If the weather cooperates, the second annual SPA Lake Meredith splash-in will be held on May 20th. Lake Meredith is located near Ordway, CO, near La Junta, KLHX, which is the nearest airport. All seaplanes must undergo an invasive species examination at KLHX before landing at Lake Meredith, which is 12 miles northwest of KLHX. Although now marked as a seaplane base, Lake Meredith is still a "private lake", so permission to land there is required--and by landing at KLHX and undergoing the invasive species examination, permission will be granted.

There will be shuttle service to Lake Meredith for folks who fly in to KLHX, starting around 8:00 a.m. Although they're only 12 air miles apart, it takes at least half an hour to drive between them, maybe longer--I didn't keep track last year.

For those who drive, the route I chose last year was east from the Denver area on I-70 to Limon, then south on CO State 71 to CO State 96 at Ordway, then east on SH96 toward Sugar City to County Lane 21, south on CL21 to the lake. It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive that route from Denver. There is NOTHING between Limon and Ordway!

Camping at Lake Meredith is free, but very rustic--no potable water. SPA will have some porta potties, which hopefully will be less bug-infested than the permanent "facility" that is there. The camping area we'll be using is pretty level. Many regulars to the area camp along the Lake's shoreline east of where we'll likely camp. I tented last year with my pup dog and will do that again this year. Of course, those who have camped with me in the past know that my camping is truly "glamping", with much of the comforts of home.

It was a fun time last year, and we expect it to be even better this year. We're expecting Cessna to bring in a Caravan on amphibs, and some of the other participants from last year may be returning. Lake Aircraft will have a representative there, also.

The Colorado legislature has disappointed us so far in our efforts to open the rest of the state to seaplanes, but the Crowley County folks have been most welcoming. So come on down!

Cary

Bumping this, the Lake Meredith SPA splash-in is this coming weekend (May 20th). Yesterday, I talked with the SPA Director who is honchoing it again, and as indicated in my first post in this thread, the plans are somewhat more elaborate than last year. So ol' Dog and I will be driving down on Friday to set up our camp. The long range weather forecast is good, and although it will be hot again, 85 is a whole lot better than the 105 that it was last year! Nights are cool in the area so far (they were last year, too, surprisingly), so the camping part should be pretty enjoyable.

Cary