One of our favorite times to camp and fish at Elephant Butte Lake is the early part of October. Up until about the middle of the month you can still enjoy warm days (unless there’s an early cold snap) and swim in water that’s still an enjoyable temperature. Plus, most of the crowds have gone and it's very peaceful and quiet.
A few years ago we planned a trip months in advance with our good friends Oscar and Juanita who live in Farmington for the first weekend in October. Being busy professionals, it was difficult to find a weekend when all of us could take off and spend a few days at the lake. We watched the weather report for days prior to the trip and all the forecasts said that it was going to be windy and cold. We tried to convince our friends to cancel the trip but the response was “we’ve been looking forward to this for months and we’re going! Damn the weather!” So we went.
Over the years we had become experts in loading the Bass Tracker with everything needed for a first class "wilderness" camp. We had a gigantic 2 room tent, a folding picnic table, several coolers, a locker with cooking utensils and a big camp stove among other luxury items that we packed.
We made camp in the upper part of the lake on our favorite beach that we called Coyote Camp (another story!) and the first evening wasn’t bad. We thought that maybe the cold front was going to miss us.
The next day we awoke to grey skies and wind. Lots of wind! The lake was totally white capped. We attempted to fish but it was too hard to cast and impossible to control the boat, even with our super Minkota trolling motor on high.
And the wind blew and blew and blew! The whole day, all night and all the next day the wind blew and blew! First it blew out of the south and then it blew out of the north. On the second day, Juanita commented, “Surely it can’t blow the entire weekend!” Wrong!
Most of our food was gritty from the sand being blown around the camp and fire pit. It was too cold to go swimming, too windy to fish.
Luckily our huge tent would fit a small, collapsible picnic table fit inside, so we brought out the tequila and the cards and played some games. We had a blast even though we were cold, bundled up in our coats and not able to do much but play games and reminisce about our adventures on other camping trips together.
Of course, the morning when we were to break camp and leave, the wind stopped blowing, the sun came out and we enjoyed a beautiful few hours on the lake. Over the years it’s become a joke between us when the wind starts to blow even the tiniest bit one of us says – “Surely it can’t blow like this the whole weekend!”
Pay attention - the weather man doesn't always get it wrong!