Lake Pleasant

On March 14th we headed up to Lake Pleasant to visit with Pat, Pam and Brad.  We had last seen them when they were staying at Lost Dutchman and since then they had travelled to a few other State Parks before visiting Lake Pleasant.  Lake Pleasant is north of Phoenix and about a 90 minute drive from Gold Canyon but as the pictures will attest it was well worth the drive.  

Lake Pleasant was originally created when the Waddell Dam was constructed in the mid  1920s and blocked the flow of the water of the Aqua Fria River.  The primary purpose was to provide irrigation for agriculture.  The new Waddell Dam was built in the 1980s and increased the size of the lake so as to provide water for Human and Industrial consumption in addition to Agriculture from Phoenix down to Tucson.  A byproduct was a beautiful lake for recreation as well as production of some hydro electric power.  During parts of the year the water from the dammed Aqua Fria river is not sufficient and supplemental water is brought in via an aqueduct all the way from the Colorado river some 150 miles away.    

Below is the new Waddell Dam and the pumping facility bringing water into the lake from the aqueduct.  

Aqueduct bringing water from the Colorado

 A beautiful setting in the middle of a desert. 

Lori and Pat in front of an Ocotillo in bloom.  When not in bloom the Ocotillo looks like a bunch of dead sticks stuck in the ground.  

Twas a tad windy


























One big boat ramp.  In prime season there is a line up of vehicles backing their boats into the water. 

Setting up right at the waters edge.

In addition to having docks for numerous boats, Scorpion Bay also has a very nice restaurant 

Scorpion Bay is located down a long and steep bank from the parking lot.  They have this nice motorized lift which makes it easy for a gimp like me. 

Down the lift, out on a long floating walkway to a floating island.  Very nice. 

Above a 5 bedroom houseboat.  A steal at $299,000. 

A shot from inside the restaurant out to the patio and beyond. 

A beautiful view from our table

The wind picked up a menu and brained Brad.  Still smiling.  A real trooper.

A Muscovy Duck.  One ugly duck.

The view from their campsite.  A bit more rustic than Gold Canyon but what a view.

Not too hard to take.  We may have to try this place out on one of our future visits. 

Meet our neighbour, Rudi.  He is 1 year old and both Lori and I agree he has taken the crown from Charli for the cutest dog in the RV Park.  Rudi is from Calgary and is here with his parents, Larry and Penny.  We have a nice little arrangement with them so that if they are out for the day, usually on the Golf course, we take Rudy for a few walks and let him come over and play with Charli's toys.  When we are out Penny will come over and take Charli for walks.   Works nice for both of us as we don't have to rush back to avoid unwanted accidents. 

There is a resident in the park who is always wandering around with a camera slung over his shoulder.  Recently he has been posting pictures on the Parks Facebook page which is where I lifted this picture from.  His pictures are very good and here he got a shot of our mother owl and one of her owlets.  There are 3 of them but to date I haven't been able to get a picture of them.  Hebert has a bigger lens then I do and from looking at his pictures, more skill.  

The sunrises, most of which I sleep through, and the sunsets, which I view from my deck chair, are usually fabulous.  Not sure why but the colours are so deep and vibrant down here.  This is one from a few days ago which didn't require any touchups.  The drama was enhanced by the jet trails running through the sky and picking up the colours in the sunset.  

Pretty Amazing.