cdrew
Active Member
How far up from the current lake level would you estimate to get the slots in West? We have hiked it a couple years in a row now (always late May) and haven't been able to get to that spot!
First Time to Powell - Must See's? Updated: Trip Complete
- Thread starter Desert Dory
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JFRCalifornia
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
At 3600 (current level), it’s a 3.1-mile hike each way to the first narrows in West Canyon. But if the lake rises just 10 more feet, it becomes a 2.3-mile hike. Pretty significant difference. I’m guessing that by mid-June (hopefully sooner), it might be about 3610.
Last year at this time, when the lake was at 3575, that was a 3.7-mile hike each way. No wonder you didn’t make it.
When the lake is full, it’s only 0.4 mile each way!
Last year at this time, when the lake was at 3575, that was a 3.7-mile hike each way. No wonder you didn’t make it.
When the lake is full, it’s only 0.4 mile each way!
cdrew
Active Member
I don't mean to hijack this thread, it has been really helpful for me too especially the Escalante tips! But if the op is looking to hike as well in other canyons, how do you calculate hiking distances based on water level? This page is so full of knowledge and wisdom, thanks for your tips!
JFRCalifornia
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
There’s no calculation that applies to every canyon, because they are all different. The way I do it is with multiple visits, good notes, and a careful study of GoogleEarth, especially the historic imagery, where you can correlate dates to lake level, and make direct measurements.
Labor intensive, yes. But I’ve been at that task for a long time...
Desert Dory
Active Member
Update: Well, my very first LP trip is done and all I can say is WOW!! What a place!
We launched at Wahweep Saturday, May 16th at 3pm and went just past Dangling Rope before finding a little cut to spend the night. Just enough beach and out away from the main lake and wind.
The next morning we headed up to Halls Crossing. My buddy wanted to keep going uplake and I had to rein him in and tell him "No! We're going back downriver to Escalante!" We poked around Annie's and a couple other places and ended up in Iceberg Canyon where we spent the second night.
Day three we headed into Escalante and poke around there for a bit until we got to the end of Willow Creek Canyon. Spectacular! It was a bit early but we called it a day, raised the engine, pulled the boat up as far as we could go and spent the night up there at the end of the canyon.
I guy in a rental houseboat tried to get up in there and totally grounded the boat on a sandbar. I sent a message with the Garmin inReach to my wife asking her to get ahold of the Bullfrog marina the next morning and have them send someone out to assist. Bullfrog said they would try to get someone out Tuesday afternoon but they were concerned with the wind. Long story short, the rental guy said they Bullfrog never came out and they spent about 6 hours Wednesday morning digging the boat out. They did finally get it off the bar and spent the last couple days of their trip at another location.
After leaving Willow Creek we poked around the rest of the arms in Escalante and made the mistake of heading down lake Tuesday afternoon during the 40 mph wind event. It was "Sporty" to say the least and, although the boat handled it fine, we made it a short distance before ducking into the cut where the sunken boat is. Spent night four there at the sunken boat.
The next day we hit a Reflection, Rainbow Bridge, and a couple other places before stopping at Dangling Rope for gas and ice.
Rainbow Bridge we had the place to ourselves, at least until right before we left.
After leaving Dangling Rope we headed down river for night five. We wanted to be fairly close to Wahweep as we were leaving the next day and had a long drive back to Tucson. We found a nice little spot up in Last Chance Canyon to spend our final night.
Thank you to all that took the time to post here and especially for the tip to "slow it down". My ADHD, Type A++++, engineer buddy wasn't to thrilled with the slow down initially, but, once we got in a groove, he really enjoyed just soaking it all in.
In conclusion, being my first trip to LP, all I can say is WOW! I can't wait to get back there!
Cheers, Desert Dory
We launched at Wahweep Saturday, May 16th at 3pm and went just past Dangling Rope before finding a little cut to spend the night. Just enough beach and out away from the main lake and wind.
The next morning we headed up to Halls Crossing. My buddy wanted to keep going uplake and I had to rein him in and tell him "No! We're going back downriver to Escalante!" We poked around Annie's and a couple other places and ended up in Iceberg Canyon where we spent the second night.
Day three we headed into Escalante and poke around there for a bit until we got to the end of Willow Creek Canyon. Spectacular! It was a bit early but we called it a day, raised the engine, pulled the boat up as far as we could go and spent the night up there at the end of the canyon.
I guy in a rental houseboat tried to get up in there and totally grounded the boat on a sandbar. I sent a message with the Garmin inReach to my wife asking her to get ahold of the Bullfrog marina the next morning and have them send someone out to assist. Bullfrog said they would try to get someone out Tuesday afternoon but they were concerned with the wind. Long story short, the rental guy said they Bullfrog never came out and they spent about 6 hours Wednesday morning digging the boat out. They did finally get it off the bar and spent the last couple days of their trip at another location.
After leaving Willow Creek we poked around the rest of the arms in Escalante and made the mistake of heading down lake Tuesday afternoon during the 40 mph wind event. It was "Sporty" to say the least and, although the boat handled it fine, we made it a short distance before ducking into the cut where the sunken boat is. Spent night four there at the sunken boat.
The next day we hit a Reflection, Rainbow Bridge, and a couple other places before stopping at Dangling Rope for gas and ice.
Rainbow Bridge we had the place to ourselves, at least until right before we left.
After leaving Dangling Rope we headed down river for night five. We wanted to be fairly close to Wahweep as we were leaving the next day and had a long drive back to Tucson. We found a nice little spot up in Last Chance Canyon to spend our final night.
Thank you to all that took the time to post here and especially for the tip to "slow it down". My ADHD, Type A++++, engineer buddy wasn't to thrilled with the slow down initially, but, once we got in a groove, he really enjoyed just soaking it all in.
In conclusion, being my first trip to LP, all I can say is WOW! I can't wait to get back there!
Cheers, Desert Dory
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RatherBeFishing1
Active Member
Glad you enjoyed It. Thanks for sharing
You hit a lot of really good spots for your first trip to the lake. Congrats on doing your homework and getting it right. Lake Powell is truly amazing as your pictures show. Nice Job! and thanks for the report.
JFRCalifornia
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
Wow, that's awesome!!! You did it the right way... well done, and nice job reining in your friend--you did him a big favor!!
dallas massie
Escalante-Class Member
Reed must be a A+++++ person to go from Page to Hite and back on jet ski (in December ) in one day. I have not been down below the Escalante river in 30 years. Glad you had a great first trip.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. LOVE the night sky photo, that is amazing. I think you should submit it to the 2021 best photo contest
Skibum
Active Member
Nice report and good photos! You definitely knocked off a few off the top 10,000 highlights the lake has waiting for you to visit. Was the “sunken boat canyon” called Ribbon Canyon.”...near Hole in the Rock? If it was, when the lake was closer to full pool, the cove opposite where the sunken boat found itself anchored to a rock was a virtual aviary and fern grotto this time of year and a great afternoon hangout. We were frequent campers in nearby Llewelyn Gulch in those higher water days and used to slip in there and float most every day. I too like the night star shot!
Desert Dory
Active Member
Just checked my Stan Jones map (we marked each place we spent the night) and, yes, it was Ribbon Canyon.
I can see where that area would be like you said. There was quite a bit of water seeping out of the rock there, with lots of vegetation up higher. Doesn't look like it gets any direct sunlight up there either.
I'll tell you what though! It was the perfect place to get out of that 40 mph wind that was blowing that Tuesday. We were pretty thankful for that.
Lance Cue
Well-Known Member
I saw you cruising into iceberg. Looked like you found a nice little sandy beach for the night. When I saw your dory come in I was wondering if it was you after reading this thread a couple weeks ago. Glad you had a good trip and kudos on just going with the flow. Sometimes the weather decides where you end up for the day.
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