Weekend in the Grasslands

Lyndon B. Johnson National Grasslands is where we ended up. It is a beautiful area, and is located just northwest of Dallas. The area has about 6 small lakes located in the National Park. What a wonderful area we found located here: http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5302850.pdf

With the local forecast of the winds to be very high for the weekend, we decided to try a little piece of paradise, tucked into the beautiful rolling hills covered in rich bright vegetation. The area has lots of small roads everywhere, easy to get lost and everyone has cattle and Horses. We had to make several stops to let the area armadillos cross the road!

The first lake we got to is called Clear Lake, and I know why it gets it name! Mark and I had the lake to ourselves the first hour! We decided to paddle over to the far end of the lake by some stickups (trees) to anchor due to the high winds. Thanks to the Jackson Big Tuna, the winds were not a match for the awesome kayak! The Big Tuna provides all the room you would ever need like being on my own personal houseboat.

We fished for several hours; the wildlife was all around us the entire time. I was able to hear wild Turkeys, see all kinds of birds, ducks and lots of turtles; they would come up and see what we were doing.

Most of the fish were small but had some really good bites. Since the fishing was a little slow, we decided to load up and head to one of the other lakes. The lake we decided on was called Black Creek Lake.

After loading up the kayaks we headed towards Black Creek Lake, with the map we had not sure we would have ever made it. Thank goodness we had a smart phone with us, it was able to locate the way. The roads were beautiful with small winding roads, some paved and some dirt. We were amazed when we turned the last corner leading to the lake, this place was amazing! It was a lake surrounded by pine tress tucked in a little valley. We decided not to launch due to the high winds that came rolling in as we arrived.

We decided to head over to another lake to try our luck, this time it was Cottonwood Lake. As before the drive was spectacular, lots of things to see. Unfortunately this lake was not as protected so the winds made it impossible to launch.

We tried to find one other lake but even the smart phone did not help, you could get lost for days so many little roads. The GPS was able to take us back to town, so we decided to get a bite to eat. Found a great place in downtown Decatur called Sweetie Pies Ribeyes. It was a great end to a wonderful day!

Here are a few pictures of the adventure….