Lake Powell - Photos from the Early Years

Here is another of the road to Halls. To say it was bad is an understatement Took Dad and us kids all day to get from Blanding to Halls with the old GMC Home made camper Pretty ironic that Cal Black was a County Comissioner and was a big influence in getting the trail to Halls shoved thru with some Cat work. The highway to the cutoff to Halls wasn’t paved until about 1978 or so. Corn Construction diid IMG00034.jpegthe first paving. Most at night since it was so hot .. one of the first paving projects under lights .. I call this Clay Hill but I think it has a real name. Still a slow down and pay attention even now. DMc
 
Dean Mc said:
Found a couple of more slides. Here is my
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Dean Mc said:
Ha Ha. You are the water master this is before it filled , Dad only developed slides when he had a little money so I will have to find the slide and see when it was developed. My guess is 1966 but You will know when Gregory was drowned. the first time. DMc
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Well, here's my guess. We know that Gregory Bridge disappeared in April 1969, when the lake rose above 3550. From your photo, it looks like about 25-30 feet of daylight under the bridge, so let's call it 3520-3525. I'm also assuming the photo was taken in spring or summer, but could be wrong about that. If it was, the lake was at about thst level in June 1967 and June 1968. The lake was also at that level in the fall of 1966 too... In spring/summer 1966, the lake was a bit higher, closer to 3540-3545. Based on all that, I'm guessing spring/summer of either 1967 or 1968, or possibly October 1966.
 
JFRCalifornia said:
Well, here's my guess. We know that Gregory Bridge disappeared in April 1969, when the lake rose above 3550. From your photo, it looks like about 25-30 feet of daylight under the bridge, so let's call it 3520-3525. I'm also assuming the photo was taken in spring or summer, but could be wrong about that. If it was, the lake was at about thst level in June 1967 and June 1968. The lake was also at that level in the fall of 1966 too... In spring/summer 1966, the lake was a bit higher, closer to 3540-3545. Based on all that, I'm guessing spring/summer of either 1967 or 1968, or possibly October 1966.
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JFR is our.......'Elevation & Date Sleuth' :cool: Word has it.......he's never........without a date.........😋
 
upthecreek said:
Looks like a high water line right across the top of the arch. Does that help with dating the pic?
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Good eye. That is indeed a high water mark, just under the natural bridge. Until the late 1960s, the lake hit a peak in June 1966 at about 3545. That's about 6 feet under the opening of the bridge. The high water mark there is consistent with what you see in the photo. Between June 1966 and mid-1968, the lake was up and down, fluctuating mostly between 3502 and 3540, spending a lot of time in the 3525-30 range, which is what's shown in the photo. It briefly peaked at 3548 in August 1968, but not quite high enough to close the opening to the bridge, which happens at 3551.

The fact that there's a high water mark where it is, and that the lake is as low as it is pegs it somewhere between October 1966 and June 1968. After that, the lake was always higher than shown in the photo. Before June 1966, you would not have seen a high water mark there.

I'm sticking with my guess--either Oct 1966, June 1967, or June 1968...
 
Dean Mc said:
Ha Ha. You are the water master this is before it filled , Dad only developed slides when he had a little money so I will have to find the slide and see when it was developed. My guess is 1966 but You will know when Gregory was drowned. the first time. DMc
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Wow, you brought back 60+yr old memories..... ❤️ My Dad shot 16MM movies, because he learned to do that as a P.I. in NYC in the late 40s. I'd hear he & Mom say in the early 60s: we can't spend the money on developing those now...we have to wait.....finally, when they had the money, he'd get it developed and we'd sit watching that 50 foot 3 min reel 10+ times.....😋

Again, thanks for the trip down multiple memory lane(s)......(y)
 
Not old photos but these are the old original "Camp Cabins" built by Art Greene and friends Circa 1960 above Wahweap. Art won the original contract as the first concessionaire before selling out to Dell Webb in 1975. These were the first lodgings to built on site. They are still standing up near the old camp ground and the current employee housing. I'd heard they were there and went looking last week, it's true.

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Love this, and the window AC units...... (y)

My deceased redhead wife always said: Once Art sold to Del Webb......it was fu*king over......she had a rather unique, simplistic way with words....:cool:

Alas, Yet again.....she was right.....

Somewhere, somehow.....she's smiling.....(a rarity)

But, thanks for the pics......

(y)
 
Rainbowbridge said:
Love this, and the window AC units...... (y)

My deceased redhead wife always said: Once Art sold to Del Webb......it was fu*king over......she had a rather unique, simplistic way with words....:cool:

Alas, Yet again.....she was right.....

Somewhere, somehow.....she's smiling.....(a rarity)

But, thanks for the pics......

(y)
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No doubting it. As evidenced by the Aramark era it was most definitely downhill from there.
 
Not sure on the years for either of these, but the Marriott Library seems to have digitized some additional photos and came across these 2 of the Bullfrog main ramp and hotel area under construction (I'm assuming 64 or later based on water levels). You can see the whale just west of the main ramp in both photos.
Bullfrog under construction (2).JPGBullfrog under construction.JPG
 
SkibumUT said:
Not sure on the years for either of these, but the Marriott Library seems to have digitized some additional photos and came across these 2 of the Bullfrog main ramp and hotel area under construction (I'm assuming 64 or later based on water levels). You can see the whale just west of the main ramp in both photos.
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It's pretty amazing how they just cut these places out of the desert. I am working on a project with a remote construction site right now and the logistics are really complicated. This takes it up to a whole other level.
 
SkibumUT said:
Not sure if there's an official name for it, but we've always just called it "Triangle Cave" but a couple of photos from 1) a Neville Expedition in 1942, 2) 1965 with rising waters. I think @JFRCalifornia has a Nat Geo pic of it as well on here somewhere.
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Great photos. I always like to see what was there before there was Lake Powell. Also nice to see what it looks like today. Cool cave.
 
SkibumUT said:
The first photo is of the Kane Creek pullout access road starting to be submerged (Original photo of Legacy ramp from the 60s). Location is nearish the Stateline ramp, looking west to southwest.
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So Ski Bum, I'd heard rumor that Greene may have started a marina somewhere in the neighborhood before the location we know currently. I heard he was campaigning to become the concessionaire, that he owned the property in the hill already and there was competition to be chosen. Is this photo there by legacy as you say then the original set of docks? It would make sense that you'd put docks in by the paved road that would become the first usable launch ramp as the level rose. Wahweap ramp may not have even been built yet
 
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