Apache Lake - Tortilla Flat, Arizona

jan-mccomas (48)in #photography • 8 years ago

Hello Steemian Friends!

I love to travel, whether it’s some place new or to visit family and friends. I have a niece that lives in Mesa, Arizona. My niece, Brandy, has always been like a daughter to me. I think it was my third time visiting her that she drove us out to Apache Lake...one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. By the way, my images do NOT do it justice.

Brandy kept telling us it was a very long road trip, a couple of hours, but being a photographer and loving to just drive around and explore, I really didn't care. At the time, Brandy had three little boys, one being a baby just a few months old. Once you leave the main highway you end up on a dirt road and you are in the middle of nowhere.

We got to the Apache Lake area. Before we could get to the marina we came to a stop. There was about a mile of cars stopped so it took us awhile to figure out why we weren’t moving. A semi-truck pulling a small yacht ended up stuck in a ditch. The dirt road was not very wide, so the truck pulling the boat on the trailer had the road completely blocked off. We sat there for hours. I kept getting out of the truck to take pictures. Brandy was so excited because she said it rarely ever storms in Mesa. She really misses all the rain and thunderstorms.

The trip took us about 9 ½ hours to complete. By the time we got back to town we were starving and dying to go to the bathroom. I would do it again today even knowing we would be sitting still for over 5 hours. Sitting there in the car watching the storm move in and watching the rain fall was worth the long exhausting wait.

Apache Lake is one of the most scenic drives in Arizona and it sets alongside the Apache Trail. Apache Lake is created by Horse Mesa Dam and it’s located between Canyon Lake and Roosevelt Lake, the sister-lakes that sit on the Salt River and is surrounded by the Superstition Wilderness.

Apache Lake is about 65 miles northeast of Phoenix and is 17 miles long. The lake’s painted canyon walls and secluded coves are home to deer, big horn sheep and many other desert wildlife. Apache Lake is an amazing site for hiking, camping, fishing, boating and water skiing.

Someday, I hope to go back to Apache Lake and explore the whole area. My images are all from around my truck while we were stopped by the accident. I know I could get tons more photographs if I was given the chance to explore the lake and the surrounding areas.