Salt River Canyon and Fool Hollow Lake

Leaving Tucson, we headed northeast toward home and our next stop -- a night at Fool Hollow State park near Show Low, Arizona. Our original plan had been to go back to Socorro via the Very Large Array. But, since we had managed to squeeze the VLA in on our way down, we opted for new sights and places.

On our way, we passed through the Salt River Canyon, which I may have visited years ago, but may not have. We often hear that Palo Duro Canyon in Texas resembles the Grand Canyon. Nope. But, the Salt River Canyon actually does (not surprising since it's not that far from the Grand Canyon), but at a much smaller scale.

So pretty!

The road winds from the top all the way down to the Salt River, which is a pretty active river here; by the time it gets to Phoenix, it is dry except for during vigorous monsoon seasons ...

Salt River

There is an old bridge you can walk out on ...

Old bridge (look at the cool designs)

... and a new bridge you drive over ...

New bridge

... plus an observation area at river level ...

Observing (well, actually, waving)

It's a stunning landscape that warrants a little stop before traveling on.  But, on we went, arriving at Fool Hollow Lake just about lunch time.

Fool Hollow Lake turned out to be a great find.

Nice!

It's a lovely little state park with very nice camping sites -- larger and more forested than anything we had encountered so far -- but, then we were out of the desert and in the mountains.

Very nice campsite

The park, which is nestled at 6,260 feet in a residential area in a popular summer getaway area for Arizonans, was almost empty and only one camping loop was open. But, it was fabulous. 

Fool Hollow was named for a settler who attempted (foolishly) to farm the rocky canyon in the 1880s. The Arizona Game and Fish Department constructed the 150-acre lake in 1957 to provide water-oriented outdoor recreation. It has self-sustaining populations of Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass, Sunfish, Walleye, Carp, Black Crappie, Channel Catfish and Crayfish (none of which we saw!). In the spring and summer, it is stocked with Rainbow Trout (didn't see them either!).

The reservoir

Scott opted to fish (see comments above; but, then, it's called "fishing," not "catching) and I opted to hike the trail around the lake. I encountered several types of birds -- all pretty skittish and tough to photograph. I saw one Great Blue Heron, rapidly flying away ...

On the move

... and a Bald Eagle, soaring, but not landing or fishing ...

Adult Bald Eagle

Some American Coots spread across the lake ...

Lots of Coots

... and a pair of Common Mergansers flying over it ...

Male, left, and female, right

There were some courting Western Bluebirds that flew away every time I got near, making it hard to get a clear shot of the male's beautiful plumage ...

A photography fail

I saw quite a few European Starlings, but they were even faster than the Bluebirds ...

Many birds, few posers

And there was a single pair of Canada Geese ... 

 I think they were guarding a nest

... and some Killdeers ... 

Walking in the reeds

... and some Mallards ...

A pretty male

And, that was about it.

It was so lovely, however, we opted to stay an extra night so we could do some local exploring. I will talk about that in my next blog.

While it was nice and warm during the day, it was pretty chilly at night. We finally tried out our heater for the the Little Guy and it was great. We were toasty all night. Plus, it is so quiet, I don't think any other campers could hear it (of course they were all inside big RVs).

Comfy digs

We had only one complaint about Fool Hollow. What originally looked really sweet -- private bath/shower combos -- turned out to be not so because the showerheads were very high and produced a fine spray. So, even almost-hot-enough water was freezing by the time it hit your body. And, since the shower was part of a relatively large unheated chamber, it made the shower experience very unpleasant. I suppose had it been 85 degrees outside, it would be fine. But, it was 32! Plus (and I didn't discover this until AFTER I washed my hair), there were no outlets. So, I had to dry my hair with the hot air hand dryer.

Before I move on to my next adventures, here's a little local history ...

A very Arizona name

The town of Show Low got its name from a marathon poker game between Corydon Cooley and Marion Clark, equal partners in a 100,000-acre ranch there. 

Deciding there was not enough room for both of them, they agreed on a poker game where the winner would take the ranch and the loser would leave. 

After the game went on and on, Clark said, "If you can show low, you win." Cooley turned up the deuce of clubs (the lowest possible card) and said, "Show low it is." Show Low's main street is named "Deuce of Clubs."

Trip date: February 22-29, 2016