January cruise in Lake Powell

[Ron on Meander]

Well I know January is probably not the peak month for cruising Lake Powell, but has anyone tried it? After all I am a Canadian and we do have a different take on cold weather. As long as the sun shines and the Wallas keeps working it could be a pretty special cruise. Well that is, as long as the lake doesn't freeze! It doesn't freeze does it? It is 1200 miles south of here and a lot of the big lakes up here don't freeze except in a really cold winter which we haven't had for years.

Why January? Well, we'll most likely be heading south about that time and I really can't wait to see Powell after all the pictures and commentary about it. So if January is the month we're heading that way, what can we expect?

Ron

[moabarch]

We live in Moab - not far from Lake Powell. We, too had planned to spend a week on Lake Powell this January - but that's when we thought we were getting a boat this month. That didn't work out, so our plans are on hold. I would certainly give it a go. Just check out the forecast. The weather that time of year can be anywhere from blowing and freezing to sunny and in the 50's or even 60's. The great thing is, the lake is about empty. The fishermen start in again in February. If I get lucky and get a boat before then, you'll see us there!

[thataway]

You are not going to find much open in the way of fuel and supplies on the lake.
It can get pretty rough during storms. We were driving by the lake during a storm and when the winds were 50 knots and heard a number of MayDay's. The average high in January is 42 and average low is 25 degrees. Sounds cold to me! But I suspect you will have the lake to yourself! I'm sure it would be beautiful if it were to snow on the higher elevations.

[helesh]

Ron
We lived in Page for 27 years and boated on Lake Powell all months of the year. January is good for certain activities until a front comes through then all bets are off! Temps will be below freezing every night and could be in the low teens. Highs will get to the 40's and if the sun is out and the wind is calm it will be t-shirt weather. Lake temps are around 50. Long calm periods can make for great kayaking but you will probably want to stay out of side canyons which may never break freezing. The best daytime activity is hiking in the more open canyons. Dangling Rope marina has been closed the past two years through the winter months and even Wahweap may need to call someone to open a gas pump. The porto-potti sinks have the water turned off. The only boats you'll see away from the marinas are the occasional day fisherman but the fishing generally sucks then anyway. The biggest obstacle for most folks is long nights. Effectively 14 hrs of dark in January, 5:30 pm to 7:30 am Page time.
All that said, I have experienced wilderness on Lake Powell in winter to a greater degree than I ever did in Grand Canyon where i guided for all those years and ran trips in every month but December.
Ask away if you have any specific questions.

Les

[jkidd]

Ron
It's my favorite time of year. Last year I went from Bullfrog to Antelope Point and did not see anyone else until I got within 5 miles of Antelope. You can gas at Halls, Bullfrog, Antelope, Wahweap until about 5 in the afternoon. As mentioned above Dangling Rope closes for the winter and you probably should not expect to buy food at the lake. I'm usually down there once a month through the winter. Fishing can be slow, but you just need to change tactics. I fish at night for striper in about 90 feet of water with a green light.

[El and Bill]

I spent the month of January on Lake Powell some years ago - in an open aluminum boat and with camping gear to stay ashore at night. Most of the days were sunny and beautiful. The nights (camped on shore) were VERY long and I think I watched (lying on my back in a good comfy sleeping bag) every jet fly over every night from 6pm to 10pm. Saw few boats then. There were several nights tucked into a cove with snow flying and strong winds.

Halcyon is in storage at Lake Powell and we would certainly consider some winter cruising on the lake. We have been on the lake in November, on Halcyon, and anchored next to snow on the shore with the Wallas humming and nice and warm inside. The winter cold fronts can be fierce and one needs to pay very close attention to the weather.

El likes to remind me that there is no such thing as bad weather (other than high winds) -- just bad clothes!

Let's keep the idea alive and see how folks feel.

[jlastofka]

Here's a web page

http://lakepowell.water-data.com/index2.php

with the 45 year averages for any day of the year. Water level, high temperature, water temperature, whatever.

January looks darn cold to me. I'd say after October you wouldn't find me going there. Temperatures come up in the spring of course, but I hear the weather can be wild at times then.

Fall is the optimum, as at most places here in the US. Crowds gone, weather moderate, water warm, etc.

A couple weeks back, on our recent cruise there, I saw a lot of boats heading south as I went up the lake on Friday. One night at Oak Canyon we found a bunch of houseboats, including some retard with a bagpipe and another retard with a large amount of fireworks. Other than those two incidents, there was only slight contact with boats other than our group.

Jeff

[Pat Anderson]

Ron - a small point, but it is probably more like 1,300 miles south of Vancouver! It is 1,200 miles south of Seattle! But don't let that deter you...this is a "must see" destination. Jody and Bob are probably both right, it can be glorious, it can be miserable, in the winter (no personal knowledge here, but I know both Jody and Bob). For myself, if I could, I would spend a LOT of time there.

[Pat Anderson]

Ron - another data point. Coming from Vancouver or Seattle, the route leads through some HIGH mountain passes which have some steep grades (one stretch, I think it is in Eastern Oregon, is 6% for 6 miles, complete with runaway truck turnouts and all) which WILL be snow covered in January. Even though it is interstate highway, it could be a bit of a nail biter - I know it would be for me. In fact, I'll bet a lot of the driving will be through snowy territory in January. It seems no matter how you go, the last stretch will be Hwy 89 in Utah, and that is a windy two lane road through some mountain areas too. That may not put you off the trip, but you should be prepared for it

[Sea Wolf]

If you're going to be driving and towing in snow, be sure you have very good trailer brakes, and real chains for your tow vehicle, not cable chains.

If your tow vehicle is marginal for the boat and trailer, chains on one braked axle of the trailer would be a very good idea as well.

Here are some ideas from an earlier post I made:

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

The ultimate test of a tow rig / package is how it performs in bad weather, such as going down hill in snow and ice.

1. Flatland towing-super easy.

2. Uphill towing- takes some grunt, somewhat demanding in hot weather.

3. Emergency stopping-the real test of the whole combo and especially reveals wheather or not you really do have enough tow vehicle and trailer brakes to control everything!

4. Steeply downhill in snow and ice, or backing down and coming back up a frozen unplowed snow or ice covered ramp: Don't try this until you've passed all the other tests above!!! Unsure of everything? Put on your PFD to wear in the tow vehicle while backing down the ramp!

Chain up the tow vehicle, and be sure your trailer brakes are working in A-1 order. Chain up one trailer axle with brakes for extra bite going down really steep grades. Recommended for 4WD only.

Could be a great article for some tests and reports for Trailer Boats Magazine! "Boat Tow Rodeo on Ice".

Here's an exerpt from an experience I had on the subject that started leading me to these conclusions:

I'm sure that sometimes there's more than a little bit of excess testosterone affecting our judgment on how big a tow vehicle is adequate for a given job, and the great American Male's Fixation on His Truck is a subject that Detroit understands completely.

That said, there really is something to be validated about the idea of having reserve capacity in a tow vehicle. Just before Christmas I was towing my CD 22 to Eagle Lake over a 6500 ft pass between Red Bluff and Susanville. An early morning snow left about 2-3 inches of compressed snow and ice on the highway with the temperature in the high teens. The highway was sanded, but it was too cold to use salt to melt the ice. We had the chains on the rear of my Ford Econoline 150 van conversion, which usually tows the CD with no trouble at all.

Going up the grade, we had no trouble at all, driving in total command. Coming down, however, was another story. I got stuffed twice into the snow bank on the other side of the road, which was, fortunately, high enough to stop the van and boat from going over the edge. Even locked in first gear with chains on the rear, the boat/tandem trailer pushed us around at will. The push forward from the boat/trailer resulted in greater speed than we could handle under the circumstances, and stepping even lightly on the brakes locked up the front wheels (despite ABS), and resulted in a total loss of steering without the wheels turning. Felt like we had a boat full of water pushing us downhill! Upon further inspection, we found that the steel hydraulic line from the brake actuator on the tongue had been broken back near the axle, thus no trailer brakes. We'd checked this system out before the night before leaving, too.

Cal Trans (highway department) told us we had to move the vehicle down the mountain, so we called in a good sized tow truck which towed the boat a few miles down to the next section of flatland, where we resumed the tow.

As we continued on to the next town, it became apparent the 1/2 ton van can easily tow and stop (non-emergency) the boat/trailer, even without the trailer brakes working, but not under the particular steep downhill conditions above. I believe four- wheel drive, and/or a bigger tow vehicle, would have had the reserve capacity to do the job even without the trailer brakes. So it does pay to have a somewhat larger than necessary tow vehicle with enough reserve capacity to help stay out ot trouble and afford some peace of mind, especially since you can't always anticipate all the problems that might develop.
_________

Joe.

[thataway]

Some excellent points about trailering on snow covered roads. I'll admit that I have never pulled at boat trailer over icey roads--RV's towing a van--yes--but a boat behind a truck--above my pay grade--and North of my lattitude.

Last year when we were up before the C Brat gathering, we still had some obnoxious PWC's--it would be a real treat to be up on the lake when there were none of the misquitos buzzing around.

[Guest]

Mmmmmm-sounds interesting. Might join you from BullFrog? No passes to go over from Santa Fe.
J