09/22 Lake Powell 2012

As if my appetite for Powell were not wetted already.... those photos are fantastic! My boat does have a swim platform, and it might work better than trying to clamber over the bow. Thanks again to everyone who has (or will) contribute their thoughts.

Sunbeam
 
There have been several posts on the Wayne's Words Lake Powell board indicating that rattlers have been a little busier this year than other recent years. The wisdom is that if you are tying off to rocks or bushes...any place other than open beach, to poke around with a stick a bit first as the snakes do like to curl up under the tamarisks and in rock shadows. NOT to scare anyone off, but just a bit of caution is in order.
 
Good point. We have never seen a rattler there (and I grew up with rattlers in the back yard in Calif.). But caution is always in order. If you go over a rock, where you cannot see; stomp on it. Same for logs (not many in Powell)--
Also some rattlers do not rattle! So keep eyes and ears both open!
 
I hope I'm not over-dominating the thread here with questions, but I've come up with another one - well, actually it's a follow-on to the logistics one I was asking about before.

So, it looks like the friend I invited along has been able to get one of the two "interference" days off, but not the other. (Rats!) Friday, September 21, is the sticking point. I thought about just doing the trip solo, and/or we talked about him driving down separately or flying down, but those both ended up sounding somewhat cumbersome. So now we're considering another option, which is to leave on Washington on Saturday morning (September 22) -- that would have us launching at Powell on Monday, September 24. Clearly we would miss the group departure, and the potluck on Saturday, but we would still like to maximize our chances of spending time with the group (or sub-groups). After all, meeting C-Brats and attending a get-together was one of my big motivators for wanting to do the trip in the first place (in addition to Powell's special charm).

So, to that end, I'm wondering if it would be more favorable for us to launch at Bullfrog, try to cross paths with (at least some of) the gang ASAP, and then basically cruise down/back toward Wahweap as the group does (then head "home" to Bullfrog after that). If meeting up with folks is a horse apiece between Bullfrog and Wahweap, well, Wahweap looks a bit more convenient, what with Page for last-minute provisioning and such; but if Bullfrog would place us more favorably (and if it has similar good places to park/leave vehicle, etc.), then maybe we'd try to launch there instead.

One plus of the later departure is that we'd have another week after the gathering ended (just the way my buddy's vacation works out) - so plenty of time to work our way back to Bullfrog after heading down to Wahweap if we did put in at Bullfrog.

Reading back over that I'm not sure if it's clear or confusing, so, in a nutshell: If we're launching on the Monday during the gathering, and given the probabilities for various locations of C-Brats from then to the rest of the week - does Bullfrog make more sense as a launch site? Or would most of the C-Brats likely be midway between Wahweap and Bullfrog at that time and so there'd be no special advantage to Bullfrog from that perspective?

Thanks again,
Sunbeam :hot
 
Folks coming from the PNW seem to favor launching at Bullfrog...but need to provision somewhere before they get to Bullfrog...not much there.
Most cruises the main group passes through Bullfrog on Monday or Tuesday...usually Monday... on our way uplake to Forgotten Canyon for an overnight stay...and a visit to Defiance House...an Anasazi ruin. If you come in on Monday you would have a real good chance of catching the group in Bullfrog or Forgotten Canyon...which is at mile 106...about 10 miles uplake from Bullfrog. Forgotten is usually the furthest uplake we go...and we head downlake after that.
So your plan makes good sense.
 
Thanks, Chris! I'm happy to read that a Bullfrog launch would give us a better chance of finding C-Brats :D I think that alone will make it worth it :thup If/once we find (some of) the gang we'll just plan to tag along to Wahweap and the end of the gathering, and then use our "extra" week to work back to Bullfrog.

(Normally, I think having Page nearby to provision from would be really convenient and would outweigh the advantage of the shorter drive to Bullfrog. But for this trip knowing that Bullfrog would situate us better to find some C-Brats is the main thing, and we'll just plan to provision prior to arrival.)

Now I'm back to being jazzed about the trip (vs. feeling I had to decide between a solo trip "on time," and one with a co-pilot but with a constant feeling of being "behind").

All I have to do now is wrap up all my boat projects in time to leave :shock: Wish me luck :mrgreen:

Sunbeam :hot
 
The Bullfrog does make more sense. The drive from Seattle is about 1135 miles and about 19 hours in a car--figure at least 4 to 5 more hours towing the C Dory. We figure 3 to 5 days when going Seattle area to Wahweap. But have never launched at bullfrog, because of the provisioning issue. Internet search shows a couple of markets at Green River UT and at least one in Hanksville UT. We are currently in Kanab and the prices are considerably higher than at Walmart in Page. I also don't think the roads are as good going to Bullfrog. We have been averaging about 50 mph on the usual route of 89 after leaving Richfield.

We have only joined the group once for the gathering. We left the next day to do directly to Bullfrog and joined up with Cousins who were on the Trash Tracker and spent a day in Forgotten Canyon. When we got back to the main lake, we never did catch up with the group. This time we will stick with Chris! We are doing the "exploring of the San Juan" before the gathering.

If you make a specific place and time to meet up--and no difficulty on the road, that would work well. I don't know as much about the upper lake, and ability to hit the cell tower on Navajo mountain (in my experience only Verizon works there--and this included this April/May time frame) I will PM you our Verizon number and you can leave a voice mail; we will let you know were we are, since we will be checking Verizon voice mail each day.

Look forward to seeing you on the Lake.
 
Diana and I should be there tomorrow. Right now, we are in Beatty, Nevada (east of Death Valley), and of all things... watching the Amargosa river flood. The weather system that Bob mentioned has a bunch of moisture in it. First time I have noticed humidity in the air around here. Thank goodness the temps are staying down.

We will meet with Bob and Marie either tomorrow or Thursday, then off for some exploring with them. I may throw the boat in the water a day earlier, but will come back to rendezvous with Thisaway.

Is anyone else coming in early?
 
Thanks to everyone for being so thoughtful and making it as easy as it can be for us to meet up with the gang. How welcoming you C-Brats are :thup (Of course this is one reason I chose a C-Dory!)

Travel-dependent, of course, but if things go well we'll try to launch sometime Monday afternoon. I've taken note of all the phone numbers and will call them once we have solid time/place info (I have a Verizon phone and my bud has AT&T, so at least we have two of them covered).

I guess we'll try to provision as much as possible in advance, so we only have to fill in at semi-local places.

This is getting exciting :D

Sunbeam :hot
 
Hi Jody,

I was thinking of basically following the Google map suggestion which is, in a nutshell, Seattle -> Boise -> Salt Lake City -> Price -> Hanksville -> Bullfrog, but if you have alternative suggestions, I'm all ears (no local knowledge here).

Sunbeam
 
Sunbeam":p6jy0pgr said:
Hi Jody,

I was thinking of basically following the Google map suggestion which is, in a nutshell, Seattle -> Boise -> Salt Lake City -> Price -> Hanksville -> Bullfrog, but if you have alternative suggestions, I'm all ears (no local knowledge here).

Sunbeam
Click to expand...


That would be the quickest route. There are Walmarts in Spanish Fork and Price for provisioning. Hanksville has a small store.
 
Sunbeam,

In your situation, it sounds as though launching at Bullfrog may make the best sense.

If you do an initial 'provisioning somewhere prior to arriving at Bullfrog, you can meet the group uplake somewhere, then cruise south (toward Wahweap) which puts you in good position for re-provisioning if necessary. We will have our truck at Wahweap (as will other's, I'm sure...) so there should be a very good opportunity to get into Page/Walmart to get more stuff if necessary. (If nothing else you wouldn't have to have Everything on aboard when you launch at Bullfrog; you could actually plan on a re-provision at Page. Those of us launching a Wahweap don't really have that option - we have to carry everything for the whole trip, because uplake reprovisioning is Very limited.)

See you there!

Best,
Casey&Mary
 
Thanks for the great idea/offer, Casey. I'm really rusty on provisioning (:cry been too long!), and too, the boat is not going to be fully "tweaked" for a liveaboard/voyage type scenario (yet); so the thought that there could possibly be a mid-voyage re-provisioning run is a nice one.

Got the new anchor roller situated last night and figured out how to splice Brait to chain (they say "it's as easy as tying your shoes," but I say they forgot how hard that was to learn the first time ;)). Onward!

Sunbeam :hot
 
Sorry to say, at this point, it looks like we'll miss this adventure. Steering problems and the overheat Gremlin continue to haunt us. We're keeping after it but it's not hopeful. Have a great time in one of God's special treasures.
 
I too have to miss this trip. A 3-way collision in time, 2 at work and 1 at home. Even if I were to squeeze 8-10 days in there, it'd be no fun worrying about these problems at home/work. Hope everyone has a safe and "uneventful" trip, and a great time while on the lake. Maybe next year....
 
Sorry that Roger and Steve are going to miss this great gathering. Weather is perfect (I had to go to Macky does while Marie does last minute WalMart, and had some business to fire off on the computer....Steve and Diania left this AM-Jon and Mary from Fairbanks (new owners) also launched this AM.

It looks like we finally got out 13" pitch prop, and all is a go to launch tomorrow AM--see you all in a little over a week.
 
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