A Day at the Lake

We don't often get to spend time relaxing by the water where we live, so we decided to head to Wade Lake over the long weekend. Wade Lake is a couple hours away in the Madison Valley, and a place neither of us had been before. It's supposedly very beautiful and we figured it would be a nice drive over there. The further we drove, though, the more I questioned the beauty of said lake. We passed Hebgen and Quake lakes and dropped down into the Madison Valley - the mountains were beautiful, but the land was rugged, dusty, and sagebrush covered. This is what we were driving deeper and deeper into, looking for an oasis...


We got off the highway and turned onto a dirt road signed "<--- Cliff and Wade Lakes". The dirt road was long, windy, and definitely off the beaten path. There were free range cattle in the road, and ranch access only turnoffs, but nothing that looked like it might be home to a refreshing lake. I was starting to expect to find a muddy hole when we finally got there.

About six miles down the dirt road at the breakneck speed of 20 mph, we drove over a ridge and were suddenly in a beautiful forested valley with two clear blue lakes. It was breathtaking, especially after the drive to get there. The water was clear blue and green and looked almost tropical, here in the middle of the desert. It really was an oasis after all!


We spent a few hours at Wade Lake. We didn't do much, but spent some time relaxing. Next time we go we will bring the kayaks. This is a great place to do some tooling around. Cliff and Wade Lakes are no-wake, so perfect for canoeing or kayaking.


We played with Eliana, took some family pictures, and relaxed by the water.


Eliana sure enjoyed soaking up the rays. =) I know the hat an sunglasses are for her to wear NEXT summer, but I couldn't resist! This picture's for you, Angie! Hee hee. What a cutie!




On our way back to the highway we passed a cluster of decrepit old building, including this cool old school house.


So here's what I don't understand... We've lived here for 3 years and have never heard of Wade Lake until a week ago. Yet there were TONS of people at the lakes, and a good many of them from out of state. You CANNOT just stumble across this place - it is well out of the way. So how do these people know? Why didn't WE know? AND - what are the chances that we'd run into someone we know at an out of the way lake like Wade? Well, we did - ran into Erik Rassi there. What a strange, strange world. Nice place, though. Come visit us sometime and we'll take you there.