New Hogan Lake bike ride and swim 8-30-2010

Like many of our Green Family Happenings, this one started out with something I read. In this case, it was a little flyer from REI (my Disneyland). The flyer was about family oriented bike rides and hikes. This is what it said :

There are a number of bike trails to explore at New Hogan Lake, including both paved and dirt trails to suit any adventure level. Access points are available throughout this continuous path, allowing for a variety of distances and skill levels. Stay on the paved trails for an easy ride. Look out for fox, black tail deer, coyote, turkey, and bobcat. During the winter you may spot a bald eagle. The South Shore area of the lake has been designated a wildlife viewing area and signs with a binoculars symbol at park entrances will direct you to visitor locations. A biking map can be found at: http://www.spk.usace.army.mil/organizations/cespk-co/lakes/NewHogan_Bike.pdf (I'm not trying to plagiarize, here's the URL where I got this info:  http://www.rei.com/passport/New-Hogan-Trail ).

Sounds pretty good, right? So we decided this would be a great family home evening activity. I was very impressed with the facilities at New Hogan Lake. (Especially since day use was 100% free.) After looking at the map, we decided to aim for Coyote Point because it was the furthest out, and we assumed that would be the best chance to see some of the awesome wildlife mentioned. (I mean seriously, how awesome would it be to see a bobcat?)

We started off on the dirt trail, but quickly realized that with the kids we'd better stick to paved roads. We rode around for a while and here was our first wildlife sighting:

 

We also saw some deer, some turkeys, some turkey vultures, (no bobcats dang it) but our plan was to ride bikes and then go swimming, and the wildlife sighting wasn't cutting it for the kids who asked every two minutes, "Can we go swimming now?"

Lennon was the first to get in.

I scan the scene while Meghan looks for minnows

There were a lot of little bluegill in the water and Lennon spent most of the time trying to catch them. That's my boy!

The girls didn't care so much about bluegill, they wanted to swim.

Abby and Meghan

I like this picture because it's of Rach and because it has all the kids in the background. I wasn't trying to do that. It just happened.

I like this one because it has my family and my mountain bike. I did do that on purpose

Meghan seems to have liked the trip

This is the shell collection that Meghan amassed. She's definitely a gatherer.  (When she went to bed I threw it away, but here it is forever.)

No bobcats or foxes but we saw some wildlife, explored a new place, and had a lot of fun. It doesn't get any better than that (unless you see a bobcat).