Our Epic Trip to Lake Powell

This is my Dad.

My dad and his boat. He let my brother and me come along!

Lake Powell was his happy place.  I remember many carefree vacations making memories. It takes one word or a picture to instantly take me back to cliff jumping by our camp, swimming by enormous cliffs that extend as far down as the eye can see and the imagination can dream, hiking to towering cliffs for the luxurious shade, taking long boat rides through the tour boat wakes, hiking to rainbow bridge, and countless more!  Thinking about Lake Powell conjures up images of my dad in his Hawaiian shirts with a larger than life smile as he guides Tiny Dancer through the waves. 

I will always have these memories, and last week I was able to bring some of these memories to life for my children. It has been my brother’s dream to take the family back to Lake Powell for a boating vacation. After many hours of work, and time spent lovingly caring for his boat that time finally arrived.

The time had arrived for me to experience Lake Powell from the eyes of a parent along with the memories I have as a child. I thoroughly enjoyed watching my children create these memories, and creating new ones with them.  As with most Epic vacations, the chronicled experience and the memories can be very separate things. Here is our Epic story.

Our Adventure

Any vacation that begins and ends with pie is a success! On our way to Wahweap marina we revisited our tradition of getting pie at The Thunderbird Restaurant, the home of “Ho-made pies!” Upon arrival we met Brandon at the dock and proceeded to load our belongings into his boat.  I must say that I am pretty proud of how lightly I can pack for a week long beach vacation. 

Classic

After a good dousing of sunscreen we headed into the boat and were off!  This was definitely the best boat ride of the trip. I was filled with awe and wonder as I took in some familiar, and some unfamiliar sights.  My memory is filled with sandstone wonders jutting out of bright blue water with hardly any land in sight. I was greeted with an unfamiliar cactus landscape that looked like, well, desert.  The water level is down about one hundred feet and the ‘desert’ area that used to be covered with water is now exposed.  Logan was quick to remind me that even back then it was still a desert. Yes. Technically that is correct, but Sandstone Fantasy Land sounds so much better.  My memories can be whatever I want, right?

We pulled into our quiet cove that would soon become an epic place of exploration. Our camp was perched on desert sand with a view of red cliffs wildly radiating from the water.  I could have the best of both worlds. I must say that whenever I set up a camp chair I had it angled perfectly for cliff and waterside viewing. I was all in to the idea of creating memories how I wanted to view them.

After a quick camp set up we were ready to swim! Our little cove had the perfect  inlet with an ‘island’ that was the first object of exploration.  I set off on an adventure with the kids to discover this new little bit of earth that we could call ours for the week.    Upon arrival we decided upon the names Pickle Island and Pickle beach for our new playground.  We quickly discovered Skull Rock which boasted a three foot tall cliff dive. Imagine the excitement! Thus began the many hours of excitement jumping off the back of the boat, swimming across to Pickle Island, and exploring up the inlet that was now ‘ours.’

Testing the waters

These stairs were a thing of pride. They took a bit to set up.

That notch in the rock is called Crossing of the Fathers. I remember driving through it in our boat because it was the entrance between the two bays. 

My mom's artistic photo of The Crossing as night fell

Bedtime arrived, and we were ready! We decided to keep the rain covers off of the tents so that we could stay cool and see the stars. The 72 degree evening had a slight breeze that felt perfect for bedtime.  An unforeseen hiccup occurred the very next morning when the early sunrise entered our tents unfiltered in the wee morning hours!  It took a few nights to get it right, but with the help of Adrian, Shannon’s boyfriend, we found a great happy medium that provided shade and a breeze!

Sunday suddenly appeared like an unwanted guest, but I gradually came to life and reveled in the stillness of the morning.  The kids woke early every morning and busied themselves hardly making a peep. Did I mention that I love the mature ages of our kids!

… Maybe I spoke too soon...

I encouraged the kids to go and explore the area behind our camp. As I was reveling in the stillness of the morning, there was a sharp cry that burst my calm.  I had noticed previously that the kids were exploring a large rock that they had found.  I saw them scamper up and sit at the top.  Now, let me back up here for a minute. One big rule that we have in our family is that you are NOT permitted to climb up something if you cannot climb back down. A few of our kids have learned this the hard way as we have had to make them climb back down from difficult perches (of course while providing a spotter to keep it safe). Ev was about to get a tough life lesson here.  All of the kids were about to learn that climbing up friction is much easier than climbing down.  After a tear filled ordeal, Evelyn finally had to let go of her fear and slide down.  She made it, but not without some emotional scarring. She can do hard things…

On to breakfast! After an excellent breakfast we headed to the boat to do some sightseeing and to visit some old familiar places.  After settling into the boat we made the discovery that the battery was dead.  This did not make sense as we had taken all of the precautions, but it was dead nonetheless.  After a bit of discussion we decided on a beach day! We had a fabulous day filled with sunscreen and extra water! Water drinking contest anyone???

Every trip to Lake Powell includes a memory of ending the vacation looking like a tomato and feeling like my skin was made of lava! This did not diminish the other memories, but my goal was to avoid this fate for my kids. I learned that sunscreen every 2.5 hours was absolutely not enough especially considering the temp was going to be between 102-106 degrees for the whole week. So after multiple baths in aloe vera for a few kids we started with a clean slate the next day. I am happy to announce that we finished without one tomato!  Shout out for sunscreen every 1.5 hours, and a shout out to spray sunscreen. This feat would not have been made possible without both of those factors.

The beach day turned out to be a great success. 

Monday we planned to go and pick up Shannon at the dock.  This meant that we needed to find some friendly boaters to give us a hand. After trying our battery jump start box with no success, it was time to flag down another boat.  We found a friendly jet skier that happily went and brought his boat. After a quick set up Brandon attempted to start his engine, and before we could blink the other boat battery had instantly died.  I didn’t even know how that could happen! Good thing there were other campers nearby. We were able to find another group that came over and used a battery jumper to fix the second boat. These guys were also pretty well versed in the art of boat mechanics and were able to diagnose Brandon’s boat as having a bad connection between the battery and the starter. After some finagling they were able to start the boat, but without the promise that it would be able to get started again. We all decided to go to shore to pick up Shannon, and to hopefully find a mechanic who was available to help us out.

It was our lucky day! As soon as we were in cell phone range we got in contact with Larry the boat mechanic. He explained a quick fix for a bad battery connection. It took two seconds and it worked! Success!

We spent the day at the dock, running errands for ice and other supplies, and eating ice cream! There was a lot of run around, but we made it.  We packed up Shannon, Adrian, Nathan, and all of their camping gear and headed back to camp.

As we pulled into the bay the boat gave a final effort and died in the water unexpectedly. No cause was forthcoming and as we looked we floated further and further from our destination.  I hopped in the water and with the help of a tow rope was able to direct the boat within inches of its docking spot. Now came the diagnosis time. The boat would start, but had a heavy clunking sound in the engine. It was time for more diagnostics on Brandon’s part. Upon closer inspection he discovered that is oil tank was dry, and thanks to a houseboat neighbor we were able to get some oil to remedy the problem.  It looks like the next day was slated to be another beach day!

Shannon to the rescue on this one! She brought ALL of the toys! We had an SUP, an overload of beach toys, and even a gigantic white Unicorn inflatable. What more could you need??? 

My favorite part of the day was definitely using the stand up paddleboard.  I had a relaxing paddle out to the cliffs, and was able to go out one-on-one with some of the kids.  They loved the SUP as well. The best story of the day was when I overheard Evelyn talking to Jack, “Did you do it? Did you paddle up the winding stream, stop, and be completely silent? Wasn’t it amazing.”

That. That, Evelyn, is what this is all about.

Hours of fun!

Besties!

Looking fabulous!

On Wednesday it was time to head to the dock to resupply. We were almost out of water, and our food supply needed more ice to stay fresh.  After a lot of work on the boat we were able to start it and not have too bad of a rumble.  We weighed the pros and cons and decided to bring everyone along to the dock on our quest to get the boat fixed. That was probably the best decision of the whole trip!

About ten minutes into the trip there was a horrendous shudder, then the boat stilled.  After some tinkering it was pretty apparent that the boat was done for the day.  At this moment we drifted into an immense cloud of tiny bugs. In a matter of seconds the bugs coated everything in sight, including us. We tried to ingnore the bugs as we resorted to trying to wave down other boats.. This particular bay is mainly used for commuting from one part of the lake to another. There is a very distinct line that the boats drive through, and we were drifting pretty far from that area. No one was looking our way, so it was time to paddle.  Picture 106 degree weather, paddling while covered in bugs, and alternately waving your paddle at anything you see moving in the distance. Finally we were able to cover some distance and be seen by another boat. Success! An hour later we pulled up to the dock with a hope and a prayer that we could get the boat seaworthy ASAP. Out of the whole vacation this is the only experience that I really could have done without! I think poor Brandon and Kendra felt the same way.

Yes. Those are bugs. Everywhere.

It is at this point in the story that I want to give a well deserved shout out to Kendra. She was amazing during this trip! She knew how much this meant to Brandon and she was there supporting him in every way despite having morning sickness much of the time and coping with the extreme temps. Kendra, you are amazing.

These two were rock stars!

The next few hours were filled with phone calls to try and get a nearby boat rental. HA! That is a funny trick! All of the boat rentals were booked out until August. It was time to implement our back up plan and begin the second phase of our vacation. We found a hotel  with a pool and began our air conditioned adventure.  

Can I just say that there is some kind of magic in hotel swimming pools.  We have mentioned this previously on the blog, and it deserves mentioning again. The kids were in heaven as the adults figured out the next steps considering our campsite and everything in it was a 30 minute boat ride from shore and we had no boat.

Welcome to the hotel pool!

Enter Amar.

The front desk attendant of the hotel was sympathetic to our case and told us that she had a friend that might be able to help. Fifteen minutes later this saint of a man showed up at the hotel with his boat ready to go!

Four adults and Jackson came along to tear down camp and take loads to shore.  Jackson was amazing on this trip. He constantly offered to help, and would often jump in without being asked. He was an invaluable helper for the entire vacation. Thanks, Jack!

I think we set a speed record and some kind of boat packing record as well.  From leaving the dock to being in the boat completely packed with our ENTIRE camp took 2 hours.  We settled in and got cozy! About 50 yards from camp Amar hit an underwater rock and destroyed his prop! Of course! Apparently we are the bad luck. The good news was that every blade was bent out of shape in the exact same way, so we were still able to drive the boat, at a little bit faster than wakeless, to get back to the dock.  We bulldozed through the waves and Brandon and I, sitting in the front, had a constant refreshing shower from the wind and wake.  

Amar had some kind of magic to pack his boat this well!

The kids and I decided to stay for an extra day of kayaking fun. We had a crazy, busy morning, and were ready to launch around 2. Those kayaks got a lot of great use! I think it turned out to be a mostly positive experience for all minus two cases of food poisoning, and one person who will probably never touch a kayak again in her life. Other than that, it was fabulous!

We made an impromptu stop at the bridge overlooking the dam. 

We finished the day with celebratory pie in honor of Brandon’s birthday! It was wonderful to sit around the table, share old and new Lake Powell stories, and enjoy time with each other.

Swapping old Lake Powell stories and reminiscing about new ones!

Lake Powell will forever be in my heart as a place full of memories of family, boating, sun, and good times. I now have a glimpse into the adulating side of Lake Powell, and the magic remains! Hooray for amazing memories and fun families! Thank you Brandon and Kendra for working so hard to make these memories into a reality.  We sure love you!

Until next time, Lake Powell.