The city of Prescott operates three parks at three local lakes: Watson, Willow and Goldwater. While the dotter and GD were here from Alaska, we ventured out to Goldwater, which is in the national forest, unlike the other two, and therefore cooler, being at a higher elevation.
I stand amended; we visited Upper Goldwater Lake. Lower Goldwater, which furnishes some of the city's water, is below the dam and verboten to the public. I've never even caught a glimpse of it.
Not surprisingly, the lake draws picnickers, even on a week day.
There's a fire ring for small crowds.
The rental boat man was not on hand the day we visited. Too bad. (The kids rented a paddle boat at Lynx Lake later in the week.)
Three other canoe tie-ups belong to area camps. (Looks like a "crowd" in this picture, right? Actually, this was by far the most people I noted at any time during our midday visit.)
Relaxing while she supervises summer campers learning the ins and outs of the vessels, the buff young lady in the foreground is the canoe instructor,
An empty camp chair sits ready for its fisher-person. The city lakes are stocked on a regular basis.
And, yes, the granddotter got thoroughly wet; if she hadn't, I would have worried.
One of her discoveries: a crawdad which had been chowing down on a nearby dead fish. BTW, crayfish are high on the not wanted here list per AZ Game and Fish; of course, they are everywhere there's permanent water.
Other lake critters: a pair of mallards.
A dotter shot of grasses in or beside the shore; she's always admired the beauty of simple grasses.
Just as I could not resist including this series of water pictures. Lovely mixtures of blues and greens,. Hope you agree.
I stand amended; we visited Upper Goldwater Lake. Lower Goldwater, which furnishes some of the city's water, is below the dam and verboten to the public. I've never even caught a glimpse of it.
Not surprisingly, the lake draws picnickers, even on a week day.
There's a fire ring for small crowds.
The rental boat man was not on hand the day we visited. Too bad. (The kids rented a paddle boat at Lynx Lake later in the week.)
Three other canoe tie-ups belong to area camps. (Looks like a "crowd" in this picture, right? Actually, this was by far the most people I noted at any time during our midday visit.)
Relaxing while she supervises summer campers learning the ins and outs of the vessels, the buff young lady in the foreground is the canoe instructor,
An empty camp chair sits ready for its fisher-person. The city lakes are stocked on a regular basis.
And, yes, the granddotter got thoroughly wet; if she hadn't, I would have worried.
One of her discoveries: a crawdad which had been chowing down on a nearby dead fish. BTW, crayfish are high on the not wanted here list per AZ Game and Fish; of course, they are everywhere there's permanent water.
Other lake critters: a pair of mallards.
A dotter shot of grasses in or beside the shore; she's always admired the beauty of simple grasses.
Just as I could not resist including this series of water pictures. Lovely mixtures of blues and greens,. Hope you agree.
I wonder why the crayfish are not wanted. The provide food for fish and some birds.
ReplyDeleteWhat size do those crawdads reach? A similar critter here, the marron, sells for $A35-40/kg; hence is being farmed for the restaurant trade.
ReplyDeleteHermano
Nice Summer Shots....Thanks for stopping by Bigskychef
ReplyDeleteCan you keep a secret?
ReplyDeleteI've meandered the lower goldwater lake, as well as the old water skimming equipment which sites just below the lower lake's dam.
I even took some pictures. Shhhh...
Lovely lake pictures.
ReplyDeletesteve -- apparently the crayfish are not native to Arizona and are thus occupying eco-niches that belong to other critters.
ReplyDeletebro -- ours are small guys -- maybe up to 3" long; not restaurant quality.
chef -- you, in turn, should stop by one of our monthly blogger get togethers.
tombo -- why am I not surprised! Are there any local nooks or crannies that you haven't explored?
cat-A -- so put that big marmalade tom on a leash & go strolling along the lake front. I'll bet he'd have fun with those crawdads.
Crawfish!! Cajun yum-yums! Etouffe'!
ReplyDeleteYeah, the crawfish are in the canals down in the Valley OT Sun, and I heard tell folks do go and net them to eat.
Lovely lake looks!
~Anon in AV.
I've been below the (upper lake) dam in the verboten area--mostly because the sign and fence was down at the far side of the lake and the trail continued down into the meadow below the dam.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't until I came up the other side that the barbed wire and dire signage told me the tale.
Oops. Oh well. Heh. Indications down there are that the area is well-visited nonetheless.
dc -- that wasn't an area of the forest that the LH and I explored very much -- we were more likely to go a bit further over to the Hassayampa.
ReplyDelete