Navajo Lake State Park

Exploring this beautiful State Park revealed a LOT of summer amenities. Unfortunately, we were there in the winter, FORTUNATELY, we aren’t an amenity type of family! We love natural beauty and quiet areas of nature and this park has both in abundance!

Salmon snagging was our main planned activity. If you have never done it, it is the barbaric practice of throwing a weighted treble hook out in an active school of spawning salmon and yanking it back towards the bay. The hook peirces the fish (somewhere) and you reel it in. It was awesome! The schools were so thick you could see the water roil and fins and sometimes whole salmon pushed up out of the water!

The lake was spectacular. We explored the “bank” (rocky shoal), and got some great views of the lake at sunrise. Water is a heat sink, and it was about 13 degrees each night (more on that later in the “Surviving Exploring the Land of Enchantment” below!). A thick layer of fog would hover over the lake well into sunrise.

Two American Bald Eagles were roosting in the surrounding cliffs and would come down to the lake water to snag a meal! They were majestic and awesome in their full American splendor. They were fast and a little too far out to capture good pictures with phone, unfortunately.

We were there with my brother and his son. My nephew snagged a salmon at the exact moment the Bald Eagle screamed in defiance and plucked a salmon out of the middle of the lake as the sun rose. It was an inspiring moment and we were pretty this was what ‘Murica was all about.

We quickly filled our limits (12 salmon a day). Then we would go back to the campsites, fillet and prepare the salmon for freezing (or dinner). These are Kaneoke Salmon, a cousin of the Sockeye – much smaller and lighter flavored than their sea-going cousins.

Once we completed processing the fish, and the roe (poor man’s caviar, anyone?) we had the rest of the day to explore the park and surrounding areas. The temperature would rise to the mid-30s and once even into the 40s!

Exploring the State Park

We had loads of spare time to do other activities. The majority of the park is closed during the winter, and only one camping loop was open. Our sight had magnificent views of distant mountains, high desert flora and of course the lake!

We took off to eplore the Marina area. This is more of the summer portion of the park.

The walk over there was part path and part choose your own adventure. The crystal clear air and stark difference between the lake and surrounding rock was beautiful.

There was an extensive Marina, camp shop, fishing gear shop (both open) cute little restaurant (closed), a fish feeding station, and lots of water equipment for rent (closed).

The Marina area was beautiful, well maintain and empty of people (my favorite!). I am certain it is a thriving entertainment district in warmer months. We did take advantage of the quiet to indulge in some shopping and fed the (monster) fish.

Exploring the surrounding area

Navajo State Park is not really close to anything in ‘normal’ terms. However, we were only a few hours from a few really interesting areas. Time for a road trip!

Four Corners

Four Corners is really neat and on Indian Tribal Land! This is where 4 States meet and it is possible to be in all 4 a one time. It is interesting, geographically, and fun to visit.

Sierra, always looking to make her splash on an area, chose to use one of her gymnast moves to ensure she was in all 4 States at one time. It was great, the crowd cheered and clapped.

There are several plaques around the monument, detailing the history of the area and how it came to be. I found it interesting that it had been challenged in court (land lines) and lost several times.

Good eats!

The local natives American Indians, largely Navajo or Dine’ had some shops with handmade merchandise around and some Navajo Frybread.

Frybread is like funnel cake in texture and flavor, without the sugar (although you can get it with that on it). The Navajo use it as a platform for tacos. If you think we missed an opportunity to eat something new, you haven’t been reading our blog long. Go check out the archives, I’ll wait. Back? Good, on to the frybread pictures!

Shiprock – important landmark

There is a HUGE geological and geographical landmark close to Four Corners called Shiprock. People tend to name things after items they have seen, and pioneers moving west were familiar with large 3 and 4 mast sailing ships. If you squint and hold you head just right, you can see what they must have imagined. This was an important landmark, and can be seen as far as 40 miles (or 5 to 7 days for them) away!

Aztec Ruins

Our last stop before returning to Navajo Lake State Park was a place named “Aztec Ruins“. I was pretty confused. Aztecs almost in Colorado? Have I forgotten that much history? They were not Aztec in nature, but Puebloan Indians, similar to some of the ruins we visited in Homolovi State Park and detail in one of our other posts. Turns out we continue to name things by what we know, and the Spainiards and early Americans were aware of the huge Aztec Ruins in central/south America and, well, made some assumptions.

These are fantastic. Truly a hidden gem, right in the middle of the small town of Aztec! There were several kiva and some rooms that were largely unspoiled that we were alble to explore.

As you can see, some of the rooms we propped up by modern methods to preserve them (we weren’t allowed in those!) but the vast majority of the exterior wall was in original condition! There was a room that explained how the Indians brought wood from as far as 20 miles away because of its superior construction properties.

Amazing Construction

Although not a popular archeological/historical opinion, it is gaining ground that the original American inhabitants had a continent wide trading and sophisticated cultural exchange.

The back of the ruins are most impressive, as they are the most well preserved. The next two pictures show two really great things. The first is the massive size (and this was small for the time!) and the second is the malachite stone they worked into the structure in bands. It is believed this was because it represented water and protection for the community.

We were heading back, but the adventure and explorations continue!

Culinary adventures

How could we not explore fresh salmon cook in various ways? The first attempt, we were determined to grill it. Ok, Ash and Sierra were not as determined or exciting, so I also grilled steak. We stuffed a whole fish with sweet peppers, lemon and heirloom tomatoes and wrapped it foil for the grill. It was COLD. Grilling needed some assistance. I created a mini-oven using aluminum foil and blatant disregard for my safety.

We wanted to try something I had seen on tv with chilean sea bass, screwed it up, and it still tasted amazing! Sliced new potatoes forming a “shield” to protect the fish and then of course bacon. Check out @sunflowers.and.daisies (Sierra’s instagram) for the full video of the attempt!

I even made salmon patties. If you know me, you know what a reach out into the land of adventure this was. I have detested salmon patties for over 40 years. I made these with a LOT of seasonings and large chunks of fresh salmon. Ash and Sierra loved them, I tolerated them. Still not my favorites.

Surviving Exploring the Land of Enchantment

I mentioned it was cold, right? Wow. low teens every night, barely above freezing during the day. We ran our furnace to keep the pipes from freezing. The parks water system froze every night and mostly thawed during the day. We filled our fresh tank to have water -another first for us!

One night, even with the furnace going, our toilet lines froze! The unfroze, luckily, with no damage.

Ash was not so lucky. We were salmon snagging predawn. When we hit the bank, it was about 16 degrees. We were dressed for the weather, multiple layers, hot hands, etc…Ash still managed to get frostbite on one of her toes! Luckily my brother was an EMT. When we got back to the campsite, after processing the fish (don’t get made at me! She didn’t tell us until then) he took a look. it was not terrible, she was lucky. She ended up developing a blister which eventually went away.

The fishing lines would freeze, the eyelets would fill with ice. All part of the adventure.

Still more!!

Stay tuned for the next installment of our return trip – more adventures and more beauty ahead!