Fourteen Wild Women on Kayaks Arrive
I first met Cyndy Hart through a Meetup group for kayakers. She lived in Pueblo, Colorado, while I was living in Alamosa, Colorado, but a shared love of kayaking was enough to get me on the road.
One weekend I drove to Pueblo to meet Cyndy and the other women, and we spent the day paddling around Pueblo Reservoir.
They called themselves WOW—Wild Women on Kayaks.
We were a group of women who shared a love of getting outside, trying new adventures and enjoying one another’s company. Sometimes the adventure mattered. Sometimes it was simply having other women to share it with.
I liked them immediately.
Before long, another adventure was taking shape. This time we would meet in northern New Mexico for the Fourth of July weekend.
Fourteen women showed up at Heron Lake. This lake is surrounded by pine-covered hills, rocky shorelines and the wide-open skies of northern New Mexico and for the next three days, Heron and nearby El Vado Lake would be our playground.
Many campgrounds are available at these lakes, primitive sites as well as sites with electricity and showers. Our group chose Brushy Point. The lake view from our camp was exquisite, with very little of those pesky mosquitoes! Dark clouds threatened several times, but the sky stayed calm for 3 days and 2 nights.
The goal: to kayak to our hearts’ content.
Out on El Vado Lake
The first day out we all headed toward El Vado Lake State Park. We followed the channel back toward Heron Lake State Park to see if we could get through. Even though there has been lots of rain, the water level was dropping rapidly and we couldn’t get over to Heron Lake. The sun was intense even at 10 am, however the beauty of the surrounding cliffs and occasional wildlife made it all very enjoyable and mellow.
Back at Heron Lake
Meanwhile, back at Heron Lake, later in the afternoon, Cathy and I ventured out Salmon Run Trail for a short walk in the forest. Flowers galore greeted us. This trail runs about 5 miles from the Visitor Center down to the dam. This dam diverts the waters of the San Juan River Basin to the arid Rio Grande Basin.
The Salmon Run Trail also offers a glimpse into a much bigger story. Heron Lake is part of the San Juan-Chama Project, an impressive system of diversion structures and tunnels that carries water from the San Juan River Basin across the Continental Divide into the Rio Grande Basin. Heron Reservoir stores that imported water until it is released downstream into the Rio Chama and eventually the Rio Grande.
Going With the Flow
The evenings were warm, comfortable and full of laughter as well as a full moon bathing us at night.
The following morning, our group kayaked onto Heron Lake, where islands and coves beckoned us to explore. After the intense sun the day before, the overcast sky was a welcome relief.
Heron felt bigger to me, and at one point I simply stopped paddling and let myself drift. The gentle motion of the water nearly rocked me to sleep.
Time for Reflection
Looking back, that weekend means even more to me now. WOW eventually went its separate ways, as groups sometimes do, especially after the disruptions of the pandemic.
Sadly, Pam, whose laughter I captured in one of my favorite photographs from the weekend, passed away not long afterward when her heart gave out during a diving expedition.
That makes the photograph especially precious to me now.
At the time, though, none of us knew what was ahead. We were simply fourteen women with kayaks, a beautiful New Mexico lake and a long summer weekend in front of us.
And maybe that was enough.
Great article, Sharron. It was an incredible weekend with the Wild Outdoor Women! Looking forward to many more adventures on the water with you.