For Father's Day this year, John wanted to go canoeing.  Normally, he would have chosen to go backpacking, as he had done in years past; but since he had a skydiving commitment on Saturday, we only had one day to do something.  And the one thing John wanted to do was to show Mary the fun of turtling the canoe!

Bright and early on Sunday morning - after Father's Day gifts had been presented to John - we strapped the canoe down on top of the 4Runner and packed all of our canoeing gear inside.  We also packed our swimwear, for we were certain to get wet today.  Unlike our first trip with our new canoe (March 2008), the water on the lake was definitely going to warm enough for swimming!

But which lake should we paddle?  We didn't decide on that until after we left the house.  There were so many lakes to choose from: Blue Ridge Reservoir, Knoll Lake, Woods Canyon Lake... In the end, we decided to go to Willow Springs Lake, which is not far from Woods Canyon Lake.  It was a lake that we had not visited before (though John and I once tried to hike there...unsuccessfully...), so we thought, "Why not?"

To get to Willow Springs Lake, we took the Beeline Highway (SR 87) north to Payson; once there, we turned right at the junction with SR 260 and continued east for about twenty miles, until we reached the top of the Mogollon Rim.  After passing by the junction with the Rim Road (FR 300 - the turnoff for Woods Canyon Lake), we kept going for another two miles, until we reached FR 149, on the left.  FR 149 took us all the way to the boat launch, at the end of the three-mile paved road.

As soon as we arrived at the lake, we dropped the canoe at the boat launch and loaded our gear and our picnic lunch inside; then, we parked the 4Rrunner in the large parking area.  Mary and I slipped inside the pit toilet to change into our swimwear; once we were done, we locked up the 4Runner and walked back down the ramp to the boat.

It was a beautiful, peaceful day out on Willow Springs Lake.  The water was very still; and despite the number of visitors out on the lake that morning, it was quiet, too.  That made for a very pleasant day of paddling.

About five minutes after shoving off of the boat launch, we noticed something odd on the water, as though something was about to surface, like a small submarine.  We stopped paddling and waited to see what it was; seconds later, two scuba divers popped out of the water!  They were in full gear: body suits, masks, tanks, and all; it was obvious that they were using Willow Springs Lake to train.  To us, they just seemed so out of place!

We paddled about fifteen minutes, until we found a nice place to beach the canoe.  Once there, we set our ice chest, paddles and life jackets on the shore and went for a cool, refreshing swim in the lake.

And, of course, we turtled the canoe! 

The way that John showed Mary how to turtle the canoe was much different than the way that he showed me.  On that fateful day on Blue Ridge Reservoir, he didn't even give me notice before he flipped us over in the canoe.  He didn't do that to Mary; instead, he waited until everyone was out of the boat then showed her how to capsize it.  At first, she wasn't impressed, but when he showed her that she could climb up on the canoe while it was upside-down on the water...well, she liked that.  She also liked it when we flipped the canoe back over and filled it with water, up to its gunwales.  Now it was like a bathtub!

We took a break from playing with the canoe so that we could eat a snack - and so that we could drain some of the water out of the canoe.  Then, we jumped back into the water and started playing again.   This time, we turned the canoe over and swam underneath it so that we could surface in the air pocket.  Mary thought that was cool, but she definitely preferred making a bathtub out of the canoe.  She submerged the boat so many times that we could hear the water sloshing about inside of it as we tried to drain it. 

After playing for about an hour and a half, we decided to pack it up and paddle elsewhere.  This time, we canoed to a nice, flat beach, on the other side of the lake from the boat launch.  This beach would have been a perfect place to canoe-camp...if camping was permitted at Willow Springs Lake. 

We beached the canoe there and had our picnic lunch on shore.  While we were there, John demonstrated how to paddle the canoe by yourself. This was something that he had learned as a young boy, growing up in Chicago.  John learned how to canoe at a very early age and often competed in canoe races on the Des Plaines River; he even has a trophy!  So, it's safe to say that John is a bit of an expert when it comes to paddling a canoe.

To paddle solo, John showed us that you have to sit - or more like kneel - in the back of the canoe and use the paddle not only for forward motion and steering, but as a rudder, too.  John performed a demonstration for us.  Then, he beached the canoe and had me try.  At first, I fumbled quite a bit, but after a few minutes, I got the hang of it.  John stood on the shore (with Mary) and took pictures so that there was proof that I had actually done it.

Around 1:30, we finally decided to call it a day; it was getting too hot outside, and we were getting baked, although we were wearing sunscreen.  So, with that, we packed up the canoe again and paddled back to the boat launch.  After we beached the canoe on the ramp, John went to retrieve the 4Runner, while Mary and I unloaded the gear from the canoe.  Once the canoe was strapped to the top, it was time for us to leave.

And so, we said goodbye to Willow Springs Lake and made our way home to Phoenix.  Another fun adventure was over...

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