Canyon Lake Boat Tour

This is Canyon Lake from a vista point on Highway 88 - the Apache Trail. We have a reservation for the 2pm boat trip but will first stop at Tortilla Flat for lunch. Now it is a collection of old buildings that have a restaurant,ice cream bar and souvenirs.

But it was built over 100 years ago as a camp for the men that were building the road along the Salt River and constructing the Roosevelt Dam. When floods blocked access to the camp, they had to live on only flour and water - and made tortillas - until the water receded and they could be re-supplied.

The Dolly Steamboat takes three trips a day along Canyon Lake. The lake was formed with the building of  Mormon Flat Dam on the Salt River. Mormon immigrants had a small town of 400 people in the area where the dam was built but had left long before they flooded the canyon by damming the river.

The boat will go up this arm of the canyon.

On the top of this pinnacle of rock is an eagle's nest with two fledglings. 

 We spot three Big Horned Sheep on the steep hillside.

                                              Can you see the mastodon in this cliff face?

Pretty spectacular scenery!
The weather was perfect - clear azure blue skies as only Arizona with it's low humidity can have - and lovely warm breezes as we glide along the cliffs and admire an area that we can only get to by boat.
 A perfect afternoon as our time draws to a close here in Arizona.