Mountains, Lakes, and Misleading Road Signs

 Tortuga Thursday 

In 2012, on the plains of Northern Arizona, two families joined forces and began the trials and tribulations of building a small family farm with nothing in the bank but love.

Mazatlan Mountains to our west in Tonto Basin

Every winter seems to be colder than the last. I looked through the archives and read my blogs from last January to confirm that. Nope. I complained of the freeze killing greenhouse plants last year, too. I guess time does dim some memories.

As the winter farmers’ market vendors, well, mostly Frank, we’ve

Sierra Ancha & Tonto Creek to the east

decided to do them every other week only. Since we’re staying in Tonto Basin for most of the winter season, it’s too long a trek to make every week. We have to stay two nights at least. Even if we didn’t do the farmers’ market we’d have to go for a stay every couple of weeks – I miss the fam, you know.

I’ve absolutely fallen in love with the Tonto Basin area. There is a rich Indian history here that I’ve yet to delve into but want to as soon as I get caught up with the two books I’m writing. Both the Hohokom and the Apache inhabited this area.

Roosevelt Lake

We headed up the mountain to Payson yesterday then back down into the basin and beyond to Roosevelt Lake.

Payson isn’t the little cowboy town I remember from the early 80’s. Too bad. It's still small, but the cowboy bars are mostly gone replaced by chain restaurants and Walmart. It’s still a gorgeous area but the highway across the rim bypasses some of my memories.

I’m awed by the dam and Roosevelt Lake. It’s unbelievably low and a

The highway to the lake from our park

testament to Arizona’s water problems. I got a big laugh out of a road sign. The Apache Trail is a road (using the term loosely) that connects the dam area to Apache Junction (outskirts of Mesa which is on the way to Phoenix). It’s the only way to get to Apache Lake. If an unsuspecting tourist saw this sign and thought “wow, a short cut to the valley” …boy would they be

The dam from the Roosevelt side

in for a shock. It quickly turns into a dirt road that is not much more than a car wide and a sheer drop off to death. In fact, you can spot vehicles that met that fate along the way. Boaters must really want to go to Apache Lake to brave the road. The road is aptly named a

The damn from the Apache side

trail.

The day was beautiful and a mixed weather event. Hope you enjoy the photos!

Don't follow that Apache Jct arrow!

Around the corner the pavement ends and it hugs the cliff

As you enter the Apache Trail