Since we had bought a trailer, one of the places we were going to camp with it this winter was Canyon Lake. Well... wouldn't you know it they decided to lower the water level by almost 100 feet at this time so they can perform maintenance on Mormon Flats dam.
Not ones to miss such an opportunity we decided this weekend to check it out. We drove up there this morning around 08:15, and parked at an area where we have fished in the past. We started making our way down the steep crumbly sides of the lake when Mike stepped on a rock outcrop that gave way and he almost did a butt slide down the hill. in the picture below the white circle is around the chunk of rock that gave way.
He slightly damaged his camera and his pride. luckily he didn't break anything. He did scratch his back, left arm, and left hand.
Once we determined that an ambulance was not needed we continued with our explorations. The first thing we noticed was the lack of underwater vegetation, the large number of beer and soda cans, and lots of fishing line. We headed for the bridge you cross over to access the lake. here we found the buoys and their weights that marked the entrance.
The next thing we came across was these enormous cracks in the sediment at the bottom of the lake. The crack are 1 to 4 inches across, and 3 to 10 inches deep.
You had to be careful walking across them as they were very mushy and if you stepped in the crack you could twist your ankle quite severely. The next thing we came across was a jeep that had apparently ran off the road or had been pushed into the lake. No human remains were found inside.
We found a motorcycle but there wasn't much left of it. The really interesting stuff was found under the bridge.
We found 2 newspaper vending machines...
The bolt from a rifle...
and a small safe.
The safe had been shot at least twice, and someone had managed to rip a hole in the bottom. Some of the contents of the safe were still inside (remnants of porno magazines). Chris also found a 20 pound anchor (which he carried out). We then hiked back out and went to the section of the lake where there is a floating pier. They had removed the floating pier at some point and all that was left was part of the walk way.
This is the view of the second bridge (we didn't hike to it because there was water under it).
Some interesting things we found in this area was some broken up fish habitats, the junk under water where we had lost our drop shots, a fire extinguisher (discharged), some extra fresh squishy mud, and 2 cans of unopened soda (coke and sierra mist). We opened them and they were still carbonated. We left and were going to go to Mormon Flats dam but half way there we came across an ominous sign warning of all sorts of dire consequences if we went any further.
Some of the other things we found in the bottom of the lake:
Lots of sun glasses with one lens missing.
Many children's fishing poles.
Lawn chairs.
Sleeping bags.
Broken or complete, but rusted fishing poles.
Parts of fishing reels.
Flashlights.
Places where bags of trash had been sunk.
A bicycle.
Tire Rims.
Tires.
Concrete weights.
A "fun saver camera" (fun not saved).
Clothing.
A boat ladder.
A "Diver down" flag.
Some kind of old computer or phone switching equipment.
Oars.
A warning sign to not "stop on, loiter, fish, or dive" off the bridge (we set this up in the mud below the bridge).
A ham bone.
Diving suit slippers.
Swim fins.
A child's toy camping lantern.
Car/Boat batteries.
The unidentifiable rusted remnants of another car from the 50's or 60's (it had round jet engine style tail lights).
We overheard 2 women who were walking around with their dogs under the bridge say that someone they knew had lost a wallet which contained about $1800.00 in the lake in that general area (we never saw a wallet).
The flood waters had washed the newspaper vending machines (all 6 of them) a couple hundred yards down stream, and uncovered the remains of the second car we had found on our last visit.
Just kidding!!! We moved on down to the east of the second bridge and the same thing was happening there.
We stood around and watched the banks of the river wash away.
Finally we moved on to the second bridge.
We quickly found this was going to be a problem as there was an insane number of aluminum cans buried in the dried mud. However while looking around I found one very interesting object buried under about 1 inch of mud. The mud had dried and cracked revealing it to me. I am surprised no one else had seen it as many people had been through this area, here it is after I got it home and cleaned it up:
You will note from the above image that the number has been removed from the lower part of the handle using a drill and a chisel. No other number is on the item. The slide and everything else was not attached and was not within 10 feet of it, possibly the other pieces had been dumped somewhere else. From where it was located it looks like someone threw it in as they drove onto the bridge. After we had finished our explorations we attempted to drop it off at the local constabulary in A.J. but it was not open on Sunday. Since the important parts are missing and there is no number I will probably remove the nickel plated parts that did not rust and dispose of the rest.
It appears to be a fully armed Huey Cobra.
Not ones to miss such an opportunity we decided this weekend to check it out. We drove up there this morning around 08:15, and parked at an area where we have fished in the past. We started making our way down the steep crumbly sides of the lake when Mike stepped on a rock outcrop that gave way and he almost did a butt slide down the hill. in the picture below the white circle is around the chunk of rock that gave way.
He slightly damaged his camera and his pride. luckily he didn't break anything. He did scratch his back, left arm, and left hand.
Once we determined that an ambulance was not needed we continued with our explorations. The first thing we noticed was the lack of underwater vegetation, the large number of beer and soda cans, and lots of fishing line. We headed for the bridge you cross over to access the lake. here we found the buoys and their weights that marked the entrance.
The next thing we came across was these enormous cracks in the sediment at the bottom of the lake. The crack are 1 to 4 inches across, and 3 to 10 inches deep.
You had to be careful walking across them as they were very mushy and if you stepped in the crack you could twist your ankle quite severely. The next thing we came across was a jeep that had apparently ran off the road or had been pushed into the lake. No human remains were found inside.
We found a motorcycle but there wasn't much left of it. The really interesting stuff was found under the bridge.
The bolt from a rifle...
and a small safe.
The safe had been shot at least twice, and someone had managed to rip a hole in the bottom. Some of the contents of the safe were still inside (remnants of porno magazines). Chris also found a 20 pound anchor (which he carried out). We then hiked back out and went to the section of the lake where there is a floating pier. They had removed the floating pier at some point and all that was left was part of the walk way.
This is the view of the second bridge (we didn't hike to it because there was water under it).
Some interesting things we found in this area was some broken up fish habitats, the junk under water where we had lost our drop shots, a fire extinguisher (discharged), some extra fresh squishy mud, and 2 cans of unopened soda (coke and sierra mist). We opened them and they were still carbonated. We left and were going to go to Mormon Flats dam but half way there we came across an ominous sign warning of all sorts of dire consequences if we went any further.
The Durango and Silverton train at the station is my most popular download so far. Which is surprising as it was my first upload, and I edited it without having much experience. This one was rather complicated as I took the picture before I even thought about selling stock photography. I had to remove the name of the railroad, some tree limbs, several McDonalds related signs in the background, fix the washed out sky, and cover up some mistakes with steam. The sky was actually taken from another image, and I had to do some fancy cut and paste to the locomotive for reasons I cannot remember. Someday I might get ambitious and remove the guy with the red jacket. Number of times sold, 3.
This one was relatively simple. I had to lighten up the shadows and remove the "Scott" name from the SCBA's. Number of times sold, 1 on Dreamstime, and 1 on Crestock.
Same for this picture. Number of times sold, 1 on Crestock (Dreamstime didn't accept).
This is my second most popular upload, and was also problematic. I had to replace the sky, fill in the areas where the sky and tree meet, and cover up some problem areas with smoke. I also deleted some people and a picnic bench from the left side of the train. Number of times sold, 2.
I did not take this picture but never the less it caused me much pain. Both Crestock and Dreamstime allow you to upload your own x-ray's, so I did. I just remove my information. Number of times sold, 1.
Ah yes the humming bird image. This one was rejected by both Dreamstime and Crestock. Although I was able to fix it enough to get it re-accepted by Dreamstime. I didn't bother with Crestock. Number of times sold, 1.
This one is my personal favorite. The only things I did to it was to remove the word Phoenix from the truck, some power lines, and enhance the color. Number of times sold, 1.
That's it so far. All that hard work has earned me $8.75. Woo hoo!
