In The Shadow of Longs Peak
Thursday, 06 October 2016
This turns out to be our last day on the water.
Overnight there was a windstorm. I had left the door on the fly open, which I had been doing most of the trip. When the wind came up, I opened the tent door and was greeted with a blast of sand in my face. I quickly closed the fly door, then the zippered up the covering for the screen door. I did peek out and the sky is ominous! It sounded like it may have rained a bit but it may have been sand blowing around. I quickly go back to sleep.
Soon it is morning. We are now 14 miles from Bullfrog Marina and our plan is to spend the night on a neck of land at mile 102, so we make a leisurely breakfast, starting with coffee. I feel unusually tired, not surprising since we paddled steady for 15 miles the last 2 days. I expect to perk up once I have had my coffee.
Only I do not perk up. And then I realize I am not tired as lethargic. I struggle: I struggle to pack, struggle to load the boat, struggle to care. Somehow I manage and finally am ready to launch. I will myself into the boat and will the boat into the water. Luckily, there is a tailwind.
We first head to our camp of 2014 and take a snapshot. Yesterday, Gary had paddled on top of the spot where our camp was. I did not ask him to re-enact that though it may have been a cool photo.
I want to get moving. The tailwind is moderate, actually just a bit too strong. I am feeling a bit unsteady but focus on strokes, first right, then left, then right again. It takes forever.
Gary is unhappy with the tailwind as well and contents we need to move faster. But I am going as fast as I can.
I suggest going into Hansen Canyon and our campsite of our first self-supported Powell trip, four years ago. Here, the water is actually lower than that time but our camp is accessible. We stop, I consume a power pouch and immediately feel at least a tad better.
We rest and talk: Set up camp and stay here or continue another 2 miles to our planned stop. We continue paddling, crossing the channel to the south side with the theory being that the soft rounded rock of that side will better absorb the waves, resulting in smoother water.
This seems to be true but after a while it seems like the wind has diminished. We arrive at the neck at mile 102. The water is even calmer and we rest briefly then decide to continue to Bullfrog. Down we go and around the bend past Moqui Canyon and soon Halls Crossing is in sight. From previous trips, I know we still have a long way to go, maybe 5 miles. But the wind is calm and there is not much boat traffic. And there are plenty of places on the north side to pull off and camp if we decide we need to. We continue to gain ground. I entertain myself by guess the paddling time to the next point. Sometime it takes longer, sometimes not.
Soon the large rocks of the Stanton Creek area come into view. Just beyond that is our first night camp of the 2014 trip when the wind was high that very first day.
At 4:30 PM we pull up to the bottom of the boat ramp. Mission Accomplished! Nearly 50 miles in 5 days: 2 days of 6+ miles, 3 days of 14+ miles.
We debark. I start unloading while Gary goes to get the truck and we load up then head to the lodge and luckily there is a room available. We have a good supper but sleep eludes me.
Friday, 07 October 2016
After a good breakfast we head back to the Dirty Devil put-in and get my car. Arrival time at my place is 8:15 and we quickly unload.
A wonderful trip!
Lake Powell
01 October 2016 to 07 October 2016
Self Supported Sea Kayaking at Lake Powell - Hite to Bullfrog
So it’s here, the trip I have had in mind for a few years since that first house boat trip to Lake Powell.
The original idea was to put in at the Hite Marina and paddle to Bullfrog Marina but since Powell itself is so far below full pool, there is not an easy way to get on the lake at Hite. Plus, we heard more that one nightmare story about slogging thru ½ mile of mud to get to the water. Not my idea of a good time!
The last Powell Lake outing was when we paddled up past Smith Cabin Creek Canyon and setup base camp and paddled as far as river mile 115. After that trip we took a jaunt up the road to Hite. While checking out Hite, where it really is ½ mile thru brush and weeds to the river, we noticed what appeared to be a launch site up and across the river.
So we drove back and checked it out. Although it did seem kind of sketchy, it did have semi-permanent toilets and I suspected it was managed by the BLM. And, at that time, which was the 3rd week in October, it did not appear to be well used.
When making inquiries for this years trip, I found out its name (Dirty Devil Takeout) and it is used by outfitters and others as the takeout for Cataract Canyon trips and has been in use for about 12 years, put it once it became apparent that the lake levels would remain low.
Friday, 30 September 2016
We were packed, loaded boats, got gas and headed out of town on Friday morning by 9:30. We drive separately this time due to the shuttle requirement and met up at the gas station in Grand Junction, about 5 hours later. From there, it was another 4 hours to Bullfrog Marina, where we stayed at the campground and had a nice dinner at the lodge.
Saturday, 01 October 2016
We are up at 7, packing and repacking, putting boats on my car and ready to go. We leave Gary’s truck in the long-term parking and head back to the lodge for breakfast and are on our way. It’s about 20 miles back to Hwy 95 then about 20 more miles to the put-in.
Once we get there, I decide that driving down close to the water is not my plan. So we park on the landing above the ramp and carry stuff down. I note that there are lots of cars here today, unlike that day when we first checked this out a couple of years ago. It takes nearly 2 hours to load the boats, park the car and launch
Gary points out that the water has come up since we have arrived. But actually, it’s the wind that has come up and we have some interesting wave action going on. I ferry across with no problem but definitely do not try and turn in the center of the river. I get in an eddy on the far side and wait for Gary. He does turn down-river in mid-stream but later mentions not by choice.
We are underway. The water has the color and consistency of chocolate milk (thought probably not the taste!) The water is down low enough below the bank that I wonder if we will even be able to see Hite. No sooner do I think that that Gary points out the top of the boat ramp.
Our first destination is a right hand canyon. Approaching it, we see a pool of green water just beyond the chocolate. We paddle over and wonder if we will be stopped by a sandbar but we are not. We head in and suddenly are out of the wind. There is a wide bay and we think this is the canyon you can see from Hwy 95. We reach the back and turn to retrace our steps. I wonder if it will be difficult to get back into the river but it is not. I stay to the side, out of the bigger waves. Maybe we are in a protected spot or maybe its less windy.
We had also planned to investigate a handful of canyonettes on the north side but they are blocked by a mud flat. The mud flat appears to be river wide but there is a sneak route we take down its left side that we take. We continue and it seems like in no time at all we are approaching Farley and White Canyons which is our day 1 destination so we start looking for a camping site. First we explore several inlets on the south side then on the point of Farley Canyon is a nice shoulder with a flat spot for a tent. This is a bit exposed but is preferable to camping in a wash. I go around the bend and see a great place to get out and a nice place to carry the boats up to. We get out and work on unloading and setting up our tent. Then a beer and supper.
We stopped paddling at 4:30 or so, so it was a 3 hour day, about what we expected.
Birds so far: grebes, pelicans, blue heron, merganser, cormorant
Wednesday, 05 October 2016
We are up at 6:50, break camp and are paddling away by 8:40. The prediction is that the wind will pick up again today. Using the GPS, Gary estimates that we are 2 miles upstream of where we intended to be. I lose my perspective and keep too far to the left and find ourselves in the large cove of the Good Hope Bay area, across the bay from the floating restroom. There are lots of campers here, so I am glad that we stopped where we did.
After a stop at the restroom, we head down lake bordered by sheer cliffs. Looking at the map, it looks like there is not much in the way of camping for at least 6 miles. There are numerous buoys here. At mile 116, the canyon opens up again. And now we are in known territory as this is the furthest up lake we paddled two years ago. I cannot pick out the canyon-ettes we explored that time but we do breeze by Sevenmile Canyon but mistake it for a small cove.
Suddenly, we are approaching Warm Springs Canyon and Cedar Canyon which is at mile 110. We take a break in a nice cove just above Warm Springs Canyon. We contemplate trying to find a camp up Cedar Canyon but decided to continue to our group camp spot of two years ago which would keep us in the Channel with better water. The wind continues to pick up and is steady but not scary. We start checking out the various coves once we are at Knowles Canyon. We paddle down to the site of two years ago. As it turns out, the water is about 10 feet higher now as compared to then and that site is under water.
We turn and head back upstream to look closer at the other possibilities. Gary points to a sandy beach below a large rock outcropping and we turn in there. There is a wide sandy spot on top of the outcropping, a bit of a walk with gear but an ideal camp for the night…another great room with a view.
Later, the clouds move in and we pass on staying up to see the stars. Every night we turn in earlier and earlier.
Sunday, 02 October 2016
After a leisurely breakfast, we decide to explore the close-by canyons so do not break camp. We head down-lake about a mile to Trichyte Canyon which turns out to be a large bay and does not narrow into a canyon that is paddle-able.
We retrace our steps and paddle back up and across to the south side of the lake. The wind has come up but no stronger than yesterday. Gary points out the tent way at the end of a band of white rock and it seems so far away. We turn into White Canyon which along with Farley canyon is about the furthest motorized boats travel up-lake.
White Canyon is interesting with a bunch of turns and twists. We keep going around yet another corner and continue further and there is yet another corner, all below pinnacles and monuments. It is well past lunch time but there are no friendly looking banks and are not yet at the end of the canyon. Then we round another corner and spy a grove of cottonwoods. We are at the end of the canyon but the cottonwoods are guarded by a huge mud flat, the kind that sucks your boots off. We keep our boots on but do struggle to get to firm ground though it’s nowhere near as bad as that last night’s camp on the Missouri River. We grab a bite to each, the honey-smoked salmon, but I have lost my appetite due to the strenuousness of cross that mud-flat so I save mine for later. After a rest, we start our return trip as the wind continues to pick up but still exploring an island of pinnacles and a few more coves. We head into the shorter arm and enjoy the tail-wind. This is another dead-end so we turn and continue to head back.
We go around a bend to a band of white rock and I wonder if our tent is at the end of this band but we are still in White Canyon so I expect we have a ways to go. We round another corner with another white band and then another. I am looking to the north as from our tent we have a perfectly symmetrical view of Mount Hillers thru a break in the cliffs. Finally, the full view of the mountain is visible thru our picture window. We round one last corner and there is the tent. Woo-hoo!
I think we paddled close to 6 hours. Now for a beer and a supper of canned chili, quite a treat! We crawl into the bed exhausted and take advil for aches and pains.
Monday, 03 October 2016
During the night the wind comes up strong and steady and we both toss and turn. Having been to Powell before, the wind does not surprise us. At 7, its still pretty strong, so we turn over and go back to sleep. At 8, it’s even stronger. We get up, gather rocks to reinforce the tie down points then go back in and snooze.
In a while, we get up again, find a spot amongst the rocks and make breakfast. Gary then builds a windbreak on one side of the tent which seems pretty effective as the wind is now strong enough to blow sand around. We crawl back in. Around 1 PM, the wind seems to be dissipating but is still steady. But, paddling up Farley Canyon is doable. It is a comparatively short way, and the canyon does provide some protection. With the tail wind, it takes about 15 minutes to get to the end Farley’s entrance bay. We turn another corner and continue up. I expect to reach the end here but we turn again as the waterway continues to narrow. There are a number of cool monuments off in the distance so I stop and take pictures. We turn again and see 3 boats, the same 3 boats we have seen going up and down the canyon and we expect they put in at Bullfrog or Halls Crossing and have been motoring up. We paddle up the short distance to the end and take out. This landing is much nicer than yesterday’s lunch spot and the footing is firm. Back where the boats are parked is what looks to be an ATV track. We hike up the wash, one of those washes with layers after layer of sandstone carved into steps. We continue hiking up for 5 minutes or so. There are lots of 4-wheel drive tracks down here.
We reach a wide bench with an old fire-ring, a really nice place for a camp. We continue on, following a track and climbing up just a bit. Gary takes out his GPS and we continue up until we are at full pool level elevation, which is 3700 feet. We are just below the level of the restrooms, which is also where the map shows the road ending. We see a car in the distance and expect it is on the road that goes between Hite and Hall’s Crossing.
Again, this is an exquisite valley with many monuments off in the distance. I am glad we paddled up here. We retrace our steps, get in the boats and head back to camp. Paddle time is 35 minutes into a strong headwind. Also, I am glad we paddle this side canyon today, as it can be a bit distressful waiting around at camp.
And, we have lost a day of paddling and there is no returning to the start. Now the brevity of 40 miles left to paddle hits me and I am glad it’s only the two of us on this adventure. We know the weather will clear. We know we have enough food and water. But we do decide to get up early, have a quick breakfast and be on our way.
Tuesday, 04 October 2016
We are up at 6:45, packed and on our way by 8:40, about 2 hours which I think is typical for us to break camp and load boats.
I was delighted to wake up to no wind at all. It was still calm when we paddled away. Goodbye Farley and White Canyons. Hopefully we will be back again! Despite the layover day, I would definitely do this trip again. Have 3+ days supply of water was a good move.
We paddle away, past White Canyon, past Trichyte and into the channel. There are a couple of canyonettes along the way, Twomile Canyon and Fourmile Canyon but we do not investigate them, another reason to come back. Plus, with losing a day we feel like we need to make tracks down the lake. We come upon our first buoy marker, mile 129.
According to the map, we are getting close to the Good Hope Bay area. The landscape is still mostly a rubble of Navajo sandstone, not the sheer walls that are further down lake. Good Hope Bay is a wide flat area with a spire named Castle Butte. With the low water level, it seems like the first coves do not go back as far as I imagine. We turn into the last one and have a quick lunch. At this point, we would like to paddle another 6 miles or so to mile marker 119. We would like to explore this cove which is Good Hope Bay proper and turns in Blue Canyon. But, the wind is starting to come up (as expected) so we head down lake.
The wind seems to be picking up so I sneak into the next bay. The water is still choppy but it’s nice to be out of the wind. I am (mistakenly) thinking we are close to today’s destination so we begin to look for a camp site and find out in a nice cove. The takeout is muddy but a nice tent site is not far and it’s out of the wind. We setup, have supper, and I crawl into the tent by 8 PM to the sweet sound of silence as the wind has died down.