Thursday, November 08, 2007

Sullivan Lake: Water!

Looking east as Old Hwy. 89 crosses the Verde, bridges dominate. Plus the old lava flow which adds a third layer to the picture. OK, there's also that famous Big Sky for which the west is known.
But the most remarkable feature of our trip yesterday with sheoflittlebrain and E. is directly above: there's water in Sullivan Lake! The last time I saw Sullivan, it was bone dry.

Peer over the bridge railing to see still more water below the dam. A great place for frogs, algae and wild grape vines.

The pools under the old Santa Fe bridge are in the shadows; the petroglyphs are too small to be seen.

Slightly different lighting does make the pools more visible.

Obviously that railroad bridge is a perfect spot for 1) bungee jumping, 2) crossing the canyon on a dare, 3) other mischief. So the powers that be erected barricades at either end out of old rails plus loops of today's ubiquitous razor wire.

Of course, laws and razor wire do little to stop determined litter-atti, who dispose of old bedsprings...

...or harbor the urge to shout loudly in public places.

This particularly objectionable graffiti has been in place since I took pictures a year and a half ago. But despite the encroachment of uncivilization, twas oh so good to see the water!!

7 comments:

  1. I loved seeing these photos!
    Isn't it a shame the brainless have to 'crap' all over everything.
    We have had glorious rain here too, & it is sooo welcome.

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  2. Anonymous5:56 AM

    Nice to see some water there.

    My brother and his wife are visiting some places in Arizona, with Prescott as their base. He sent me this URL that shows ghost towns. Amazing how many there are in Arizona. A lot to do with mining I would guess.

    Steve

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  3. Anonymous6:02 AM

    I checked the URL and it is correct, not sure why it doesn't work above. Sorry about that.

    Steve

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  4. I tried the URL for ghost towns and it worked fine:) A cool link!

    We did have great fun on that outing GJ! It was a pleasure to meet Hermano and to hear so many amazing things about the land of the kiwis.

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  5. meggie--once in a while, I see some graffiti that is worth saving (or photographing), otherwise, it is just messing things up. If you noticed, there had been a covered up spot at that site.

    Steve -- yes, indeed, it was good to see the water. Too bad that the lake site is so silted up. In my humble opinion, the city of Prescott (which owns the lake area) should simply blast the dam out & let the water run freely.

    BTW, the URL works fine for me.

    brain -- the pleasure was outs! Not so incidentally, I have some neat pix of you and E. Also: it's roos, not kiwis (the latter refers to folks from NZ...)

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  6. Anonymous2:08 PM

    It was supposed to take you direct to Yavapai county. You have do do a little tracking to get there. Lots of Ghost towns near Prescott.

    I agree, let the water run free.

    Steve

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  7. Steve -- yes, there are a lot of abandoned mining settlements in the hills hereabouts; in a few cases, even a building or two survives!

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