In The Shadow of Longs Peak
Lake Powell
06 October 2018 - 12 October 2018
Self Supported Sea Kayaking at Lake Powell - Bullfrog and South
Saturday 06 October 2018
It was a long days’ drive today to Bullfrog Marina for another Powell Outing, this time going south on the lake.
The weather forecast was not good and indeed it started raining pretty steadily before we even got to Grand Junction. Even now, at Bullfrog it is still a very steady rain. Hopefully we will be able to get on the water tomorrow between showers. According to the forecast, it will be clearing by Tuesday. On all our outings, we have always had at least one layover day, though usually due to wind, not rain.
Sunday 07 October 2018
We woke up and walked to breakfast in a light rain that turned steady as we were eating so we decided to spend a 2nd night at the lodge. We thought about hopping into the boats for a paddle up Bullfrog Bay but opted for a stroll instead. From the lodge there is an expanse of slickrock/sandstone extending down to the water. We hiked down to the water then picked our way northward just above the water along swells of rock, past the smaller houseboat marina then beyond the larger one. This area is where the ferry now docks. Still north of that are a couple of fingers of water that headed east. It would be fun to explore these in a boat but we opted to head back. A nice shuttle driver lady gave us a lift back to the lodge, a boon for me since again my knees are hurting, a sure sign that I need a new pair of hiking shoes.
In all, we hiked about 3 hours. A nice stroll since I have not been hiking regularly lately.
Thursday 11 October 2018
It began to rain again overnight and has been raining steadily for at least 8 hrs and it seems like it was 9:30 AM before there was any letup at all. We cooked breakfast in the an on-again, off-again shower under very grey skies; it was 1 or so before we could see a spec of blue and by 3:15 we have a a full blue sky, lots of sun, and only a few clouds. Warm enough to shed down to shorts and a tshirt.
It was a rest day for both of us and gave me another well needed recovery day. We did discuss paddling over to Lake Canyon but I could not muster the enthusiasm to paddle in the cold and rain.
A trio of paddlers came by today from Little Rock, Arkansas. They are on a 12 day outing, planning to go as far as the Escalante and Hole-in-the-wall.
We talked a lot about future trips; For me, I think we just need to dial it back a bit, maybe to 3 or 4 hour days especially on those days we need to setup camp. Can we be any more efficient on the camping part? Probably not.
Friday 12 October 2018
The paddle back is uneventful. We drove back directly once we loaded up.
Wednesday 10 October 2018
Another day in camp for me while Gary goes further down-lake for today’s paddle. Woke up feeling better but worn out by the time breakfast is done. Made myself do dishes and pump water then sat and observed birds for quite a while ruminating over root cause of this latest bout of low energy which I attribute to working too many hours and my general negative outlook.
The winds come up as forecast and I hope Gary fares well. It is 2:00 now. I expect he will paddle until 2:30 then turn around so I would not expect to see him until 5:30. The winds are coming in small gusts, not steady, so that is good.
There is a 2nd bird near our camp. This one is about sparrow sized but with a long narrow beak, longer than that of a pine siskin. He is also grey with a light colored breast somewhat mottled but not nearly as much as the larger one and kind of a longish tail for his size. Eyes are in stripes, like a house sparrow and he flits along the ground, kind of like the bigger one. And they have bars on their wings.
The twin ravens are hanging about. I decide they need names and settle on Mo and Jo. Heckle and Jeckle came to mind but overall they are pretty quiet. At the moment, only 1 is in sight and I wonder where the other is.
I took a walk along this shoal, down-lake, maybe for 20 minutes or so. On this side of the ‘nose’ there is one very nice camp spot though a longer walk from a good takeout as compared to our current site. On the other side of the nose, there is also a nice spot and many others until the rock drops off into a muddy gully. At the top of the gully is a cool ‘pool in the rock’, very picturesque. Beyond the gully, the rock seems to cliff out into the water. Overall, none exceed the site we have our camp. What makes a good campsite? First, a place to get out of the boat; Second a place to pull the boat up and secure it; Third, a somewhat level spot for the tent and it should not be too far from the boats; lastly, a nice kitchen area, somewhat away from the tent, and somewhat level and clean.
Meanwhile, I have decided what I want to do with my creative endeavors: Capture my 3 dimension world, in two dimensions, be it drawing, photography, weaving. Even writing can be considered 2 dimensional.
Gary returns from his outing. He paddled down to where Annie’s Canyon and Slick-rock Canyon are. He did not think Slick-Rock was much of a canyon, more like a big bay. Looking at its elevation on the map, I would have to agree. Time out today was about 5 ½ hours.
Monday 08 October 2018
Day 3 already!
Our plan is to eat breakfast, dress (we brought in all our boating gear so that it would be warm to put on), pack up and head down to the boat ramp and paddle away.
We first start to paddle up the bay, toward the houseboats then turned down toward the lake.
We pass did pass a couple of sites on the south side west of Halls Crossing that had camping potential. With my encouragement, we started looking for a campsite around 2:15 and moments later spy one of those low outcroppings of rock below a higher wall that we have observed (and camped at) at many places at Powell. We are on the north side, a nice spot, very quiet.
It’s a bit chilly tonight. Gary already has his down jacket on. I have on 2 pile tops, a vest, long john top and bottom and a hat, so its definitely colder than normal. The late afternoon sun is shining, there is no wind, and it is pleasant.
Birds were flitting on the ground around camp, the shape of a robin but smaller and very grey though I thought I could see a hint of scarlet on their breast. We talked about the lack of flies here since there so many at Owyhee. But there is less vegetation here and no trees so it is a different environment but not sure what the bug situation would be like at Labor Day.
We did chores (dishes and pump water) then took a stroll. Those same birds are back, but I do not have my binoculars with me for a closer look.
Tuesday 09 October 2018
Despite the 2 days of rest at the lodge waiting for the weather to improve I am still out of energy. I am diligent about taking my meds and not eating gluten but still I wonder if I should be increasing my dosage for those times when I am doing strenuous exercise (when I get back I should again see if there are studies of strenuous exercise and thyroid replacement therapy). I could take a nap but its pretty warm in the tent. And I could tune into the weather radio but I expect there is no change so I will save the batteries. My scheme for this week: Stay in camp and hopefully by Friday I will have the energy to paddle out. I really did want to do this trip but I think 3 hour days are enough. As far as preparations go, I think we have the camping equipment pared down as much as I would like to go. Foodwise, the nuts were really good along with dried fruit (cranberries); Goat cheese and crackers were good. The cheese sticks ended up being tasteless Corn tortillas a bit flimsy and tasteless. Apples and peanut butter was excellent.
It is nice to sit here and do nothing except think….and I am not thinking about work.
I got another good look at the bird of yesterday: larger than a sparrow but not nearly as big as a robin. Long tail, narrow beak and long (as compared to a sparrow or finch whose beaks are short and stubby. The coloring is grey on back, mottled on the chest with a hint of rust as I observed yesterday. Reminds me of a towhee shape-wise and definitely runs along the ground. And they seem to have a patch of yellow on their rump, about where the tail feathers begin and a spat of yellow under their chin.
A couple of ravens devoured a fish (though I missed how they actually snagged it).
Gary paddled over to Lake Canyon which is on the other side, just past the end of the shoal that we are camped on. It took him about 3 hours end-to-end and then paddled down-lake another hour or so, to MM 86/85. He did not observe any good camping in that stretch.