It had been nearly a year since we had gotten our canoe, and we had yet to take it out on an overnight camping trip!

When we first talked about getting a canoe, one of the goals that we had in mind was to be able to load it up with camping gear then paddle out onto a lake to find a campsite.  Of course, there was always something else going on, so we went all summer without getting the chance to do it.  At the end of the summer, for John's birthday, we attempted an overnight trip on Blue Ridge Reservoir, but that trip just wasn't meant to happen.  We had to abort the trip around dusk when we discovered that our only fire-starters had been damaged in the rain.

A few days before Thanksgiving, we had another opportunity to do an overnight trip in the canoe, this time on Bartlett Lake.  The forecast called for a warm, clear weekend; as long as we were well-prepared, there would be no reason for us to have to abort our trip early.

In preparation for our canoeing trip, we packed up our backpacks with all of our gear, making sure that we had several lighters, matches, and even magnesium to be used as a fire-starter.  (We weren't taking any chances.)  We also packed a small ice chest with sodas, lunch meat, and wine boxes - a luxury that we would not normally have while backpacking, but one that we could afford in the canoe.  We loaded up that gear into the back of the 4Runner, along with our paddles and life jackets.  Finally, we hoisted the canoe onto the top of the 4Runner and tied it down securely.  With that, we were ready to go.

We left for Bartlett Lake around 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning.  To get to Bartlett, we took Cave Creek Road north, through the towns of Cave Creek and Carefree.  Along the way, we stopped several times to geocache; John had plotted out a dozen or so caches for us to find on the way there and on the way back. We also stopped once to buy our Tonto Pass (as well as our watercraft sticker) at the Circle K in Cave Creek, so that we could park legally at Bartlett Lake.

Just north of Carefree, we took the Bartlett Lake turnoff and continued for about fifteen miles, to the Bartlett Flat boat launch, where we normally launch our canoe.  When we arrived, we discovered that the shores were packed with campers and boaters and picnickers, all out to enjoy the beautiful day.  The lake itself was calm, and there were lots of fishing boats out and about.  Every few minutes or so, a speed boat went tearing by, stirring up the waves; once it was gone, the lake was quiet again.

We pulled up along the shoreline and unloaded the canoe and all of our equipment; then, while Mary and I packed the canoe, John parked the 4Runner in the parking area.  When he returned, we all climbed on board and shoved off onto the lake.

Except for the occasional rough wake from a passing speed boat, we had a rather easy time paddling on the lake that morning.  From the boat launch, we paddled straight across the lake to the opposite shore.  Our hope was to paddle into that peaceful cove where we had spent some time hiking back in March; there was a lovely bench in there that would be perfect for a campsite.  What we found, though, was that the lake was much lower now than it had been in March, so we weren't able to get back into that cove.  That meant that we would have to find another place to put our campsite.

We kept paddling for another twenty minutes and soon found what appeared to be a nice campsite; but when we beached the canoe on the muddy shore, we discovered that it wasn't so great after all.  However, just a short walk away, we found a beautiful grassy bench that was perfect!  The bench was located just inside of the no-wake zone and was about twenty feet above the lake.  It was easily accessible by walking up a series of small boulders.  We decided to claim it, so we unloaded the canoe and carried all of our gear up to the site. 

By the time we had everything unpacked, it was lunchtime, so we made sandwiches, relaxed, and enjoyed the peaceful afternoon...

...for about a half an hour...and then our quiet time was disrupted...

Maybe disrupted isn't the right word, but our peace and quiet was definitely interrupted when two pontoon boats beached about fifty feet from our canoe and about forty people poured out onto the shore.  They were all part of a church group and were picnicking on Bartlett Lake that day.  There were lots of children with them and Mary had fun playing with them, even though many of them didn't speak English so they didn't understand each other very well. 

There were also a few teenagers with them, and it was one teenager in particular who caused some concern.  As I sat on the edge of the bench to keep my eye on Mary, I happened to see a teenaged boy lingering around our canoe.  At one point, he put an old fishing pole inside of it; I went down and pulled it out of there.  A little bit later, it was back in the canoe; I removed it again.  Now I was suspicious, so I continued to watch the canoe to see what the boy was going to do next.

And what happened next was unbelievable!  The boy reappeared - this time with his girlfriend - and attempted to take our canoe out onto the lake!  "Hey!" I yelled after him.  "That's my canoe!  Stop!"

Hearing my voice, he stopped in his tracks and attempted to walk away from the canoe as if he hadn't done anything.  (The girlfriend ran away, knowing that he was in trouble.)  I continued to yell as I hiked down to the canoe, telling them that he had no business stealing a boat that didn't belong to him.  (I put emphasis on the word "steal", as in "thou shalt not"; this was a church group, after all.  Apparently, they had skipped over that particular commandment in Bible study.)  The boy's mother passed by me and muttered something that sounded like a forced apology but it was hard to tell because she was snickering.  I'm not sure what she was laughing at; it certainly wasn't funny.

I pulled the old fishing gear out of the canoe (again) and dragged it further onto the shore.  Meanwhile, the members of the church group began gathering back at the boats to get ready to leave.  Once they were gone, peace was restored to our campsite; I could safely return to camp without having to worry about keeping an eye on the canoe.

After John awoke from his nap, he suggested that we go for a little paddle upstream, to see how far we could get.  It sounded like a great way to spend the afternoon, so we all got in the canoe and shoved off.

The upper part of Bartlett Lake was very quiet that afternoon.  The water was very still, and there was only one other boat on the water.  The only other sounds we could hear were the small splashes that the trout made as they leapt out of the water.  It was so peaceful that we also had the opportunity to see a bald eagle take flight; it was amazing!

We kept paddling upstream, despite the fact that the lake was getting shallower and shallower.  By that time, we began to hear the sound of rushing water, which could only mean one thing: we had made it to the point where the Verde River feeds the lake!  John thought that it would be fun to paddle into the Verde, but we found that the water was just too shallow - and we were too heavy.  We kept bottoming out in the river bed.  Eventually, we gave up and decided to paddle back the way we had come.

When we arrived at our campsite, John beached the canoe and let Mary and me out onto the shore; he then took the canoe out by himself and paddled to the opposite shore.  While he was out on the lake, Mary and I gathered up some firewood in preparation for the evening.  By the time John returned, we had collected a large pile of wood - much more than we actually needed - so we were ready for the night to fall.

John dragged the canoe onto the shore and turned it over; he hoped that an upside-down canoe would be more of a deterrent to anyone else who was thinking about taking our boat out for a spin.  Of course, since it was already late in the day, most of the day-use visitors were already starting to leave, and most of the fishermen were slowly making their way back to their campsites, near the boat launch.  It wouldn't be long before we had the entire northern part of the lake to ourselves.

Sure enough, just before nightfall, the last fishing boat - the one we had seen earlier, while paddling upstream - slowly made its way towards the marina.  Once it passed out of the no-wake zone, it sped away; and for the first time that day, we had complete solitude.  True, we could see the campfires of the other campers in the distance, but we couldn't hear them at all. 

While John cooked dinner, I got our own campfire going.  After we ate, we sat down around the warm fire, where we relaxed and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

And not once did we ever consider paddling back to the boat launch!  Finally, we were going to spend the night!

It was a very peaceful night out on the lake, and we all slept very well.  In fact, we slept so well that we didn't get up until after 6:00 the next morning.  And that was only after I heard the first fishing boat passing by our campsite in the no-wake zone.

The lake was very still that morning, but it wasn't that way for long.  Around 8:00 a.m., the first speed boats started tearing around the lake, thus beginning another bustling day on the water.

We didn't get going until about 9:00 a.m., after it warmed up enough for us to start packing the canoe.  We shoved off around 9:15 and paddled lazily towards the boat launch, about two miles away.  The trip took us about forty-five minutes - mainly because we weren't in any sort of hurry.

After we beached the canoe at the boat launch, Mary and I immediately began to unpack the boat, while John walked back to the parking area to retrieve the 4Runner.  When he returned, we quickly loaded everything in the truck; then, once the canoe was secure on the top, we left Bartlett Lake behind and started towards home.

Okay, so we didn't go straight home.  In Carefree, we stopped for lunch at one of our favorite spots: The Bad Donkey, located at the corner of Cave Creek and Tom Darlington.  The Bad Donkey is a great pizza and sub shop that has its own microbrew, called Bad Donkey P (the "P" stands for Premium...although there is a sign on the restroom that says "Bad Donkey P Recycling Center"...hmmm...).  We enjoyed a large pizza and a pitcher of beer - both of which were excellent, as usual.

After lunch, we continued on our geocaching mission; we had saved several caches for the trip home.  We found four along the way, including one very clever multi-cache at the Cave Creek courthouse.  That one was very well done; we loved it.

Eventually, we ran out of caches to find, so we finally made our way home.  Our weekend's adventure had come to and end...

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