50 Mile Sandbar

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JFRCalifornia said:
Here's a couple of old photos that are circulating. The color one dates from 1969 and was taken by Stan Jones shortly before the bridge disappeared for good. The black and white one was taken by Don Thompson in 1960.

I know that at a span of 127 feet, it was one of the largest natural bridges in Utah. Rainbow Bridge is largest (234 foot span), followed by Sipapu Natural Bridge (225 feet) in Natural Bridges National Monument. Of course, there's also a whole lot of arches (not natural bridges, which are created by stream erosion) of comparable or even larger size than those. The largest natural bridge in the world is in China, called the "Fairy Bridge" at 400 feet...

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I just can't believe the vastness of personal knowledge of the history of this great place!
 
JFRCalifornia said:
The top of Gregory Bridge (the visible part) goes completely underwater at 3661 or so. The bottom of the bridge span (now underwater) becomes visible at about 3550. No one has seen that since about 1969. In spring 2005, we came pretty close at 3555. The USBR currently projects that we may get as low as 3550 in spring 2022, but that's the "minimum probable" scenario....

Before the lake, the bridge had a span of 127 feet. Here's an aerial of the bridge before the lake, with upstream at the top of photo. You can see the sandbar at left... the natural course of the stream is under the bridge, which is why even when the lake is blocked at the bar, there's still a lake upstream--it's flowing under the bridge!

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I wonder if there is any way to know if the depths of a very slow moving lake create more or less erosion as wind on a span such as this?
 
shanewave said:
I wonder if there is any way to know if the depths of a very slow moving lake create more or less erosion as wind on a span such as this?
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My guess is that it's way less erosion. Erosion requires friction, which requires an agent (wind or water, or rocks moved by wind or water) to move at some sort of velocity. Flash floods, high winds, or a constantly moving surface stream are going to erode things a whole lot faster than a very slowly moving (imperceptibly moving) underwater current coming from upstream in 50 Mile Canyon...

But I bet the surface of the rock underwater is a little mushy...
 
@hellasnow, If I’m reading right, you got your HB through the sandbar down below with the lake at 3600’? How tight did that feel? Any issues getting through there or elsewhere?

Thanks for sharing. Seems like between lake level, the sand bar down below, the sand bar at Gregory and availability, the stars have to align for sure. Awesome.
 
@SkibumUT we were on the channel side of the sand bar. could drive our run a bouts through the cut along the rocks of the sandbar when we got there. by day 4 i could walk my 19' Four Winns Horizon through the cut but then left it outside of it after worrying it would drop to low. i was marking the water line. there would have been NO WAY to get a HB behind the sand bar.

hope that helps!
 
SkibumUT said:
I was looking at this wrong. I thought Gregory was a little farther up 50 mile, and never realized that the sand bar in your pic is at Gregory. Been totally oblivious all these years. Way cool. Thanks!
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And just to illustrate this all a little more clearly, here's where Gregory is relative to that sandbar in 50 Mile, showing where the natural stream course used to be...

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Hey, a couple of us are planning a trip in late April to kayak on the lake. I have done this before but not since 2000 when we paddled from Clay Hills to Halls Crossing, so I'm "a little" older now. We were thinking of trying to shoot down the lake from Halls Crossing to the Escalante Arm and hide in there for a week hiking and fishing. Finding a campsite from kayaks is a little different than with a houseboat and I'm worried about paddling endless miles to try to find a place (that isn't taken) to hunker out of the wind in in that area. So here's the question, does anyone know if we portage across the sandbar in 50-mile are there camping places beyond it for tent campers to hideout? I was thinking in most years in mid to late April the sandbar would still be in good form? Thanks for the help. I'm happy to send pictures if it comes to fruition. Thanks for the advice.
 
WYOPADDLER said:
Hey, a couple of us are planning a trip in late April to kayak on the lake. I have done this before but not since 2000 when we paddled from Clay Hills to Halls Crossing, so I'm "a little" older now. We were thinking of trying to shoot down the lake from Halls Crossing to the Escalante Arm and hide in there for a week hiking and fishing. Finding a campsite from kayaks is a little different than with a houseboat and I'm worried about paddling endless miles to try to find a place (that isn't taken) to hunker out of the wind in in that area. So here's the question, does anyone know if we portage across the sandbar in 50-mile are there camping places beyond it for tent campers to hideout? I was thinking in most years in mid to late April the sandbar would still be in good form? Thanks for the help. I'm happy to send pictures if it comes to fruition. Thanks for the advice.
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The short answer is yes, there are small tent campsites beyond the bar, although they may require a scramble away from the water, depending on the lake level. Or if you’re willing to hike a bit beyond the end of the lake (less than a mile, probably much less) there are some prime sites, some of my favorite spots on the whole lake.

the lake will be very low in April, best guess somewhere below 3570, so the sandbar in 50–Mile will be at least 20 feet high or more out of the water. As you know, that would a great campsite if you could get it, as would the giant alcove on the left just above the bar.
 
JFRCalifornia said:
The short answer is yes, there are small tent campsites beyond the bar, although they may require a scramble away from the water, depending on the lake level. Or if you’re willing to hike a bit beyond the end of the lake (less than a mile, probably much less) there are some prime sites, some of my favorite spots on the whole lake.

the lake will be very low in April, best guess somewhere below 3570, so the sandbar in 50–Mile will be at least 20 feet high or more out of the water. As you know, that would a great campsite if you could get it, as would the giant alcove on the left just above the bar.
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Thanks, I appreciate the intel. Racing motorized boats to campsites with a kayak is no-win proposition and after the 2020 I've had (like so many others) I could use a win. We're willing to work hard for a campsite and I understand they are few and far between in that area so just trying to do a little research. I figured if we were willing to portage the sandbar we would find something. To your point we wouldn't need a very big spot. Mostly concerned about paddling all that way and coming up short, especially in the wind.
 
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