We have gotten the tradition started that we make a special trip for our birthdays. This time we went to Lake Powell for Bob's birthday. We had an absolutely wonderful time. What a beautiful place!
We left from home at about 9:00 Saturday morning. Headed out of town on Interstate 17. Hauling the boat made the trip a bit longer, as there are several hard climbs on the way to Flagstaff. We arrived in Flag around noon, gassed up, and had some lunch. After lunch we hit the road again. As we got closer to Page, we had to climb a pretty serious mountain. On the way up, we had a great view of the Colorado River and some mountains way off in the distance. Toby snapped a picture, but it just didn't do the view justice, but you should check it out anyway.
We made it to the lake at a bit after 3:00 in the afternoon. The first boat ramp's parking was full, so we headed on down to the second one. It was only about 4 miles farther. We put the boat in the lake and Toby parked the truck. After picking up Toby, we raced off down the lake. After a bit of running around, we realized that we had made a terrible mistake. This place it so big, we had no idea which way to go. So after making several wrong turns we headed back to the marina and bought a map. That was the best thing we could have ever done. Even with the map there were times when we still weren't sure where we were, but in the end we never got totally lost. With the map we headed on out back up the lake. We cruised along for about 45 minutes and pulled into a bay on the East (I think) side of the lake. Turned a small bend, and found our campsite for the first night. We beached the boat and set up camp. Toby grilled up some sausages for dinner and we sat there and watched the sun go down, then the moon (which was almost full) come up. Bob and Denise slept on the boat, while Toby and Patricia slept in a tent. The next morning Toby heated up some breakfast burritos that Denise had prepared and ate breakfast as we sat and watched the place come alive. Here are some pictures of the area surrounding our campsite. Again, they just don't do the place justice, but still...
After breakfast, we broke camp, packed everything back on the boat and headed up river. We drove and drove and drove. After a while we realized that our necks were getting sore from looking up at the canyon walls and the other beautiful scenery. But as you can see, we were all having a great time!
Our main destination on Sunday morning was to see the Rainbow bridge. Thank goodness we had the map, I doubt that we would have ever found it with out the map. This is the way in from the lake.
After a bit of driving up the canyon with some of the places wide enough for only two boat to pass, we made it. It was well worth the effort it took to find it, and then get there. After docking the boat, we walked up to the bridge and took the standard tourist pictures.
After being awe struck by the site of the bridge, we headed out to the main lake again and headed up river. Our intent was to find another camping spot. As we were heading up the lake, we went off on a couple side trips. We made it to a marina fairly late in the afternoon. We put the boat on the shore and had a lunch of lunchmeat sandwiches. As we were eating we watched the clouds roll in. They weren't looking very friendly, so we headed into the marina and docked the boat to wait it out. There was no way that we wanted to be on that huge lake in any kind of storm. We figured that it would blow over, and we could head out and find a spot to camp. Thing was, it didn't blow over so we decided to just spend the night in the dock. Not as much fun as on the beach, but much safer under the conditions. So here are a couple pictures of our camping spot for the second night.
The next morning, we awoke to a beautiful day. We stowed everything on the boat and headed across the bay to another marina. Put some more gas in the boat, and just generally checked things out.
After the previous nights experience and listening to the weather report, we decided that we should make a B-line back to the place we put the boat in the water. We figured that we could keep an eye on the weather and decide then if the camping out looked promising. So we headed out. Round about noon, we beached the boat again and had lunch.
After lunch, we headed out once more. About half way back, we pulled into another marina to gas up. The marina's name is Dangling Rope. A unique thing about this marina, is that it is only accessible by boat. It is powered by a solar plant and everything sold there, is brought in by boat. This was our third stop for gas, and this time was no less shocking than the first two. At $2.85 a gallon, the total is always tough to swallow!
One really neat thing that we noticed about this lake, that was very different from the ones around home, is that it was very clear. While we were in the marina's, there were some big fish swimming around, begging for food, just like pigeons do!
After gassing up, we headed out again. We drove close to something like 90 miles on the water to get back to the marina where we launched the boat on Saturday.
Once we got back to marina, we looked around at the clouds in the sky. Things didn't look very promising, so we decided to pull the boat out of the water and just spend the night in a motel. Looked like we still had a bit of time so we headed down river to the dam. It was only 5 miles or so. As you can see, we were still having a great time.
Once we got the boat back on the trailer, and everything stowed for the trip back, we headed out. Then we decided to stop at the visitors center to check out the dam from the dry side. The Glen Canyon Dam is the 2nd highest concrete dam in the US. Hover beats it out by 16 ft.
After stopping by the visitors center we made the 5 mile drive into Page. Found a room at a Best Western Hotel with no problem. Even managed to get a room with a view of the lake.
Toby managed to get this great shot. If there was any question as to why we decided not to spend the night on the lake, this should answer it!
