Always looking for something new and exciting for the kids to do at the lake, my daughter discovered swimming in and between the rocks near Tamarack Bay in Payette Lake. On my first trip there with the grandkids, I opted to stay in the boat to keep us from drifting into the too shallow rocks. Clio and Margie looked across the very smoky inlet and said, there is an alligator. I took a picture but did not think much about it until I was reviewing a website about the Lake and it turns out that rock formation is famous. The ‘Petrified crocodile’ is “one of the most shocking finds in Payette Lake. The animal defied nature and made its home in our high altitude lake where the water temperature is seldom above 70 degrees…” The kids do not fear Sharlie, also known as the Twilight Dragon, who is a Loch Ness monster type serpent who may well live in the depths of the pristine lake.
Pleistocene era glaciers formed the Payette Lake and other bodies of water in the area. It is estimated from striations on surrounding rock faces that the glacier rose over 500 feet above the lake’s current surface. The lake is over 300 feet deep off of the northwestern shore. The lake is 7 miles long with 22 miles of shoreline and holds l57 billion gallons of water. The lake freezes over in the winter and as noted summer time it can get close to a comfortable 70 degrees. This summer during the heat bubble in the West the lake experienced temperatures near 74 degrees, great for our little swimmers.
Imagine heating billions of gallons of lake water 4 degrees above average temperatures. It makes me think the recent climate warnings are taking place right in our own back yard. Hank verified the lake temperature with a meat thermometer at 74.7 in our lake swimming area, trust but verify.
You may recall in l973 Elton John and Bernie Taupin wrote another memorable song:
“I remember when rock was young
Me and Susie had so much fun
Holding hands and skimming stones
Had an old gold Chevy and a place of my own But the biggest kick I ever got Was doing a thing called the Crocodile Rock.”
I suggest you take a minute to listen to the song, it will brighten your day.
Thanks for masking up and getting vaccinated. Stay safe. M