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Gwen and I decided to do something different this year for our annual vacation – we spent 6 days on a houseboat on Lake Powell in Arizona/Utah. Lake Powell is not a typical lake – it is actually a canyon (Glen Canyon) that became filled with water when the Colorado River was dammed at Page, AZ. The lake looks like this:



We are not boat people – but there are many interesting locations in all of those side canyons that would be very difficult to reach by land but are really easy to get to by boat. So we decided a houseboat was optimum for allowing us to see them. The houseboat was 46 feet long and we were the only two people on it. Here’s a picture of it, taken at our second anchorage:



We also had a two-person kayak on the back of the boat so that we could get into the smaller canyons. It’s the yellow object in the stern of the boat in the photo. The small object behind the boat is Gwen taking a swim.

We arrived at the Marina on Saturday afternoon, got our groceries loaded onto the boat, and were given instructions on how to operate it – then departed the Wahweap Marina on Sunday morning. Our plan was to cruise to our far point of Oak Canyon (just past Rainbow Bridge on the map) on Sunday and then spend the rest of our time working our way back to the starting point. It took about 5 hours to get to Oak Canyon, Gwen and I splitting the navigation and driving duties. Here is a pic of Gwen driving the boat:



By the time we got to Oak Canyon and found a beach to anchor at, a storm was brewing. You can see it coming in these pics:






We have spent a bit of time in the desert over the years – but this is the first time we were caught in a thunderstorm. It was the most spectacular display of nature that I think I’ve ever seen. After it was storming for about 15 minutes, waterfalls started forming on all the rocks around us – I counted at least a dozen of them. I dearly wish I’d have gotten a good picture but the visibility through the rain just wasn’t good enough.

The next morning dawned bright and clear and was the start of a pattern that we would more or less follow for the rest of the trip – move the houseboat to a new side-canyon (if necessary), paddle the kayak deeper into the canyon until the water disappeared – then get out and hike. The side canyons start out very wide but then usually neck down so that you could only get a kayak or small power boat into them:



And then they’d really narrow down:



Until we would come to the end of the line as far as the water went:



Sometimes, at that point, we could just start hiking up the (now dry) canyon. Other times, we had to do a bit of scrambling. Here are some pics of Gwen scrambling to get above some pools near the end of the canyon and then a pic of the pools looking back down to the water:





[img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u263/scott59_photos/pools.jpg[/img]

After exploring on foot as much as we wanted, we’d retrace our route back to the houseboat, and maybe go for a swim off the back of the boat, or just chill:

[img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u263/scott59_photos/Chilling.jpg[/img]


After resting up, the Coronas would come out and we’d make dinner. A couple of nights, we built a fire on the beach – the travel guitar turned out to be a nice investment:


[img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u263/scott59_photos/ScottGuit.jpg[/img]

That was pretty much all we did for 6 days.

Below, are some of the photos we took:

[img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u263/scott59_photos/BoulderLittleOak.jpg[/img]

Here is a toadstool:

[img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u263/scott59_photos/Toadstool.jpg[/img]

And Balanced Rock:

[img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u263/scott59_photos/BalanceRock.jpg[/img]

Some desert scenes:

[img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u263/scott59_photos/GwensScape.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u263/scott59_photos/CanyonAbstract.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u263/scott59_photos/PointyRocks.jpg[/img]

A natural rock garden:

[img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u263/scott59_photos/RockGarden.jpg[/img]

Looking into a slot canyon:

[img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u263/scott59_photos/GwenSlot.jpg[/img]

Taking a rest break:

[img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u263/scott59_photos/GwenResting.jpg[/img]

Gwen spotted this one - LOL

[img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u263/scott59_photos/cactus.jpg[/img]

And a shot of the lake:

[img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u263/scott59_photos/LakeVista.jpg[/img]


It was a great vacation – expensive as hell, so not something we will do very often. And while it was mentally refreshing it was pretty demanding physically. Not just all the paddling and hiking but also all the work associated with anchoring or freeing the boat – which required a lot of digging on the beaches to bury the anchors and then running back and forth to equalize them.

It was also a little bit stressful – my previous experience with boats was limited to a 14 foot rowboat equipped with a 10 horsepower outboard engine. And Gwen had no previous experience. A boat this big was a whole different story for us. We got into some dicey situations but we were able to get out of them on our own and without damaging the boat. I will say that, if you want to do this and don’t have experience with houseboats, then having at least three people would make handling the boat much more manageable.

However, as is often the case, what is stressful at the time is, in hindsight, adventure. Just a few days after the end of the trip, both of us would love to do it again.

[img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u263/scott59_photos/BoatLast.jpg[/img]

Scott, Some fantastic photos! Wonderful pictures. Looks like you two had a great time. Thanks for posting these. What a gorgeous, picturesque vacation spot.

Thanks for sharing this and for taking me along for the ride, enjoyed it...

glyn

A nice writeup. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Dan, Glyn and Colin.

Had a great time - still trying to recover

Scott

Hi Scott,

I totally enjoyed YOUR vacation.
What a beautiful place and the way you tell your story had me glued to the screen.
Glad to see you having the time of your life !

Calvin


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/calvinstewart

Glad I could return the favor, Calvin - as I think of your songs as mini-vacations

Scott

I always love looking at your vacation photos! Awesome, as usual! You're a great storyteller and photographer. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Tricia - I'm glad you like them.

Gwen is a much better storyteller than I am. I left out the parts about digging loose from a sandbar, rigging an anchor out of climbing gear during a storm and getting conked on the head by an anchor and spraying blood everywhere

Gee - that makes it sound like it wasn't fun. It was

Scott

wow, very COOL.... sorry about the blood to the head tho... wOOOOPSssss

You guys are sure fun.

Linda

YOUALL--

It must have been a really GREAT WEEK--You'll have to write some LYRICS from the experiences out there--It is a very BEAUTIFUL PLACE!

Your PHOTOS are VERY FINE! You have a PHOTOGRAPHER'S EYE--COMPOSITION AND ALL THE ELEMENTS COMING TOGETHER--I DID MY GRADUATE WORK IN PHOTOGRAPHY BACK IN THE 70'S--MOSTLY WITH LARGE FORMAT--USING A 4X5 LINHOFF--and 35mm LEICAS.

VERY INTERESTING--

Mackie

LOL - at the time I was in the middle of something pressing and couldn't tend to it. But I knew that scalp injuries bleed a lot so I hoped that it was a pretty small cut. Turned out to be the case - didn't even need stiches...

Thanks Linda

Scott

Very cool to see that you have education and experience in photography, Mackie. You should post some of your photos in this forum! That's why it's here.

I was strictly untrained but became involved in amateur competition photography and took it pretty seriously. Mostly black and white 35 mm, although my wife and I did make a 4 x 5 view camera from a kit and got some good photos with it.

I got away from it about the time digital became big - seemed like cheating.

Now I just take photos to document our experiences. But I still try to use as many of the tools and tricks that the camera allows me to use....

Scott

What an interesting account of your trip, Scott, and absolutely wonderful pictures. You certainly do have an eye for composition.

Donna

I agree, you have an eye for composition...som e very nice pictures, and great memories I'm sure...

Thanks Donna and John. Composing the image has always been my favorite part of the process

Scott

Scott... beautiful pictures and accompanying well written trip journal that kept my attention!! My husband and I were there in 1981. We flew into Tempe Arizona and drove to California. You mentioned Rainbow Bridge and I even have a picture of that plus others. I don't know how to post pictures being blonde and such. It was really interesting. I think if I remember correctly they may have filmed one of the earlier Planet of the Ape flicks there??? Thanks for sharing, it bought back good memories.

Best,
Lynn

Thanks Lynn:

I'd like to see your rainbow bridge pics. Our first anchorage was only about a mile from it as the crow flies but I wasn't up for getting the houseboat back into that narrow and crowded canyon and it was too far to kayak.

Next time, we'll take the tour boat to it and let someone else do the driving.

Yeah, lots of folks talked about Planet of the Apes while we were there.

Scott

So cool!Nice shots,i would love to catch some western shots.

Thanks Michael. Desert southwest is my favorite place - so far, anyway

Scott

Scott
I live in Arizona and I haven't seen these canyons. These are really beautiful pictures capturing the beauty of Arizona. Thanks for sharing these

Wow! It looks like you had an incredible adventure. I would love to take a trip out on a houseboat. It sounds like a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing, especially those great pics. They are beautiful.

Hi Bonnie:

You really live in a beautiful state - my wife and I really love it - we spend about half of our vacations there. Glad you liked the pics

Scott

Thanks Jen

It was fun and stressful at the same time - I usually have to take a vacation after my vacations

Scott