Arizona - Canyon Lake & Dolly Steamboat Cruise

Thursday morning we headed to Canyon Lake and the Dolly Steamboat cruise. It was an hour and a half narrated cruise around the lake. Canyon Lake was formed from the damming of the Salt River. There are very steep sides to the lake and it is a very popular lake with the fun seekers.



the kids had just gotten dumped from the tubes when we came along

This lake also attracts fisherman.  Crappie, Bass, Catfish, Trout and Carp can be found in the lake.  There are some campsites that can only be gotten to by boat.  We saw several people camping at these camps.

 

 

 

 

We were fortunate to have gained a seat on the lower deck inside and near the window so we were able to take pictures as we went along.

 

The Dolly Steamboat

I didn't include this picture with the stone images but you can use your imagination!

 

We saw several birds while on the lake and they are always entertaining.

 

 this bald eagle was sitting on her nest

the only white duck in a group of mallards and we think from his antics he had a screw loose :)

a black throated sparrow bringing materials to her nest

the great blue heron - regal as ever

 

 a cormorant

 

The canyons are also entertaining and the captain pointed out some interesting rock formations.

 

 From afar you would just take this as another rock formation until it was explained

the profile of Johann Sebastian Bach

 and the captain accompanied it with appropriate music

just looks like holes in the cliff wall until....

you can only hazard a guess at what made this footprint

look to the center of the picture and using your imagination...

and what should appear but a mammoth (trunk and head to the left, rump to the right)

 

a bit hard to see clearly but the round images are the ends of petrified tree trunks

and the round stones are Geodes

 

 If you noticed in some of the pictures the cliffs have a green cast to them.  It was explained that this is lichen growing on the rock.  It is quite a lime green color.

 

Several Bighorn sheep had been spotted in the canyons in the last weeks and we once again lucked out even if it was only one ewe.

 

this ewe was really on the move

you can see how muscled she is