playing” is often sent to the bottom of a to-do list, when it should rise to the top and save our sanity. Summer ends all too soon. For that matter, Life is short. We live in an area that is continuously inviting us to play. The towering ponderosa, the quaking aspen, the cool summer breezes and the glistening ripples on a clear mountain lake are reminding us that getting outdoors is very good for your soul.  

“He said, “write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety. Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in. Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays.” 

— Ralph Waldo Emerson