Jaeger's Blog

To look at things is very different from seeing it – Oscar Wilde

Saguaro Lake: Butcher Jones Trail

SONY ILCE-7RM2, f/10, 1/80 sec, ISO 100

The day-time temperatures are rising and are predicted to reach 100 Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) again this weekend. The mornings are still nice and cool at 62 Fahrenheit (17 Celsius) though. Since the blooming is mostly over we are looking at finding a hike along the water.

When my parents were visiting 2.5 years ago we showed them the area and took them to Saguaro Lake – Saguaro Lake is the fourth reservoir on the Salt River formed by the Stewart Mountain Dam in the U.S. state of Arizona – today is the first time we return to the lake. We park the car at the recreational area and start hiking the Butcher Jones Trail.

We are there early but meet a lot of hikers and people have already settled in the nice spots along the lake to do some fishing. The lake attracts many fishermen as it offers a vast variety of edible fish like:

  • Rainbow trout
  • Largemouth bass
  • Smallmouth bass
  • Yellow bass
  • Crappie
  • Sunfish
  • Channel catfish
  • Walleye
  • Tilapia
  • Yellow perch
  • Carp

We walk the trail for about 1.5 hours one way. The view of the lake is great but we also have to concentrate on the trail as it is very uneven and narrow. On the way back we attempt a little “detour” off the trail and it doesn’t take long until we hear and see a rattle snake just a few feet away from us. Luckily it warns us and we can jump away – sorry no pictures.

This time we turn around knowing that we still have enough energy to comfortably walk back to the car.

The area is known for its wild horses but unfortunately we don’t see any today.

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