Squirrel
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
I agree, you might be better off going North to South. The last couple miles you will fighting the rivers currents and your car would be safer at Wahweap. Sq
Another Dooley?!
- Thread starter Dangling Dooley
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powellglass
Active Member
Yes I do love that book, Bradley, Floating Hogans In Monument Valley by Wanda Morlan Eilts. I’ve launched at the San Juan Marina twice with friends back in the day, and absolutely loved that part of the lake, the San Juan. My daughter and I kayaked below the dam to Lees Ferry last summer. We also kayaked some in the Great Bend area up to the navigable end of the San Juan close to Great Bend. Kind of surprising to not be able to get further at this time. You will surely enjoy your kayak adventure! I do have some pictures of the area back in late 80’s Wanda talks about. I’ll post.
Dungee
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
Unless coyotes and ravens have started breaking windows any car is safer at Hite than Wahweap. Paddling against current though? No thanks
powellglass
Active Member
Maybe start at Hite and go downstream to Wahweap? But whatever floats your boat!
JFRCalifornia
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
Best guess is that from where the lake ends just below Fourmile Canyon up to where the you might be able to get out of the river near the raft takeout below the Dirty Devil is about 10 miles. That's 10 miles of upstream paddling through mud and goop and logs that if it were me I'd rather not do...
But that's just me.
Dangling Dooley
Well-Known Member
Julian and I were housemates in 2018. Miss that guy, I haven't seen him since but we still keep in touch every once in a while. I was always jealous to hear about all his fathers adventures in Glen Canyon.
Hanging out in the DR housing in 2018
Left to Right: Me (Looking way too serious), Brady (NPS Interpretive Ranger), and Julian wearing his badass Prince t-shirt.
Dangling Dooley
Well-Known Member
Hey Bill. No need for the introduction, I remember us chatting on the dock like it was yesterday. Looking forward to hearing more from you buddy.
Dangling Dooley
Well-Known Member
"interesting" for sureThe Dad jokes in me just wanted to point out that the river flows the opposite direction 100% of the time.
We met this guy last year up the Escalante and spent some time chatting with him. He was kayaking from Halls to Cathedral in the Desert and back. He was nice, but I don’t think he anticipated it being as difficult as it was. His videos are “interesting” but maybe some perspective for you.
. Definitely some good perspective. I would never want to be exerting that much energy in August at 105F. And I won't forget lip balm, that's for sure. I'll be up in Utah for work soon if you would like to be ski bums together.My kayak is almost double the length of his which will give me a faster average speed and better tracking. Impressive that he did 77 miles though. That's almost the length from Wahweap to Bullfrog.
Dangling Dooley
Well-Known Member
I'm going to do a scouting mission soon and trek down from Hite to see what it's like currently. My familiarity with the lake ends at Bullfrog. I was thinking I could drag my kayak at the rivers edge or in the shallows. I am not opposed to ending at Bullfrog or Halls Crossing.
Dangling Dooley
Well-Known Member
I've mountain biked the loop around Guasti several times but I've never been in the water. I lived in Fontucky the first 2 years of my life and then we moved to Rancho/Alta Loma (Archibald/Wilson). But I couldn't agree with you more. It's a great/fancy place to grow up, but not my dream. If it wasn't for the San Gabriel Mountains, Mt. Baldy Ski Lifts, and the amazing food in Clairmont then there would be nothing to do. I would add that the beach is only an hour away but most of them aren't the same as they were when I was a kid (trashed and overcrowded). Proximity to Channel Islands NP is a plus that I found recently on a weekend backpacking trip my buddy and I did a couple months back on Santa Cruz Island. Woke up at 5AM to start hiking so we could catch the sunrise. My favorite trek ever by far. We had the whole island to ourselves, literally.
Overlooking Chinese Harbor from the Del Norte Trail at 6:12AM (Looking North-East) - December 8th 2021
John P Funk
Escalante-Class Member
My wife? Occasionally, sometimes, almost never, never heard of it.
JFRCalifornia
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
Just watched that video... very interesting... sort of a combination of coming prepared and unprepared, but he ultimately had what he needed--which was flexibility, strong arms, good luck, and a good attitude. I'd say he would have benefited greatly from having a light long-sleeved shirt on instead of a short-sleeved t-shirt, plus something to cover his legs. The sun brutalized him. Somehow he forgot the lip balm too.The Dad jokes in me just wanted to point out that the river flows the opposite direction 100% of the time.
We met this guy last year up the Escalante and spent some time chatting with him. He was kayaking from Halls to Cathedral in the Desert and back. He was nice, but I don’t think he anticipated it being as difficult as it was. His videos are “interesting” but maybe some perspective for you.
He was focused on the CITD, and in so doing skipped some pretty interesting stuff along the way. Oh well, that's a choice you make. I'm surprised he didn't know where LaGorce Arch was, and he was given bad advice that it was "three or so canyons" farther from CITD, when it is actually in the very next canyon--Davis. So he missed out on that too.
He must have been to CITD in mid- to late July last year based on the water level near CITD... so he missed the big scour event of the end of August that really cleared the place out.
He did make a nice find at the end of Indian Creek as a low-water kayak camp...nice job there...
He also discovered that camping in popular beach areas (like the Rincon) invites neighbors, but if you don't mind that, you can get invited over to have breakfast or dinner. I agree with him that boat people on Lake Powell are almost always among the nicest people you'd ever encounter...
I was surprised his dry bag was pretty weak-looking, and things of course got wet... he needed a better bag than that...
...also surprised he brought a big frying pan when he might have been better served with a jet boil given the kind of food he was eating...
But a great trip--very nice to see someone put in that kind of effort and share it!
It looks like there are some vestiges of the old Kane Wash road visible on the exposed lake(!) bottom on each side of Gunsight Canyon, to the right of the map. The Arizona Highways picture of the area shows the area to the east of Gunsight Butte, so I can't get an exact comparison.
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SkibumUT
Well-Known Member
Rainbowbridge
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
No one drinks it. It's only used as a weighted toilet paper holder.........if it were real wine, the bottle would be empty and the wind would blow your TP into the next canyon.....always at a rather inopportune moment.I found your toilet photo extremely offensive. Who the heck drinks Sutter Home Zinfandel???
No worries, tho.......There's always prickly pear....
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