An epic 7 day trip covering a significant part of Lake Powell for Don, Debbie, Ben, Melinda, Karl, Garth, Richard, Susan and Cliff. Some of the (larger) original group had issues come up which prevented them from going on the trip at the last minute. Our trip on the lake included Rainbow Bridge, Reflection Canyon, Escalante River Arm, Hole in the Rock, and other spectacular areas. Our inflatable boat may have been the first boat under Gregory Natural Bridge since 1969, when the lake was filling and it had been underwater since, until low water level of 2021. The lower lake level also had Cathedral in the Desert fully above lake level.
After over a year of planning, with everything packed and checked twice we all leave for the lake. Two Texans drove from Houston, TX as they had the longest drive with three days on the road. Three Northern Californians drove and the two Oregonians started their two-day drives. Two other Texans flew to Las Vegas the following day to be picked by the California group.
We all converged on Lake Powell Campground in Page, AZ, where we grilled up dinner. The next day, September 14, we picked up the rental houseboat and set sail.
The process of setting up this trip had its share of issues to deal with. The dropping lake level was foremost (making national news), but not the only thing to address.
The dropping lake level made it questionable that we could launch our personal boats. So we evaluated some backup options in case the ramps don’t reach the lake. Fortunately the park service had built some temporary ramps by the time we arrived so we were able to launch the boats. The lake level for our trip was 3546 feet above sea level.
In addition to the lake level issue, the mid-lake marina was destroyed by a windstorm earlier in the year, along with the rental company’s support facility for the middle of the lake. This meant the rental company established a limit on houseboats to only go 25 miles up lake as they could not provide support if we’d break down past that. However the area we most wanted see was in the Escalante River Arm of the lake which is 80 miles up lake. So we were going have to sail clean and not need their support. We did mess up the first evening and bend both props on some rocks, but we were just within the 25 mile limit. We radioed for repair that night and the service boat reached us the next morning. After the prop repair we continued up lake a little more carefully. Our round trip ended up being over 180 miles (see map below). After the 25 mile limit we almost had the lake to ourselves until we reached the Escalante Arm which had groups coming from Bullfrog Marina at the upper end of the lake.
The weather was perfect, in the 70s during the day and water temperature was about 78. We had a short rain and windstorm one evening, while anchored in a sheltered canyon at the time. Its clearing did provide a nice rainbow.
Getting past those issues the rest of the trip was picture perfect as the following photos show. Photos are supplied by Karl, Cliff, Susan, Richard, Ben and Don.
Movie Trivia – Filmed at Lake Powell: “Planet of the Apes” landing scene, “Point Break” skydiving scene, “Doctor Who” scene for “The Impossible Astronaut ” an 2011 episode, “Gravity” final splashdown scene.