Postcards from an Edge: Almost Impossible to Find Secret Lake

P and I set out this morning to find the little double lake that showed up on yesterday's Map My Walk on the fringe of the River Trail but on the other side of the river.  We spent a long time trying to find the road that the map named as leading in to the lakes.  After we eliminated every other road along this extremely obscure and hidden route, we ventured down a rutted driveway-like road that had a different name than the expected road leading to the lakes.  The ruts got bigger as the road got narrower, but we had my car, which can fit anywhere, and I persisted until the road petered out and landed us at---- the lakes!

It was well worth the trip.  It reminded us of another hidden pondish lake that we found once in rural Italy, Lago di Chiusi.  Like Lago di Chiusi, this lake was mostly a fishing hole, but it did have a trail that went completely around both lakes.  It was extremely quiet, with a few water hyacinths blooming and some bullfrogs klonking in a little subsidiary pond that was fenced off from the main lake trail, and a few silent fishers and Sunday paper readers.  There was a big group of mallard ducks with a couple of different kinds of ducks in the pack.  There was a closed fishing hut where you could rent fishing poles and maybe buy bait, rent a numbered spot along the lake to fish.  A sign in the window said "Potluck", and the pile of black garbage bags out back suggested the potluck might have been last night.

There were two tiny islands in the lake, no sign of rowboats or canoes (unlike Lago di Chiusi, which had a supply of sculls in a boat shed and tied-up rowboats all along one shore.  I tried to rent one, only to be told by a desultory attendant that it was "troppo ventoso oggi" [too windy today].)  This lake seems to be for fishing, and in two locations the water was being aerated, probably to help the fish.  One edge of the lake has a row of mobile homes, and one of these has a couple of old cars up on blocks near some bushes, one of which I drew.  Definitely a good place to walk a short walk, about a mile if you go around both lakes and cut through the center twice.  We avoided the back corner because of twin dachshunds who seemed to be on their own with their sharp little teeth flashing.