A Walk Around Patagonia Lake

 

A Walk Around Patagonia Lake

Last year, we discovered Patagonia Lake on a camping trip and decided to return this year.  Patagonia lake is very close to Nogales, AZ, but feels like it’s a million miles away.  Nogales, which is right on the border with Mexico is very desert like.  Patagonia Lake is a only a relatively few hundred feet higher in elevation, but it incredibly green to Nogales’ dusty tan.

Do you think this little duck knows railroad tracks run below the area where he’s paddling along?  Before there was a Patagonia Lake, the water that flowed through this area was Sonorita Creek.  The Native Americans had homesteads along the river, and fish from the creek provided meals for them.  As time went on, the United States purchased this land from Mexico, as part of the Gadsden Purchase (1854).  As mining and ranching expanded in the area, the New Mexico and Arizona Railroad added a track in their established railway lines between Benson, AZ and Nogales, AZ.  Over the years, floods took a toll on the railway, and by 1962, most of the line was abandoned.  In 1968,  the Patagonia Lake Recreation Association, made up of local ranchers, businessmen and government agencies created Patagonia Lake, leaving a small portion of the railway line beneath the lake.  In 1975, Patagonia Lake became an Arizona State Park, and today hosts camping, fishing, picnicing and water sports on its shores or in the water.

Max doesn’t know or care about any of the above history – he just knows that he does like to go in the water after all, and was fond of taking drinks and chasing after the sticks Jeff tossed in the lake for him to fetch.  We learned that, to Max, lakes are A-OK, but the ocean is not at all to his liking!!

Isn’t this a lovely dragonfly perched on a slim, little twig in the water?  I must give credit to Jeff for this image.  I couldn’t see the little guy to save my soul, so he took my camera and got this shot!

And, here’s the bridge we walked across to start our stroll around Patagonia Lake.  If you look closely, you can see a little duck in the reflection of the bridge’s support in the lower right side of the image.  So peaceful…..

Enjoy!