Lake Catherine State Park

November 19, 2016. Off work for the Thanksgiving week Donna and I took a three night trip to Lake Catherine State Park. Lake Catherine is located in Hot Springs county in the Ouachita mountains. After a November week with 80+ degree highs fall finally arrived. Daytime temperatures had dropped to 50's with lows below freezing. Below are pictures Donna took on Highway 9 south of Williams Junction as we first got into the national forest.

 

Being a retired Entergy employee the history of the Ouachita River and its dams has always been interesting to me. The 1940 acre Lake Catherine was formed in 1924 when Arkansas Power and Light (now Entergy Arkansas) constructed Remmel Dam on the Ouachita River for hydroelectric power production.

Sunday we stayed in the campground and took a hiking tour around the entire campground. 

From the lake front camping area you can see Entergy's Lake Catherine Powerplant.  Lake Catherine Powerplant is a four unit oil and natural gas fired plant first constructed in 1950.

Lake Catherine Powerplant

Monday we took a drive into Hot Springs for lunch and some shopping. On the return trip we stopped at Entergy Park at Carpenter Dam. Upstream on the Ouachita River from Lake Catherine is Entergy's Carpenter Dam built by Arkansas Power and Light in 1931.

In the evening it was campfire and burgers on the BBQ grill. It seemed appropriate that on our Thanksgiving weekend trip we spent so much time enjoying things that Entergy has provided us. Beyond flipping a switch and expecting that lights come on, we are starting our Entergy retirement. Our Heartland camping trailer and the GMC we use to pull it are the rewards of a 37 year career at Arkansas Nuclear One. Then there are the lakes where we have enjoyed so much time that were built by Arkansas Power and Light visionaries who understood the benefits of diverse power sources including hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, coal and nuclear power. 

Nana and Pops Rock!