Over the long Thanksgiving weekend on 26 Nov 08, Tracy and I headed out for another long weekend
kayaking on Lake Powell. We rented kayaks from REI, and then headed Bullfrog on the north end of
the lake. We had tried to kayak here earlier in the spring, but the kayak rental situation didn't work out,
so we decided to try it again.The weather started out a little questionable, but the rain stopped before
we got to the lake on Thanksgiving. The first day we paddled for a couple of hours and set up camp on
the main channel of the Colorado River. The lake is considerably higher than the last time we were
here (about 30 feet), but it had obviously recently dropped from its springtime highs, and the banks
were all mud and quicksand...good times! But we got camp set up, and had an uneventful night. It did
rain on us overnight, but we stayed dry.
The next morning we got up and paddled to Lake Canyon a little further down river. We left camp set
up and just prayed the ravens wouldn't rip it to shreds. We also noticed, after we had paddled about a
mile from camp, that there was a small power station at the top of the mountain where we were
camped...good times. But while it was echoing off the canyon walls while we paddled away, we
couldn't hear it from camp. So we paddled on to Lake Canyon and fully explored the canyon and its
side canyons. The weather was really nice, and the canyon was really nice. We saw lots and lots
(hundreds) of fish feeding off the top of the water, and we just had a generally nice day. We paddled to
the back end of Lake Canyon until the water started to get really clogged up with debris...is was a really
different experience to get to the back end of a canyon like that. Most other canyons we had paddled
usually ended abruptly, but this one just petered out. After getting to the end we paddled back to camp.
The ravens hadn't shredded our tent, and we hiked around some on the slickrock above camp. There
was a lot of slickrock up there, and it was really pretty...I love slickrock. We only saw 3 boats all day,
which was nice.
The next day we got up and decided to start heading back up river. We crossed to the opposite shore
and explored side canyons. We found a couple of really nice slot canyons, and just enjoyed exploring.
Tracy found an abandoned tent on the side of the lake...that was weird. Then we had the best part of
the trip: Lost Eden Canyon. I think the Park Service calls it Annie's Canyon, but my GPS map called it
Lost Eden. And it was REALLY nice. It would be a totally different experience at any other water level,
but in the state we found it, it was perfect. We found a couple of caves...or at least deep
alcoves...which had beautiful light reflecting off the calm lake and dancing across the roof of the
alcoves. It's hard to explain just how peaceful and pretty it really was. I tried taking video of it, but it
doesn't do it justice. All of Lost Eden Canyon was outstanding, and we had it completely to ourselves.
It wouldn't be nearly as nice with other boats in the canyon or at any other water level...but it was
outstanding the way we found it. After leaving Lost Eden we paddled into Halls Creek Bay and got out
and hiked around the slickrock some. By this time, though, we were starting to see more boats racing
around the lake, and the spell we had been under for 3 days was broken. We set in the bay and
enjoyed the nice weather, but decided we wanted to head back rather than spend the rest of the night
being mad at all the boats. So we loaded back up and paddled back to the truck, making it to the
landing just before dark...and at the same time as about 15 motor boats...good times.
As always, though, this was a great trip. It's hard to beat kayaking on Lake Powell this time of year.
Unfortunately, we've realized that we've gone about as far as we can in kayaks in a long weekend from
the marinas at both ends of the lake. I think we'll either have to rent a motor boat if we want to go
further, or we'll have to have someone ferry us further away from the marinas.