Craig Smith
Member
We visited the upper lake from Monday the 2nd through Friday the 6th. While waiting for my son to arrive Monday around noon I took the opportunity to check out the new campgrounds at Hite, the bathroom and shower facilities and the New and Improved Outpost store. Having camped for years in the campgrounds at Bullfrog I have to say that with the exception of the absence of shade trees - the facilities and people at Hite put those at Bullfrog to shame! Clean well maintained, welcoming and informative!
Having heated up during my exploration I ducked into the Hite Outpost store for and ice cream sandwich. While their inventory was down reflecting the post Labor day season the store was spotless and well organized. I had the opportunity to spend some time talking to Maggie who was managing the store and was the only representative of the concessionaire or of Lake Powell that we saw during the week. Maggie relayed reports that she had gleaned from previous visitors about the state of the primitive boat ramp, fishing success, and other local issues of interest. I found her to be interested and very informative. My experience with previous employees / concessionaires at Hite (gong back to my rafting days in the early '80's and into the early 2010's) was that they were indifferent to customers at best. In contrast Maggie is a bright star - Warm, Welcoming, Informative and Genuine! She has the passion that could help make Hite a destination and not just a pit stop.
On a visit two days later to get fuel and an ice cream bar for my "little" boy, I found Maggie helping another visitor interpret a park map of Lake Powell and surrounding areas. She relayed her knowledge of the area as well as gave guidance on conditions of roads into the southern canyons on this end of the lake for the tourist. In the absence of a park ranger to provide this information - Maggie filled the need. Perhaps she should be on be on the Glen Canyon payroll as an auxillary ranger well as working the outpost... She is already providing the interpretive service!
If Wordlings are in the area, I encourage you to patronize the new and improved Hite Outpost! Maggie and crew deserve to reap the rewards of their great service!
Cell Reception at the Horn
While boating the upper lake and checking an app on his phone my son noticed that his phone showed weak cell reception around the Islands at The Horn. With both of our phones out we puttered about the area and in some spots with the widest view down lake across Good Hope Bay we were able to get 2 "bars" and LTE service. Enough to retrieve and send text messages at least. Drifting would cause weakening of our reception from its peak. My guess is that if water level were higher the signal may be cleared and conversely lower lake level may reduce the reception. (lake level during our visit was around 3640'). If the need arises to communicate to the outside world from thee upper lake this may be a good option... Perhaps to inform the boss that fishing is good and you may miss a few days of work?
Happy boating wordlings,
Craig
Having heated up during my exploration I ducked into the Hite Outpost store for and ice cream sandwich. While their inventory was down reflecting the post Labor day season the store was spotless and well organized. I had the opportunity to spend some time talking to Maggie who was managing the store and was the only representative of the concessionaire or of Lake Powell that we saw during the week. Maggie relayed reports that she had gleaned from previous visitors about the state of the primitive boat ramp, fishing success, and other local issues of interest. I found her to be interested and very informative. My experience with previous employees / concessionaires at Hite (gong back to my rafting days in the early '80's and into the early 2010's) was that they were indifferent to customers at best. In contrast Maggie is a bright star - Warm, Welcoming, Informative and Genuine! She has the passion that could help make Hite a destination and not just a pit stop.
On a visit two days later to get fuel and an ice cream bar for my "little" boy, I found Maggie helping another visitor interpret a park map of Lake Powell and surrounding areas. She relayed her knowledge of the area as well as gave guidance on conditions of roads into the southern canyons on this end of the lake for the tourist. In the absence of a park ranger to provide this information - Maggie filled the need. Perhaps she should be on be on the Glen Canyon payroll as an auxillary ranger well as working the outpost... She is already providing the interpretive service!
If Wordlings are in the area, I encourage you to patronize the new and improved Hite Outpost! Maggie and crew deserve to reap the rewards of their great service!
Cell Reception at the Horn
While boating the upper lake and checking an app on his phone my son noticed that his phone showed weak cell reception around the Islands at The Horn. With both of our phones out we puttered about the area and in some spots with the widest view down lake across Good Hope Bay we were able to get 2 "bars" and LTE service. Enough to retrieve and send text messages at least. Drifting would cause weakening of our reception from its peak. My guess is that if water level were higher the signal may be cleared and conversely lower lake level may reduce the reception. (lake level during our visit was around 3640'). If the need arises to communicate to the outside world from thee upper lake this may be a good option... Perhaps to inform the boss that fishing is good and you may miss a few days of work?
Happy boating wordlings,
Craig
