Dollie Steamboat Ride with friends on Canyon Lake

We've been here for 3 1/2 months now and have heard so much about the Dollie Steamboat Ride on Canyon Lake. We had been over at our Canadian friends, Ron and Patsy Chase, from British Columbia playing cards a few nights ago and they mentioned that they were interested in checking out the boat ride. We decided to go this last Wednesday. Canyon Lake is about 15 miles from Apache Junction on Route 88 past Tortilla Flats. We got tickets for the 2 pm tour and arrived about 1:15 pm and got in line to get our tickets that we ordered online.

We got our tickets and sat down on a bench waiting for the Dollie to come in from the previous tour. after about 30 minutes we could see the Dollie coming into the dock. An announcement on the loudspeaker said that boarding would start with ticket numbers 1 - 25. We had 12 and 13 so we were able to get a good seat with Ron and Patsy in the upper deck in front of the boat inside.

 

 

I got a great shot of Patsy and Glenda as we headed out and Glenda took a photo of me and Ron.

 



 

Once the rest of the passengers were called onboard and we were off. We headed into a canyon that lead to the Salt River. The Salt River empties into Canyon Lake from a dam that separates Apache Lake further up the river from Canyon Lake. The mountains around the lake are really beautiful.

There were a number of pleasure boats on the water as well. Some out for a cruise. others were fishing along with some kayakers.

 

 

 

As we made our way up the river the boat captain would occasionally give some information about the lake and the surrounding area. Then as he was talking he started to go closer to shore and told us if we would look up and to the left on the side of the mountain we could see a group of desert sheep. Of course they were pretty far up the mountain so I used as much telephoto lens as I could. (Enlarge the photos for a better look)

 

 

 

We could see some adult and young sheep. It was definitely the highlight of the tour. We continued up the river about 3 miles an then turned around for the return trip to the marina. The rock structures were very unique. The captain showed us some circles in the rock at one point and indicated that they were petrified logs on end that had been in the rock for millions of years.

 

 

 

We continued to see rock formations, vistas and views that held our attention. Something I still can't get enough of. Here are a few more photos as we headed back to shore. There was so much to see and so many photos to take I didn't sit down the whole 1 1/2 hours of the tour. Paradise in the desert.

 

Once we landed I got a nice shot of the Dollie after everyone had disembarked. We had a great time with Ron and Patsy and to end the day we went to a local Mexican Restaurant for happy hour and a great meal. We're so glad we had the opportunity to share this time with them. We're looking forward to seeing them again next winter. Of course we plan to get together at least one more time before we leave the park next week.