Hello Dolly

Near the old stagecoach stop of Tortilla Flats on the Apache Trail is a lake that fills the canyon - Canyon Lake! It is 10 miles long but very jagged with long thin spikes trailing off of it - just as you would imagine a lake that fills a canyon to be. Dolly Steamboat cruises that lake daily and we took the trip to get kissing close to the canyon walls and spot a mountain lion. The cliffs have been formed a gazillion years ago from archaeological events and shifts. At one moment in time all the trees were felled by a quake and piled on top of each other like a woodpile. Those trees are now petrified in the canyon walls and we could see them along a certain height of the cliff walls. Fascinating! We could also spot "ET", JS Bach playing his organ, an elephant and limitless figures and scenes - the power of imagination! No mountain lions were out in the heat - likely curled up in some cliffside cave having a siesta. I noted that in Ontario we would worry about rain on a day of boating, but here they tell us that there won't be any rain until at least July. After our cruise we went to the restaurant/saloon in Tortilla Flats
(one of two buildings in that "town") for their famous burger while perched on a horse saddle (instead of barstools). We camped by the lake and took a dip - canyon lake water is very cold and our skin sizzled as we dove in. Dolly wasn't the only one steaming!