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Kayaking
Bartlett Lake
March 14, 2021
by Chuck Parsons
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group
Chuck & John mug for the camera. [photo by John]

From a total of seven kayakers, we’re now down to two, as John and I ready our kayaks for launching from the SB Cove area of Bartlett Lake. And it’s only by sheer accident that we found one another at all in the sprawling SB Cove complex, crowded with hundreds of tents, campers, and every variety and model of RV in existence. Yanis and Vanessa are also joining us this morning, but after cruising up and down this huge congested beach area and searching for them for 15 minutes or more, we finally give up. I would later learn from talking to Yanis that they were also searching for us.

This entire process brings to mind an old Keystone Kops routine (how many remember those zany characters?), with four people in two vehicles fruitlessly cruising the sprawling cove, crammed with countless campers and RVs, looking for one another and likely passing within watermelon seed spitting distance time and again without ever finding each another. If our vehicles had been marked and someone had been shooting from above with a camera drone, it might very well have made a hilarious video clip worthy of those zany Keystone Kops.

boats
Kayaks are prepped and ready for launch. [photo by John]
John
John kicks back in his new 12 foot kayak. [photo by Chuck]
Chuck
Chuck takes a breather on the lake, with the Yellow Cliffs in the background. [photo by John]
John
John loves his new kayak. [photo by Chuck]
lake
RVs, campers, and tents line the beach. [photo by John]

Completed in 1939 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and funded primarily by the Salt River Project, Bartlett Dam was the first dam built on the Verde River, creating Bartlett Lake.

view
The distinctive Yellow Cliffs overlooking Bartlett Lake. [photo by John]
lake
The lake is pretty calm today. [photo by John]
view
This is certainly a popular lake for the RV crowd. [photo by John]
Chuck
John is approaching ramming speed! [photo by John]
lake
We decide to pull in here for a lunch break. [photo by John]
John
Where John is standing, the lake surface was once over ten feet above his head. [photo by Chuck]

Named after Bill Bartlett, chief government surveyor on the project, the primary purpose of the dam is to provide irrigation and drinking water for the growing metro Phoenix area. In 1994 the dam was raised an additional 21.5 feet in height to provide more storage capacity for both flood control and increased water supply.

With Arizona and much of the Southwest in the grips of a severe and prolonged drought since 2000, some scientists and climatologists are saying that it could possibly last 50 years or longer, based on numerous tree ring studies throughout the region.

That added height to Bartlett Dam is now proving to be much more valuable for increased water supply rather than flood control. But Bartlett Lake is far from alone in dramatically decreased water levels. Lake Powell, currently down 131 feet, is at 42% of capacity. Lake Mead, currently down 143 feet, is at 40% of capacity. The nation’s two largest reservoirs, Powell and Mead together, provide critical storage capacity for Colorado River water and its 40 million users across the parched Southwest.

kaykers
This entire area right up to the ridgeline was once under water. [photo by John]
view
This area right behind our lunch spot was also once completely submerged. [photo by John]
lake
Approaching the launch area. [photo by John]
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Chuck is almost back at the beach. [photo by John]

The time is about 11:15 when we decide to stop in a shallow cove area for a rest and lunch break. As we look around, John and I both agree that Bartlett Lake is currently down somewhere between 20 and 25 feet from full capacity.

From here we see a snowy egret flying across the cove, while earlier we saw a bald eagle riding the thermals over the lake. After about 20 minutes we pack up and make our way back across the lake to SB Cove. The power boat and jet ski traffic has increased dramatically since earlier in the day when we started out from the cove. This is the primary reason we do these kayaking day trips in the middle of the week, rather than on the much busier weekends.

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Arizona Trailblazers Hiking Club, Phoenix, Arizona
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updated March 19, 2021