|
Lake Powell Blow By Blow
My first trip to Lake Powell and first ever house boat trip. Didn't know what to expect and despite a bit of a heads up from a good friend, it was different than described and more fun than I could have imagined.
Day 1 Thursday
Travel. The Nor Cal group left Wednesdday evening and arrived Thursday afternoon, some 18 hours later I think they said. Our group from So Cal left in two shifts. Most left at 2 am Thursday and arrived mid afternoon, 14 hours later. Two of us decided to sleep in and left about noon arriving at 11:40 pm, and woke up the other So Cal brethren! Oops! We felt badly about that. Despite missing a turn off, this group (with me included) arrived about 11.5 hours after leaving San Diego.
Day 2 Friday
Up early, both crews went across the street to Safeway in Paige, AZ to get last minute supplies. No one shops at 8 am there. The store was a ghost town and the employees seemed be fresh off the "special bus". In other words, they were retards. Some two hours later, we headed to the marina. Still a cluster-f at this point, we burned another couple of hours getting the houseboat launched, running to Walmart for an air mattress and other camping supplies (why wasn't this done earlier in the week?!). Having arrived past the prime launch time, we had an hour wait to get the dock maties to load our stuff on the house boat. Arghh. About this time, I received a call from a co-worker who was on another houseboat vacationing the same days as we were. They'd launched and were on their way. Finally though, we were off. We tied our two wakeboard boats to the houseboat and headed out to open water. Around mid afternoon, we arrived at a suitable beach in Last Chance Bay. The next few hours were spent getting docked and situated, cooking and eating dinner and relaxing. We were pooped and hit the hay early. At least I thought it was early.
Day 3 Saturday
A little slow to get started, we ate some breakfast and got the wakeboard boats out on the water. Unfortunately, one ran like crap and was therefore handicapped. The other had a smaller interior and couldn't hold as many people. But we managed. A few wakeboard and wakesurf rides later, we were cooking our first lake-side dinner and enjoying the evening. One of the So Cal crew insisted on building a camp fire, despite 95 degree evening temps. Skillfully, he smoked out the top deck of the houseboat, making sleeping there a ton of fun. He insisted that it wasn't camping without a camp fire. Personally, I thought we were on a houseboat trip, not camping. No campfire needed! IMHO
Day 4 Sunday
Wakeboarding (on the one working boat) and exploring a few nearby bays. Did some swimming in an incredible spot where the rocks rose straight up hundreds of feet. Wow! Our houseboat spot was just okay but seemed to be lacking something. Another crummy campfire that night that more or less smoked out those of us sleeping on the top deck. Do we need to strangle this pyro guy or what? Enough already!
Day 5 Monday
Time to move. The powers that be in the group decided that the scenery had grown old and felt that it was time to move. They took us to Dangling Rope Marina to gas up, get ice and get supplies, and then to find a new spot. They found one that was a little tight for a houseboat and would put the wakeboard boats in some danger from passersby. A lot of discussion took place and a few tempers flared. In the end, we moved the houseboat across to another bay and found a decent spot as the sun was going down. Not a perfect spot but good enough. We would spend most of our week here. The Persied Meteor Shower provided a spectacular show in the dark Utah sky. No city lights drowning out the stars and shooting stars. It was incredible!
Day 6 Tuesday
Sunrise at this new spot was amazing. But the flies were horrendous, attacking those of us sleeping on the top deck as soon as the sun came up. By 8 am, they would be gone though. Boarding and surfing behind one boat, the other still running like crap. Frustrating but not enough to put a damper on things. Our new spot here was working out well. Our ice melted and we had to run back to Dangling Rope to go get more. One of the youngsters arranged rocks on a nearby hillside that faced us to say "Waketool Mom". We all loved it! The crappy running VLX had its fuel filter punched (hole through the internal screen) and this seemed to fix things up. The boat was back in stellar form! While boarding and boating that afternoon, we could see a storm headed our way. And that night, it arrived. As we set up our beds on the top deck, it began to come down. Most bailed and took their sleeping bags downstairs inside the houseboat, competing with those down there already. Crowded and warm, it wasn't pretty. Two of us stayed on top and weathered the short storm. Somewhere around midnight, wind gusts kicked up and snapped a tie line, sending one of the boats out into the bay and toward the open lake. Some strong swimming by the owner recovered it. We tied it back down as the rain began to pour once again. An eventful night.
Day 7 Wednesday
It was a good day for boarding, surfing and sight seeing. The VLX braved a super narrow straight nearby and took a crew to an incredible swim spot that morning. Then it was off to visit Rainbow Bridge, a fantastic rock arch. Next, the two boats headed way up the lake to experience an incredible rock grotto. The VLX headed further up a short time later, exploring another great site. The Nautie 210 headed back to do a sunset run to complete the day. Well, almost. The storm returned with a vengeance. Just before sundown, lightning began to fill the sky. As darkness hit, rain came down and we got some wind. One of our group got situated with his digital SLR and captured some incredible lightning shots while the rest of us oohed and aahed watching the show fill the canyon over the water. It was a thunderstorm that none of us will ever forget! As it seemingly subsided, the gang settled down inside the houseboat. A couple of us again braved the top deck. Wind and rain continued to taunt us. 30-45 mins after laying down, a huge gust nearly picked us up and deposited us into the lake. Yikes!
Day 8 (Thursday)
Part of the So Cal crew had decided to depart. One had to work Friday and had to go. Two others decided to go too. But first, a morning run on the neighboring bay. Smooth water presented a perfect palate. The two wakeboarders got in epic runs and the wakesurfer came ridiculously close to completing his first ever 360. He even threw in a near 540 for good measure! Then, back to the houseboat for clean up, goodbye's and departure. The rest of the gang moved the house boat closer to Wahweep and settled in for the afternoon and evening.
Day 9 (Friday)
Departure Day for the gang. The balance of the crew cleaned things up, took the houseboat back to the marina and headed home. It was the end of a fantastic vacation during the summer of 2007...
Summary
For me, it was my first trip to Powell and first houseboat trip. I will never forget it. Most of the others had been once or twice while still others had been five or more times. While 14 peeps on a 48 ft houseboat is stretching it, and while we had a few tense moments due to personalities, we all had a good time. Check that, a GREAT time. I highly recommend it to anyone that loves the water and doesn't mind roughing it a little. I met a lot of good people and further cemented friendships with those that I already know. One of them breathes heavily at night, another talks in his sleep and another makes us sweat because he wears long sleeves during the day, even if it is 100 degrees! Regardless, I enjoyed hanging with all of you.
|