I was awake early but wasn’t in a hurry to
get up. We had plans for today but an extra half hour or so of wallowing in the
warmth of my sleeping bag wasn’t going to interfere with anything. Well, I
guess it did cut my walk short because I wanted to get the wash done before we
left for the day but that was no big deal. Kim cooked corned beef hash with eggs for a
late breakfast and as soon as the breakfast dishes were cleaned up we were
ready to head to Tortilla Flat.
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Tortilla Flat is a little town at the end of
a mountainous, switchback-y road…a sign says that the road beyond is closed in
9 miles so Tortilla Flat is pretty much the turnaround point these days. State
Route 88 used to be the connecting route from Phoenix to Roosevelt Lake but due
to damage caused by fire and flood in 2019, a 5-mile section starting at the Fish
Creek Hill Overlook is closed for safety reasons.
Most people call it Tortilla Flats but that’s
not what the maps call it. It’s not a plural word, there is no ‘s’ on the end
of Flat. I found an interesting story about the name on the website tortillaflataz.com/our-history/....
In the
small, but interesting, archives of Tortilla Flat is a letter written in 1939,
from Postmaster Russell Perkins to Mr. Ross Santee, state director of the
Federal Writers’ Project, a government project tracing place names in Arizona,
part of the Arizona Works Progress Administration in Phoenix. Mr.
Perkins states that Tonto Basin pioneer, Mr. John Cline, in a conversation with
Mr. Perkins, said that he [Cline] was with some folks from Tonto Basin who had
gone to Phoenix for supplies. On their return they were stranded in the flat
for several days by a flash flood. Their food ran out except for some flour, so
they made tortillas to eat, and Mr. Cline, in honor of their victuals,
christened the flat, Tortilla Flat. Although there are some variations to
the story, this version is the most accepted.
The same website gives this little blurb of
history: Tortilla Flat is an authentic remnant of an old
west town, nestled in the midst of the Tonto National Forest, in the
Superstition Mountain Range. Tortilla Flat started out as a stagecoach stop in
1904 and neither fire nor flood has been able to take away this historic stop
along the Historic Apache Trail. I cannot imagine riding in a
stagecoach on that trail/road.
I wonder where all
the employees in the stores and restaurant lived…it’d be a heck of a daily
commute from Apache Junction.
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Canyon Lake is a
beautiful lake nestled in the Superstition Mountains. I wondered if it was a natural
lake or a reservoir. Kim suggested I google it and here’s what I found: Canyon Lake is
one of four reservoirs that were formed by the damming of the Salt River in Arizona as
part of the Salt River Project. It was formed by the Mormon Flat Dam,
which was completed in 1925 after two years of construction. Canyon Lake, with
a surface area of 950 acres (380 ha), is the third and smallest of the
four lakes created along the river. Two others, Apache Lake and Roosevelt Lake, are upstream. The fourth, Saguaro Lake, is downstream.
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After Tortilla Flat
we headed to Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa. Back in 2020, when Mom was out here
visiting, we had planned to take her there to experience the Wurlitzer Organ,
but the pandemic neatly changed those plans. So when she said she was coming
out again this year, we put it on the list of things to do. The organ music and
the pizza were enjoyed by all.
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We decided to move the cell cam from the
hawk nest; find a ground trail that leads to a hole and put it there instead. See what animal comes out of the hole. That’s what we did when
we got back. But the camera hasn’t sent any pictures since about noon so that
needs some attention.
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The brown is starting to creep into the weeds/bushes
that have been so green and prolific along Picacho Hwy. And there’s a
brittleness along with the brown. The same is happening out in the desert…the ground
plants are drying out and walking out there produces a crunchy sound. Sort of
like walking on breadcrumbs.
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40 Days of Lent opportunity: Listen to the sermon on Letting Go: Anger and Hurt.
Have not done this yet but intend to tomorrow.
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