5.9 KiB
Poor Decisions With Great Views
This was one of my first trip experiences. When I first started making trips out West, Arizona was the first state I explored. The first time I'd ever gone, I had a friend in Phoenix who invited me to hang out for about a week. I fell in love with the scenery long before I even arrived in Phoenix, and in a relatively short amount of time, I started to return to the state on my own. I decided to use my existing camping gear (mostly backpacking stuff) and save a ton of money I would have otherwise spent on lodging. It was these early trips that I began to experiment with ways to find public land, and sleep comfortably in my vehicle.
I had acquired and extensively used the Arizona copy of the DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteers. Scanning the pages, I located Roosevelt Lake, but tucked away, smaller and seemingly more remote, was Apache Lake. I have always enjoyed finding less busy, more obscure locations, and I decided that I wanted to check out this smaller Apache Lake moreso than the larger, more popular Roosevelt Lake.
The Roads
Apache Lake is accessible via state route 88, which travels by Tortilla Flat on the west side and Roosevelt Lake on the east side. The west side is easily accessible from Apache Junction, however at the time I was visiting, the stretch of unpaved road that goes from Tortilla Flat to Apache Lake was washed out and closed. I was forced to enter from the east side, which took me from the Phoenix metro, through Superior, and allll the way to Globe before cutting back north towards the lakes.
Traveling from Globe, I stopped at a general market and gas station, from which I got breakfast and some maps. The first pictures in this album are from the dam and bridge at Roosevelt Lake. Turning down 88 from 188 leads you by the dam, and from there, a long stretch of decent dirt road takes you to Apache Lake, with lovely views of the Salt River and Superstition Mountains along the way. More recently than this visit, the road has been paved.
The Bittersweet
I came to a turnoff leading to a private resort on the lake, and I went downhill to check it out. I went inside the building and asked about what the place was. I was told I could camp there, and I was intrigued and wanted to try something new, so I decided to buy a night. I was kinda broke and it was more money than I expected to spend, but I was too embarassed to just say no at that point. I didn't really know what I was getting myself into, but it was certainly going to be interesting.
There was live music, a bar, primitive camping areas, a marina, a hotel, and all sorts of goodies here. While exploring, I saw that there was a place to rent a kayak, I was interested until I learned it was quite expensive to rent it for the day...I had already spent so much just to be there. I felt really embarassed to say nevermind to the clerk when he said that!
After setting up camp, I decided to check out the bar. I have drank a lot of alcohol in my days but this was the first time I ever got sociable enough to go to a bar. I'd always avoided them. I talked up with a lot of people there, many of them were surprised that I had even heard of Apache Lake as a traveler from Oklahoma. Even in the early days of my solo travels, I knew how to find obscure places, apparently.
One dude just started buying me drinks. Shot after drink after shot, I was really quite drunk. I bought a lot of my own drinks too. I was stumbling around a bit, and quite frankly acting quite stupid, but what else is drinking for? As the night went on, I moved outside to watch and listen to the live music. I met some folks that wanted to take me out on their boat in the morning, since I didn't have one. We discussed about where to meet in the morning and when. Eventually I wandered away from the crowd to find some solitude again. I remember laying down and staring into the night sky for quite a long time. I was still pretty well intoxicated, and the beauty of the galaxy really entranced me for a while. Before I went to bed, I took a shower at the marina.
In the morning, I felt hung over, poorly rested, and regretted just about everything at that point. I spent all the money I had left for my trip on the campsite and the alcohol i bought at the bar. I tried to find the folks that wanted me to go boating with them, but it seems they either slept in or were already gone. I felt really out of place at this resort about now, I was broke and couldn't pay for anything to eat at the restaraunt, so I packed up my things and left without telling anyone.
Car Problems Has Entered the Chat
On my way back out, a light popped onto my dashboard, it was an empty oil pan indicator. I didn't really know what that meant at the time, and I didn't have cell service to contact my dad (the car guru in my life) until later. I called to ask about it when I was back by Roosevelt, and he said that was really really bad and that by the time that light comes on, theres pretty much no oil left and that the car should not be run anymore. I certainly didn't have any motor oil with me, so I had no choice but to get it in Globe.
On this day, we learned that my Kia Soul burned a significant amount of oil on long drives. Dad taught me how to check the oil levels, and told me what kind of oil to use. This continued to be a problem for the coming year of travels, and I had to carry oil with me at all times and treat it almost like a second gas tank. The rate at which it consumed oil seemed very random, with some long drives not dropping by much and then a shorter drive leaving it almost empty.
Farewell
This lake is very beautiful, and I wish I got to experience it without getting wrapped up into an expensive party. I swore this off as the last time I would ever blow my money on alcohol at a bar. I have not yet returned to Apache Lake, but since then I have visted the superstition mountains again.