Redwolf
Member
So...trip report, Oct 8th-14th.
We arrived early for check in and pre-boarding, having forgotten that the pre-boarding was 5pm-9pm. Soo...6 hours of sitting around in the parking lot picnic area, reading books and enjoying the view.
We got our boat around 7pm, and had our gear stowed by 9pm. My wife and I stayed aboard, while our friends had a hotel room in town. I was up and ready at 8am, hanging out near the office waiting to grab an employee to get checked out. Our friends were going to show up at 7:30. It's 8:30- no friends, no employees. Friends show up and point out that the marina is on AZ time, and my phone is grabbing UT time. Oh.
The plan was to stay at West on Monday, somewhere between West and Rainbow on Tuesday, Rainbow on Weds, and start heading back to arrive early Saturday morning for checkout (I had a 2 day drive home).
Day 1 - Wahweap to West Canyon. We pulled out around 9:30am, and got to West Canyon in the early afternoon, and found a nice little beach midway down the canyon. A large group passed us as we were setting up, and that's the last we saw of them. Had lunch atop the deck, and broke out the kayaks for paddling.
Day 2 - We couldn't find a place to stay! Cruised past Dungeon, went into Wetherill, Mountain Goat, Cathedral, Rainbow, and Forbidden and could NOT find a place to tie up to that would allow both anchors out. I tried a spot in Rainbow that had a rocky beach, but it was so shallow the motors would have hit. Long day. We ended up going across the river to the entrance of Cascade and parked under the arch-cave. Nice spot, glorious sunset.
Day 3 - Toured Rainbow, got my first taste of the delightful tour boats. I do not like them. Their pilot decided to cut around us and their wake was rocking us like crazy. Rainbow was nice. Stopped at Dangling Rope for fuel, then stopped for the night in the Dry Rock Creek branch of Rock Creek Bay. This was the only 'dirty' spot we stayed at, where others left their trash. Unfortunately, we couldn't get to most of it because the shoreline was soft mud and we were sinking to our knees. Beautiful sunrise here on Day 4, and a nice hike up the ravine.
Day 4 - Last Chance Bay - Stayed on one of the last eastern fingers, and loved it. There was a beach/sandbar, and behind that there was a little bay with two slot canyons. Our favorite spot.
Day 5 - Warm Creek Bay. Got caught in the wake of two of those damned tour boats, and took on 20 gallons of water when their wake came over our bow deck and into the cabin. Stayed on a beach, found driftwood, had a nice fire. Dude in a skiff came by trying to sell us more wood.
Day 6 - turned the boat in at 8am, hit the road by 9:30.
It was a GREAT trip. Cool autumn temps, beautiful sunny skies. The house boat was great - I was shocked to see it was built in 1977. The Marina had told me it was last renovated in 2008. I've been in 10 year old RV's in worse condition than this 40 year old boat. Everything worked, engines fired up immediately, no issues with the generator, everything was clean and in good repair. Very very impressed. I really enjoyed piloting that boat around, too. Ended up cruising up through several narrow slot canyons, much to the chagrin of my wife.
We'll be back sometime in the future, I'm sure.
Pics - https://www.flickr.com/photos/redwolf_journeys/albums/72157687410867931
We arrived early for check in and pre-boarding, having forgotten that the pre-boarding was 5pm-9pm. Soo...6 hours of sitting around in the parking lot picnic area, reading books and enjoying the view.
We got our boat around 7pm, and had our gear stowed by 9pm. My wife and I stayed aboard, while our friends had a hotel room in town. I was up and ready at 8am, hanging out near the office waiting to grab an employee to get checked out. Our friends were going to show up at 7:30. It's 8:30- no friends, no employees. Friends show up and point out that the marina is on AZ time, and my phone is grabbing UT time. Oh.
The plan was to stay at West on Monday, somewhere between West and Rainbow on Tuesday, Rainbow on Weds, and start heading back to arrive early Saturday morning for checkout (I had a 2 day drive home).
Day 1 - Wahweap to West Canyon. We pulled out around 9:30am, and got to West Canyon in the early afternoon, and found a nice little beach midway down the canyon. A large group passed us as we were setting up, and that's the last we saw of them. Had lunch atop the deck, and broke out the kayaks for paddling.
Day 2 - We couldn't find a place to stay! Cruised past Dungeon, went into Wetherill, Mountain Goat, Cathedral, Rainbow, and Forbidden and could NOT find a place to tie up to that would allow both anchors out. I tried a spot in Rainbow that had a rocky beach, but it was so shallow the motors would have hit. Long day. We ended up going across the river to the entrance of Cascade and parked under the arch-cave. Nice spot, glorious sunset.
Day 3 - Toured Rainbow, got my first taste of the delightful tour boats. I do not like them. Their pilot decided to cut around us and their wake was rocking us like crazy. Rainbow was nice. Stopped at Dangling Rope for fuel, then stopped for the night in the Dry Rock Creek branch of Rock Creek Bay. This was the only 'dirty' spot we stayed at, where others left their trash. Unfortunately, we couldn't get to most of it because the shoreline was soft mud and we were sinking to our knees. Beautiful sunrise here on Day 4, and a nice hike up the ravine.
Day 4 - Last Chance Bay - Stayed on one of the last eastern fingers, and loved it. There was a beach/sandbar, and behind that there was a little bay with two slot canyons. Our favorite spot.
Day 5 - Warm Creek Bay. Got caught in the wake of two of those damned tour boats, and took on 20 gallons of water when their wake came over our bow deck and into the cabin. Stayed on a beach, found driftwood, had a nice fire. Dude in a skiff came by trying to sell us more wood.
Day 6 - turned the boat in at 8am, hit the road by 9:30.
It was a GREAT trip. Cool autumn temps, beautiful sunny skies. The house boat was great - I was shocked to see it was built in 1977. The Marina had told me it was last renovated in 2008. I've been in 10 year old RV's in worse condition than this 40 year old boat. Everything worked, engines fired up immediately, no issues with the generator, everything was clean and in good repair. Very very impressed. I really enjoyed piloting that boat around, too. Ended up cruising up through several narrow slot canyons, much to the chagrin of my wife.
We'll be back sometime in the future, I'm sure.
Pics - https://www.flickr.com/photos/redwolf_journeys/albums/72157687410867931
