Paddling Lake Powell?

[Guest]

Anyone been there, done that?

I can't wait till the next canoe trip in April. Arizona here I come and I wonder how canoeing on Lake Powell is?

I’ve been pondering a Lake Powell explore for a few years now. Some long submerged features are now low-water visible for the first time in decades, but I also expect that some side canyons end well before the historic high water mark. Not sure what that means for paddle camping opportunities on a tent-ably level bench.

I know that in 2014/15 the water level at Hite, on the north end of the reservoir, was a half mile of mud-sucking hike to an unappealing, sunken, backwatered and sluggish ditch of anything floatable water-wise.

That probably means using Bullfrog or maybe Halls Crossing a more southern launch.

https://www.google.com/search?q=lak...ei=U5jcVqNNgd2ZAYLfgoAD#imgrc=LxgLeZLYAm-11M:

Something tells me Bullfrog could be a freaking zoo of pontoon houseboats and sundry power boats anywhere close to in-season, but it is situated nicely mid-lake accessible to side canyons stretching towards either end of the lake.

I know Joel wants to hike up into the Escalante arm (Drop me off, See ya later, iIf you’re not back in a week I won’t come looking), and that was a consideration in the motorized canoe/kayak ama design. Get me 30 the hell miles away from Bullfrog as fast as possible and leave me alone in a well-stocked base camp back in the canyon

This map (Kelsey) book has helped in pondering and projecting paddle and site possibiliies:

http://www.amazon.com/Boaters-Guide...&sr=1-1&keywords=boaters+guide+to+lake+powell

And this map has helped even more, given Kelsey’s hard to follow prose:

http://www.amazon.com/Powell-Canyon...id=1457294364&sr=1-1&keywords=lake+powell+map

I’d love to find some late-model post-drought paddler trip reports from Lake Powell. As a no reservation, no shuttle, fewer site restrictions trip out west the vastness of Lake Powell’s side-canyon geology, history and archaeology appeals to me.

Yo, Canoe Trippers, anyone paddled Lake Powell?

 

[JagDaddy]

Have you considered the Glen Canyon Rec area, touring kayakers goof off in there :- )

 

[southcove]

If you can get ahold of "Messing about in Boats" magazine, there are a few guys and gals in there who do some camp trips in there on a regular basis, (small daysailers and such) sometimes in a group too and post up some good times, generally off season.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Looking for any Lake Powell paddling advice. Would Wahweap be better? Hite seems to have disconnected significantly from water.

 

[Uncle_Skwid]

Some of them important and influential folks just finished a trip. Might be worth investigating. Start here:

 

[JagDaddy]

Thanks Skwid, I think :- )

That was a good/bad, what was the word used in the article?

'Haunting' reading experience.

The wife and I have done the Colorado River of the Grand Canyon many times. The last trip was Oct/Nov 2015 and with the low water and obvious 'bathtub ring' as you approach Lake Greed, umm Lake Mead everyone gets a little melancholy.

It makes my wife cry, almost every trip. She didn't cry when she shattered a 10' oar, broke a finger and slammed our 18', 1200 lbs cataraft into the wall in Upset. Nearly scraping off the Yeti and me and running the big hole backwards :- ) Leaving the top of the cooler with diggers in it like it had been swatted with a back hoe. Picture what angle the boat hit the wall to do that haha

Lake Foul and Lake Greed should make river runners sad :- (

....end of hippy river runner philosophical rant. For now.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Skwid, I think :- )

That was a good/bad, what was the word used in the article?


Lake Foul and Lake Greed should make river runners sad :- (

....end of hippy river runner philosophical rant. For now.

Reading that gives me pause in thoughts of paddling Lake Powell.

The Abbey-esque river drowning is always in the back of my mind, and I find the bath tub rings a fugly visual insult, but I sway my desire by thinking “The dang dam thing is already there, I can’t stop it, maybe I should try to enjoy it”. If I want to feel especially altruistic I can rationalize a visit as sticking up for canoeing or kayaking rights amid an onslaught of stinkboats.

But in an honest evaluation I would dread putting in at some crowded marina. I would dread taking out there even more, murdering any wilderness vibe I had achieved in seconds.

More than that I fear paddling far down reservoir and back a canyon arm only to discover a couple of houseboats of drunken frat boys. I’ve had that happen on far less stunning venues in the east and it would suck even more 2000 miles from home.

It doesn’t help that I just finished reading David Roberts’ In Search of the Old Ones. In one chapter Roberts boats down Lake Powell in search of ruins at the end of a flooded canyon and is greeted by just such a nightmare.

I know I don’t know what I don’t know about Lake Powell. I expect that there are side canyons that look like Spring Break in Ft Lauderdale or a floating version of Sturgis. But maybe there are side canyons that the motorboat crowd avoids.

BTW, a huge thank you for In Search of the Old Ones, and The Lost World of the Old Ones.

I would put both in the top 10 of books I’ve read in the past few years and have used copies to pass along to a friend passionate about wandering the desert SW backcountry.

 

[yellowcanoe]

I did get to drive/walk to Rainbow Arch before it all was flooded. My father and I were the only two there in 1967. I remember him telling me " remember this moment. Soon it will all be gone" Now its near a marina and a flushing dump station. As much as I love paddling the Green in the Utah ( desert) I think Lake Powell maybe not so much cause I remember some of the old days.

I think of all the buried treasures of mankind past.

 

[Guest]

As much as I love paddling the Green in the Utah ( desert) I think Lake Powell maybe not so much cause I remember some of the old days.

I think of all the buried treasures of mankind past.

I remain tempted by Lake Powell. The challenges and do-ability are well within my experience and skills. Paddling big open water bays and barrier island techniques translate nicely. Open water wind and wave, decked boats, sails, portable toilets, etc.

That temptation is tempered by the unknown of waterborne syphilization and the possibility that a 30 mile paddle away from some god awful marina stench could find me camped next to a houseboat, assaulted by artificial lights and CD player speakers.

I don’t think I could deal with that.

 

[JagDaddy]

Not sure what your AZ schedule is but you and yours are welcome on my San Juan canoe trip :- )

Launches 4/7 Montezuma Creek Ut takes out Clay Hills 4/18. Simple matter to add you to the permit. Wife is my shuttle so thats no problem. Good time of the year on the San Jaun for hiking.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Not sure what your AZ schedule is but you and yours are welcome on my San Juan canoe trip :- )

Launches 4/7 Montezuma Creek Ut takes out Clay Hills 4/18. Simple matter to add you to the permit. Wife is my shuttle so thats no problem. Good time of the year on the San Jaun for hiking.

Thank you but we won't be ready to leave till the 15th of April..its about seven days of driving.

 

[Uncle_Skwid]

As well you should be tempted by such paddles. I have found that once I feel the call to experience some particular place or paddle some particular river, that alone will be reason enough to move forward with plans. Let something else bar the path. And such a mix of emotion! Yes, haunted. Yes, awful. But also beautiful, in hidden and glorious ways. As Sinjin writes: Such perspectives can only be gained by experiencing such landscapes, "pristine or not."

A tragic loss for those of us who love our wild places? Of course. Worth exploring? Of course. Will it be heartbreaking? Of course. Sounds like a grand adventure.

 

[Guest]

As well you should be tempted by such paddles. I have found that once I feel the call to experience some particular place or paddle some particular river, that alone will be reason enough to move forward with plans. Let something else bar the path. And such a mix of emotion! Yes, haunted. Yes, awful. But also beautiful, in hidden and glorious ways. As Sinjin writes: Such perspectives can only be gained by experiencing such landscapes, "pristine or not."

A tragic loss for those of us who love our wild places? Of course. Worth exploring? Of course. Will it be heartbreaking? Of course. Sounds like a grand adventure.

Skwid, I agree on all counts. And I will probably give Lake Powell a try someday; once the urge is there nothing else will satisfy my curiosity.

My great fear is that peace, quiet and solitude may be hard to come by.

It is also why I love tripping, for those moments in camp all by myself, no people, no voices, no engine noise or artificial lights, sitting empty headed quietly and letting the place come to me.

I have become pickier, harder to please or more discerning in my choice of paddling places. Or maybe I’m just becoming more of an anti-social hermit. I could deal with the heartbreak and loss of a dam drowned canyon, a bathtub ring surround and a stinky chaos marina launch.

But I know me, and arriving at the far end of a side canyon site after a long paddle only to find an anchored houseboat I also know that my first and foremost thought would be “Get me the hell out of here”.

I should note that I can and have made my peace with just that situation in other places, to the point of sitting on a neighboring houseboat deck, drinking their ice cold beer and shooting the breeze while pondering the stress on some co-ed’s bikini straps. It was fun, and different, but it wasn’t the Zen I was looking for.

They did have good beer. And better tequila.

 

[yellowcanoe]

ick.. Were here. Forget anything around Wawheap and Antelope Island. There is not a tree to be had. Most of the shoreline is a scramble up or impossible to scale canyon walls. Navajo and Antelope Canyon are nice but yahoos in motorboats leave you nowhere to go . Canyons are less than a hundred feet wide. and no hidey places or places to go should you get dumped.

The marina at Antelope Point is disgusting. Hundreds of million dollar houseboats. and hundreds of rental and hundreds of jet skis. There really was no one out there but its not the weekend yet. Las Vegas is not far away.

Dont know about further east. I have seen enough and will retreat to the Green.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I just read an article that made me think of this thread. There was another one a couple days ago that I can't find now. The gist of it was that it may be time to consider decommissioning of the Glenn Canyon dam. This linked article touches on the reasons.

One can hope....

 

[clemency]

I just read an article that made me think of this thread. There was another one a couple days ago that I can't find now. The gist of it was that it may be time to consider decommissioning of the Glenn Canyon dam. This linked article touches on the reasons.

One can hope....

This one? One can hope indeed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/opinion/unplugging-the-colorado-river.html

 

[yellowcanoe]

You can see clearly that at one time Lake Powell was 30 feet higher. There is a bathtub ring and scaling. The visitor center at Glen Canyon of course makes this a plus. "The dam is doing its job"

Hooey
The Navajos constructed a coal fired electric generating plant in plain sight of the dam! It generates three times the power!
Whoopee . Two eyesores!

 

[Steve in Idaho]

This one? One can hope indeed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/opinion/unplugging-the-colorado-river.html

Ah, yes - that's the one.

 

[Guest]

I will probably give Lake Powell a try someday; once the urge is there nothing else will satisfy my curiosity.

My great fear is that peace, quiet and solitude may be hard to come by.

Um, yeah, maybe I will pass on paddling Lake Powell. This was enough to dissuade me.

ick.. Were here. Forget anything around Wawheap and Antelope Island. There is not a tree to be had. Most of the shoreline is a scramble up or impossible to scale canyon walls. Navajo and Antelope Canyon are nice but yahoos in motorboats leave you nowhere to go .

The marina at Antelope Point is disgusting. Hundreds of million dollar houseboats. and hundreds of rental and hundreds of jet skis.

I wonder how much a small houseboat costs to rent? Strap a couple of solo boats to the deck and go gunkholing in style.

Nah, launch and return at an overcrowded marina would be my idea starting and ending a trip in hell.

 

[JagDaddy]

My wife brought this article to my attention when it first came out :- ) She was ready to pack the cat rig for a month long Mexican Hat to Lee's Ferry run with a lot of side hikes haha

You have to wonder what the river bed would look like and how much sediment would be in the side canyons of Glen Canyon. I've seen 8mm home video of Glen Canyon trips, pretty cool down there. You can only imagine all the junk that would be exposed above Lee's Ferry. There would also be some sketchy, ever shifting sand rapids as the sediment clears from the river channel. Google up the Pierce Ferry rapid, some place I have Gopro of us running it, it's much worse than Lava Falls, a vicious horse shoe run with huge keeper holes in the center :- )

Following up on the NYT article, it seems most likely they would just drain down Lake Foul without tearing the dang dam down. There's a lot of opposition by the Foul vendors and commercial raft companies alike about returning to normal flows. The naturally erratic flows will apparently be hard to schedule haha

I'd risk a fine for an early outlaw run :- )