Blog 4:  Lake Mead, AZ

We wanted to see Lake Mead before it was gone!

March 23-28, 2023

We had to stop at Lake Mead and see it for ourselves.  The media reports that it is drying up. With that in mind, we wanted to see it before it was gone. 

Lake Mead is the largest man-made lake in the United States originating from the construction of Hoover Dam to control the Colorado River waters.  (We will cover Hoover Dam in another blog.)  The water from Lake Mead comes from the Colorado River.  The river water is made up of snow melt from Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah.  Because of the lack of moisture in the southwest since 2000, Lake Mead has been receding. 

Lake Mead is beautiful, and we saw some spectacular sights while we were there.   It would be a tragic loss. However, lately with the significant rainfalls this season, the water levels in Lake Mead aren’t as low as predicted.   We hope this trend continues.

Havasu City, NV, and London Bridge

But first, on our way to Lake Mead, we had to stop in at Havasu City and look at the London Bridge.

How London Bridge came to Havasu City.

John Rennie, civil engineer, designed the London Bridge in 1831.  Because the city procrastinated in the build, he died before work began.  His son, John Rennie, the Younger, completed it.  In 1962, the bridge could no longer carry the increased load of traffic.  London needed to sell the old bridge to make way for the new bridge.

Meanwhile, in Havasu City, Robert P. McCulloch, a real estate developer owned property around Lake Havasu.  No one was interested in purchasing the land because it was far from population centers and had a hot and dry climate.  McCulloch’s real estate agent, Robert Plumer, heard that the city of London, England put the bridge up for sale.  He convinced McCulloch to agree to “the craziest idea I (McCulloch) have ever heard” of purchasing the bridge to attract buyers.  London sold the bridge to McCulloch in April 1968.

London Bridge was dismantled stone by stone, numbered, and catalogued.  Then the stones were sent to a quarry where six to eight inches were cut off.  The stones took a voyage on a cargo ship to Long Beach, California then transported overland to be reassembled over a part of Lake Havasu.  It was completed in 1971.

Spending the Night at Craggy Wash

Mike and I didn’t spend much time at Lake Havasu.  The weather was gloomy and windy, so we took some quick pictures and spent the night outside of Havasu City at Craggy Wash US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) campground.  It was a nice campground and even had a camp host, which is unusual for BLM campgrounds at the time this blog was written.  However, it may become more of a common occurrence since not everyone appreciates and takes care of these generous lands.

The next day, the weather turned cold and rainy around Lake Havasu, so we decided to move on to Lake Mead and visit nearby Hoover Dam and Valley of Fire. Our first stop was at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area Visitor’s Center in Boulder City for a map and information. Mike and I find it helpful to stop in at visitor’s centers when we arrive in an area. Rangers give the best information. 

Lake Mead is much bigger than shown on this map.  This is the section we decided to explore.

We chose to stay at the 8 Mile Road BLM campground. The blue dot indicates the approximate area of our campsite.

A fun aspect of our campsite was this little ‘fort’ or ‘homestead’ remnant made from stones.  It seems some children who have been visiting historical sites in the area, made their own replica.  It was complete with the outline of a building including hand-painted rocks and shells, a firepit, and rocks around a little tree for a garden.  I’m glad these children have an opportunity to experience learning from travels.

Evidence of Lower Water Levels

We could see the white waterline that shows how much Lake Mead has receded in the last 23 years.

From our campsite, Mike and I could see this boat (circled in blue). We watched reports of it many times on the news, websites, and videos that depict the water loss of Lake Mead.  It was totally submerged under water. Many people are now watching this boat as more and more of it appears.  This is not the only sunken boat that emerged on the new shores of Lake Mead. 

Through our explorations, Mike and I counted four.  Plus, there were random things on the newly exposed shore that you can tell were once at the bottom of Lake Mead – boat parts, shoes, parts of ice chests, buoys, aluminum cans, water bottles, and other trash.

Nevertheless, Lake Mead, surrounded by mountains,  is still beautiful and we enjoyed our campsite stay there.

More Beautiful Views

Mike and I observed the scenery as we drove around Lake Mead.

One evening we drove down to the shores of Lake Mead in our campgrounds.

We had to leave in a hurry because the rain started.  As we got into the van, a double rainbow reached across the sky.

Looking Out My Window

After a while, the rainbows disappeared.  Then it returned to as one big rainbow displaying a spectrum of colors on the mountain.  It reminded me of the colored lens preschool children use to look through to make everything seem a different color.

The Night Sky

In the evenings, we would watch the moon and stars. Even though this is not a designated Dark Sky Area, some evenings images were incredible.

One evening, we saw the moon take on a special glow.

The Once Submerged Boat

Before we left Lake Mead and 8 Mile Campground, we had to take an up-close look the once submerged boat.  We took a hike down to the shores.  It was directly across from our campsite, up, down, and around a few easy hills.

We humans weren’t the only ones who enjoyed Lake Mead.