Bloomed 6-18-2023
"Adventurers have passed this view for centuries. Mormon lake is thirty miles
south of Flagstaff along one of my favorite roadways in Arizona. It’s the
largest natural lake in the state, and it’s about four miles wide by seven
miles long when it’s full (but it’s rarely full).

I first came here in the late 80’s to camp. Our neighbors had a beautiful black
labrador who was involved in field trials at the lake, which were fun to watch,
so we went along. I was still new to Arizona. I kept looking for the actual
lake, but all I saw was marsh. Evidence of the lake was everywhere, though. There
was a small town along the banks with a lodge and restaurant built originally
in 1924 for loggers and ranchers. There were small cabins along what looked
like the shore; but again, there was no water. There was also a road that
circled the lake that we rode our bikes around, but no lake view.

Eventually I would learn that the lake doesn’t hold water because it’s shallow
and there is no constant flow of water; it’s only fed by runoff. But full or
not, it’s home to an abundance of wildlife, including blue herons, osprey, bald
eagles and elk.

On this June day, the lake was full.
Winter snowfall and spring rain made all things possible. We had been out
exploring for the day and pulled off to look. Many locals and visitors were
marveling at the lake level. There were large herds of elk wading in the water,
and the wild irises were blooming near the shore and along the road.

I closed my eyes and imagined what
Martha Summerhayes thought when she passed by here in 1874. She had been on a
long journey with her army husband, from San Francisco around Baja, California,
on a steam boat UP the Colorado river, and then overland to Prescott. She was
headed for Fort Apache. She had been hot and tired for months. Twenty miles
from here she camped at Stoneman, the only other natural lake in Arizona. Also
fed by runoff, it must have been such a sight. In her book, “Vanished Arizona”,
she writes:

“Our camp was beautiful beyond
description, and lay near the edge of a mesa, whence we could look down upon a
lovely lake. It was a complete surprise to us as points of scenery were not
much known or talked about then in Arizona. Ponds and lakes were unheard of.
They did not seem to exist in that drear land of arid wastes. We never heard of
water except that of the Colorado or the Gila, or the rivers or the tanks and
basins, and irrigation ditches of the settlers. But here was a real Italian
lake, a lake as blue as the skies above us. We feasted our eyes and our very
souls upon it.”