TR: 4 Nights and 4 Days on Lake Powell By Paddle

Some of you may remember a post I made about trying to rig a paddle board sail for a Lake Powell trip. Well, thank god that didn't end up working out. But I did successfully complete the trip which ended up being about 80 miles of flat water paddling. Here's the report:

Day 1

..started more productively than just about any other road trip/vacation I’ve ever been on, with the car packed and ready to go before work. Yes before 5:00am, a small miracle.

“I’m going to leave work at noon, sure it will be a late night on the water but I’m ok with it”

6am…
7am…
8am…

9:30am… Fuck it.

An early start was just what I needed. The city, smog, and heat all disappearing behind me by the minute. A stop for food in Flagstaff, and for fuel in Mexican Hat, and I was pulling into Halls Crossing (about mile 93 from the Glen Canyon Dam for reference) by 6:00PM (AZT). After pumping up the board and some final balancing of gear I set out at 7:45 PM (MST).

Approaching the Moki Dugway (we'll come back to this)
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The put in
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Thursday night was absolutely gorgeous paddling weather, perfect air temp and calm conditions. Once dark set in it was basically following the buoys, however the new moon and some burned out buoy lights made for difficult navigation at times. Even with a map, got myself pretty turned around near the 81 mile mark.

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The original plan was to camp at the mouth of Iceberg Canyon. Pretty quickly figured out that was not going to work out upon arrival. And it took about another hour to find a place to climb ashore, 16 miles south of Halls Crossing.

Day 2

Three and a half hours later I woke to sights of the Rincon across the lake. Wolfed down breakfast and got busy paddling as I knew there were high S/SW winds forecasted for the afternoon.

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On this day I made two critical mistakes that really screwed me. First was getting distracted with fishing when I should have been hammering out miles paddling. The second was trying to operate on AZT when the forecast was for MST. This corresponded to me being about 2-3 hours behind where I should have been by noon. Ended up hitting some grueling headwinds from mile 72 down to the mouth of the Escalante (mile 68) but dug in and fought through.

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In the early afternoon I made it to my first site seeing point on the Escalante - Cathedral in the Desert, up Clear Creek Canyon

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Two huge opposing eroded domes make for a wild acoustic experience. Paddling a short distance further up the canyon brought me to the inflow of Clear Creek - a dribble at this point. Before the dam was constructed this must have been a sizable waterfall, as the water is crystal clear and the face of the cliff disappears into the darkness below.

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For the first time today the wind is at my back heading down to the Escalante. A few more miles of cross wind paddling and I find myself at a small island at the mouth of Davis Gulch.

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Weathered rock walls surround the island on nearly all sides
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After a brief swim I quickly realized I forgot a towel and air dry on top of the outcropping in the wind, which is now transitioning to a NW direction, and watch the last boats disperse to their campsites.

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Day 3

The next day I set out early for Explorer Canyon further up the Escalante, but not before duct taping the bad blisters from the prior day’s wind fest. After about 5 miles of paddling ran out of water just before the canyon.

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These guys were beached furthest up the Escalante than anyone else I saw. Kind of an odd spot considering the water gets pretty gross up there.

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Back pedaling about a mile I made it to a set of Anasazi Ruins that I’d also wanted to check out.

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Returning to the clean water
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Once back to my island camp spot I began the 2 miles up Davis Gulch to LaGorce Arch. To my surprise there was quite the tent city set up at the final bend.

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Lunch of peanut butter, rice cakes, Starkist siracha tuna, and peanuts was had at an adjacent cove to the tenters.

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Now it was time to get a look at the arch. Much unlike Clear Creek, the creek in Davis Gulch very gradually meets the lake body and produces a pleasant, and unexpected, shallow meandering creek surrounded by meadow deep within the canyon.

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Oh, and the arch is ok too…

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After explaining to a couple people why I was all the way out there on a paddleboard, which more or less amounted to me shrugging my shoulders, I set out again. This time the goal was to make it back to the mouth of the Escalante so I only had 25 miles for the last two days.

Finally I was a bit ahead of schedule and was able to fish at a few spots closer to the bay at Clear Creek. A couple smallies, nothing of size. And then a small striper, first freshwater striper for me. This was the only time I actually came close to overturning on the entire trip. The wind was cranking at this point and I didn’t realize I had been blown into a steep rock wall. A wave washed me up onto the wall and the fins grabbed, honestly don’t know how I stayed upright. Here’s the little pecker:

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After some more tooling around I thought it would be nice to finally find a camp spot at a reasonable time. Right at the entrance to the Escalante seemed nice.

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However, the W/NW wind continued to build to the point it was nearly blowing stuff away. So loaded everything up and continued up about a mile to a more sheltered spot.

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This was it, not moving again. As I began to get things out for dinner, however, the field mice were coming out in droves. I don’t mean like 3 or 4, we’re talking 10s, 20s. Great. I had inconspicuously chosen a mouse infested camp spot. After dinner everything that was not food went into the tent and the food box (which was not sealed whatsoever) was armored from all sides with rocks.

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Day 4

Tough waking up, kind of late start to the day. As I was leaving camp two kayakers were closing in from down lake, figured they were coming from a houseboat from nearby but was actually two through paddlers. They had put in at Clay Hills Crossing on the San Juan 9 days earlier. Super cool to paddle with these guys and shoot the shit for a couple miles.

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After pushing through a light headwind the first few miles I was greeted with a pretty beastly tail wind for the majority of the day, a very welcomed surprise considering it was the opposite of what was forecasted. As I approached the Rincon from the south the wind continued to build to the point where I couldn’t not try to take more advantage of it.

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The dunes near the Rincon are definitely something I’d like to return to and explore.

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Out came the tent rain fly. I stood on one corner, held two corners in my left hand, and the last in my right.. and prepared for lift off. All I can say is it’s a really well made piece of material. There were times where I could barely hang onto this thing, probably going over 10mph into waves I couldn’t see. It was glorious.

Rode the wind for about 5 miles and broke for lunch.

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After the pit stop the wind really died down and, no longer hyper focused on paddling or holding on for dear life, I was able to really enjoy the last few miles of the lake up the 83 mile marker.

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I decided another small island would be a nice place to spend the last night. The water here was warmer than anywhere I had swam on the lake.

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Finally, some time to update my logs - reflecting on the previous camp spot

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As I was getting around to making dinner the wind completely switched directions and was now bearing down from the north with a vengeance. It would keep up like this for about the next 8 hours. I had to strap the sleeping pad down to the board so as not to lose it while getting the bag. Seriously surprised I didn’t lose any gear. On another note, I was pretty impressed with how wind proof the bag was.

Day 5

Monday morning, last day, a chilly start (overnight low of 46) but on the water by 6:30am with 10 miles to go. There was a headwind the entire way but not anything troublesome.

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Took a break after 7 miles

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Passed the 93 mile marker buoy and paddled into Halls Crossing at 10:30am. Plan came together perfectly, though in hindsight should have put a cooler in the car with some beers..

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A view fleeting glances…

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Back on the road, I wanted to take a bit more time to appreciate the Moki Dugway – a steep and winding 3 mile unpaved grade that ascends from the Valley of the Gods to the top of Cedar Mesa.

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San Juans over the Valley of the Gods
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As I was about to leave a full face helmeted bicyclist rounds the bend at the top and I couldn’t not ask this guy what was up. Long story short, he had flown into Phoenix a month and a half ago and had been riding around the southwest for no particular reason other than always wanting to do it. Right on Karl, right on.

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Humphreys Peak outside of Flagstaff

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Thanks for reading

nice!
thx for sharing

Schweet! Sounds like a great trip.

Nice trip, really good photos! I've always wanted to do a kayak multi-day thing down there, never even thought a SUP would be possible for multiple nights!

Nicely done! Glad the wind wasn't too much of an issue.

Karl is awesome

I did a packraft trip from hole in the rock road and came back up Davis gulch. Those meadows you saw were underwater, we paddled just past LaGorce Arch before hiking up the canyon. It's definitely another world exploring around there by boat instead of on foot.

nice trip. what did you do for a shuttle back from Hall's ferry?

Great TR, man! Thanks for taking the time to share it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by east or bust

Day 3

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!!!

Awesome.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

Absolutely fukkin awesome. Always wanted to spend time there. Always just passing by the lake, look and leave.
Best time of the year, too, I imagine.

Rad!

FKNA - thanks for sharing. It's a nice change of pace from the winter TRs :rolleyes:

Awesome job man. I spent a lot of time in those same spots. Took the paddle board out a lot from the houseboat but just for day trips. Houseboat got sold a few years ago to avoid the zebra mussel invasion, but I need to get back out there, maybe with the board, or at least a rental boat.

Awesome TR and photos, thanks for posting.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by east or bust

As I was leaving camp two kayakers were closing in from down lake, figured they were coming from a houseboat from nearby but was actually two through paddlers. They had put in at Clay Hills Crossing on the San Juan 9 days earlier. Super cool to paddle with these guys and shoot the shit for a couple miles.

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I take it there is no longer a big water fall on the san juan as it gets close to the lake?

fuck i need to make it down there
the catch rate per mile seems low;)
no poopers in those back bays?
ya run a long skeg? or shorter grass?
its such a cool way to travel vrs. seated in the yak or pack raft
super strong work and tr
thanks fer sharing your doing of the thing
Buzz smiles down upon you

Thanks for the kind words yall. Was one of those bucket list item trips that depending on where life takes me over the next few years maybe never would have had another shot at.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by abraham

I did a packraft trip from hole in the rock road and came back up Davis gulch. Those meadows you saw were underwater, we paddled just past LaGorce Arch before hiking up the canyon. It's definitely another world exploring around there by boat instead of on foot.

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That sounds awesome, wish I had more time to explore some of the canyon ends. The kayakers told me there's a waterfall not to far up Davis Gulch that I missed. Would have also liked to see Bement Arch further up the gulch.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BFD

nice trip. what did you do for a shuttle back from Hall's ferry?

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This was an out and back trip. Put in at Halls Crossing and returned there as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by splat

Best time of the year, too, I imagine.

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I definitely had a bit of luck temperature wise. Believe the following week up there was in the high 90s, whereas I don't think it broke 90 while I was there. Also heard the fall is really nice time to be on the lake. Less chance of windy days, decreased boat traffic, nice daytime temps but have to plan for colder nights.

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Originally Posted by 406

I take it there is no longer a big water fall on the san juan as it gets close to the lake?

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No clue to be honest, though I'm sure if the kayakers had to portage a waterfall they would have mentioned it. On google maps it looks like generally smooth sailing from Clay Hills down to the main lake body.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by skifishbum

fuck i need to make it down there
the catch rate per mile seems low;)
no poopers in those back bays?
ya run a long skeg? or shorter grass?
its such a cool way to travel vrs. seated in the yak or pack raft

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Catch rate per mile was definitely low haha. Tons of carp but I honestly have never fished for em and don't really know what I'm doing.
No ability to run longer skegs on this board, it's got three shorts built in.
Standing is nice for sure, the kayakers were envious.

Super cool! I did a day of paddle boarding there last fall, but on the dam end. Fall was nice - not too crowded, water still plenty warm, wasn't windy.
What was water temp? And definitely need to plan around wind huh?
Last, what model SUP is that? Curious on dimensions and how it did for that kind of mileage
Thx!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by east or bust

Catch rate per mile was definitely low haha. Tons of carp but I honestly have never fished for em and don't really know what I'm doing.

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my advice would be dont start;)
and if you do go lower vis stained water first

Very nice trip. I would really like to do some kind of version of this trip. But I would plan for at least one tip over for myself.
Took our boards on a boat trip (Powell) and paddling the inlets is a blast, especially in the evenings.

Thanks for the share.

That was awesome to read about, what a cool trip!
I would love to do something like that on my paddle board one day.

Cool stuff, thanks for sharing!

Oh wow, this is awesome and quite impressive! Thank you for sharing. And the ruins are really cool, I remember seeing them from when I was a child.
It seems this would be a fun trip to do as a one-way car shuttle.
I just bought a sup so this is total stoke - I'm hooked. I'm thinking of doing a 2-night kayak/sup trip somewhere in the San Juans this summer with Legoskier and child.

Nice TR! I wonder how those kayakers are holding up. I just took out from a seven day San Juan River trip yesterday and Clay Hills is in the middle of fucking nowhere. Everything below that is flaaaaaat water. There is also is supposedly an un-runable waterfall between Clay Hills and the Lake from the falling water level. Did they mention it?

Someday I need to do a SUP based trip like this. Thanks for the inspiration!

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Originally Posted by m104da

What was water temp? And definitely need to plan around wind huh?
Last, what model SUP is that? Curious on dimensions and how it did for that kind of mileage
Thx!

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I saw about 75*F before my trip, though don't what point on the lake that was taken. The Escalante arm felt really cold to me - like mid 60s, the main lake body slightly warmer. I could just be a wuss now from living in the desert.

It's a badfisher, 11.5'x36"x6". Pretty rock solid as far as stability goes. I think something more streamlined would have been better suited for the trip but this board sure as hell got it done and never felt like a burden. Think I had about 60lbs of gear with me between food/clothes/camp stuffs/camera crap/etc and did not feel like it was overloaded whatsoever. Also, just a word about the durability and overall build quality - short answer is it rocks. I'm not polite with the board at all and have been very impressed to say the least.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by divegirl

It seems this would be a fun trip to do as a one-way car shuttle.
I just bought a sup so this is total stoke - I'm hooked. I'm thinking of doing a 2-night kayak/sup trip somewhere in the San Juans this summer with Legoskier and child.

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100%. Would have loved to go straight from Halls Crossing to the dam!
Not sure if the Dolores is technically considered in the San Juans but that would be a fun river to float if you're into fishing.

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Originally Posted by ASmileyFace

Nice TR! I wonder how those kayakers are holding up. I just took out from a seven day San Juan River trip yesterday and Clay Hills is in the middle of fucking nowhere. Everything below that is flaaaaaat water. There is also is supposedly an un-runable waterfall between Clay Hills and the Lake from the falling water level. Did they mention it?

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Didn't hear anything about a waterfall from the kayak guys, however after doing some digging there indeed appears to be a set of falls about 4 miles south of Clay Hills deemed fatt falls. After seeing pics it sure as hell does not look runable for a sane person.

https://i0.wp.com/ballantine-apro.s3...g?w=2000&ssl=1
Taken from here:
https://adventurepro.us/sufferpackin...southern-utah/
^This is a good read as well if you've got time.

Here's a link to a good description of the location. If you read this while following along on google earth you'll find it.
https://rrfw.org/riverwire/waterfall...san-juan-river

Yeah, I looked into it after asking about the same and looks like it is there as of 2016:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOnmUNHLpIA

I think it is creeping up stream, not sure about rate.

Similar feature just below the Pearce Ferry take-out for the Grand Canyon



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Quote:

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Originally Posted by east or bust

https://i0.wp.com/ballantine-apro.s3...g?w=2000&ssl=1
Taken from here:
https://adventurepro.us/sufferpackin...southern-utah/
^This is a good read as well if you've got time.

Here's a link to a good description of the location. If you read this while following along on google earth you'll find it.
https://rrfw.org/riverwire/waterfall...san-juan-river

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I know Cole Davis, he lives just down the street from me. He's a good dude, but holy shit is that a sufferfest. That 200 mile ride back to Clay Hills would have been horrific, I'm glad they skipped it and bailed. Character builder of an adventure to say the least lol.

There are a couple signs at Clay Hills warning people about the waterfall. We talked to two guys doing fish biology research on the Juan and they told us about a sand stake blowing with three boats on it that accidentally ran the falls a few years back and totaled all the boats. Worth remembering if you ever feel like going from Clay Hills down or forget to tie a boat up when the water is on the rise (that may have happened to us this time but we found it).

And that rapid at Pearce Ferry is fucking gnar. I've seen some videos of creature crafts running it and I would never go near it in a normal boat of any sort.

Sorry for the thread drift east or bust! But damn if the San Juan down to Glen isn't just some interesting canyon country. What I would give to see if pre-Glen....

Great TR man! Thanks for taking the time to post it up.

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Originally Posted by ASmileyFace

damn if the San Juan down to Glen isn't just some interesting canyon country. What I would give to see if pre-Glen....

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Truth!

No worries about the drift, hell, identifying those falls here could potentially save a life someday.

Really cool, East or Bust. Looks pretty unforgettable. Thanks for putting a TR together, it's a nice reminder of why we're all here.

Right on, thanks for posting! I have asperations of doing some touring on my sup so wicked to see it getting done. What an amazing spot and great photos east or bust!