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I wasn't going to even post a trip report from this trip, but then I figured why the hell not? There wasn't much hiking or anything, but Glen Canyon is still a pretty amazing place whether on foot or by boat, flooded or not. So here we go...
I planned this one out a month or so in advance knowing that the weather was a total wildcard that time of year. I hadn't seen my friend Nate in a while though, so a long weekend on the boat sounded great. We got out of SLC just after lunch on Saturday afternoon. By the time we picked up the boat and made it to the ramp, we had just minutes to get it launched and find a campsite before dark. We motored through the Castle Rock Cut and found a beach in Warm Creek to call home for the night. It was a bit shallow for my taste. I think I dinged up my prop and it definitely took a little extra muscle to get us off in the morning, but it did the job.
The next day we headed up lake. No real plan in mind, just exploration and a bit of scouting for some hiking trips planned for later this year.
Old Nikita yawning in the morning.
Nikita and Sage cuddling up for the drive.
We stopped in Padre Bay to cook breakfast and go for a swim before heading further up. After a quick stop to check out Labyrinth Canyon, we arrived at Dangling Rope to top off the tank. They say "never pass gas!"... in a boat.
After Dangling Rope we explored a few side canyons and nooks in that area. It had become overcast out but it was still pretty warm. Driftood Canyon was a real treat with it's narrow passageways and streaked walls, some doing a pretty good job of overtaking the bathtub ring.
One of the routes I was scouting was the old Klondike Trail. It provided access from Klondike Bar to the rim of the canyon during the Glen Canyon gold rush. Notice the steps right in the center of the photo crossing over the high water mark (HWM).
Next we stopped for lunch in a sheltered cove not too far from Rainbow Bridge.
I walked around a bit and scared off a Great Blue Heron. There were carp all over the cove slurping off the surface. I'm not sure why, but we tried to catch some. It didn't work.
I found an old stake pounded into the rock here. It's shameful that this has become common practice here. Not only does it destroy the landscape, but it's also incredibly dangerous. I read an article recently that a boater impaled himself on one of these that had been submerged. He was just swimming near his beached boat, no idea there was a bar protruding up from the rock. Bad day... I stacked rocks over and around it to hopefully keep others from hitting it.
Next we headed up lake and lucky for us, the sun came back out. First stop was Twilight Canyon and Twilight Arch. This one is normally submerged under HWM, but no today.
The other side of Twilight Arch.
Next we headed over to Oak Bay but the wind was howling and campsites looked poor so we decided to head back to our sheltered lunch spot.
It was nice enough there that a swim or two was in order, despite the 60˚ water.
Long exposure at camp.
We had a fine view of Navajo Mountain and it's gnarly sandstone flanks.
The old dog. It seems like she's aged 3 or 4 years since last summer. She can barely walk a couple hundred yards from the boat. But she still loves every second of it. Crazy to think her face used to be almost pure black.
Navajo Mountain from camp
The young dog
Looking down Glen Canyon from a high point near camp.
The next day was clear and super warm. A little windy, but not too bad in the sheltered spots. We explored Cathedral Canyon first. It was spectacular. One thing that really bugs me about exploring Glen Canyon from boat is that the canyons tend to look the same. Slickrock walls with water. No greenery, no trees, no life. Just rock and water. But despite this, Cathedral had a unique and special character. The walls shot up through the navajo and wingate to the tops of the high plateaus more than 2000' above. It was simply stunning. It's hard to capture the feel of being in any submerged Glen Canyon tributary in a photo, but this came close.
After a few narrow spots, we finally hit one that the boat was just too big for. Get out the kayaks!
When we got back out to the main channel the wind was howling. We moved down lake to the Rock Creek shitter and tied up there for a little while, sipping mimosas and soaking in the incredibly warm sunshine. Eventually we threw off the dock lines and headed into Rock Creek.
Once again, I couldn't even begin to capture the place in a photo, but the walls in Rock Creek were sublime. Huge wingate walls with pockets and hoodoos all over the place. We made our way up into Dry Rock Creek and then into the north fork before finding a place to beach the boat and have some lunch. The scenery was excellent.
There was a curious cave right above where we parked the boat. After wolfing down a couple of wraps, I put on some shoes and walked up to it.
Upon closer inspection, there wasn't much to see. Just a little hole and some modern petroglyphs from boaters nearby.
Nate hung out in the shade on the boat. It actually got warm enough that afternoon to make the bimini mandatory.
After Rock Creek, we cruised down lake looking for a campsite. The weather was calm and beautiful until we got down to around Padre Bay.
But then things got pretty crazy. The wind kicked up with a vengeance. We searched around for a sheltered spot in Padre, but just ended up returning to just inside the mouth of Face Canyon where we found a little nook that avoided most of the wind.
By sunset, the wind had calmed down for the most part, leaving us with a fine view of the mesas to the east.
We stayed up late, once again. Tumbleweeds burned and so did some shoes (accidentally). The next day we packed up and headed back to Wahweap for the long drive home. The temps had dropped and clouds covered the sky. Just before going back through the CRC, we passed by an assembling flotilla of houseboats on their way back up to Bullfrog for the busy summer season.
Inside the Castle Rock Cut with just under 10 feet of water.
It was a pretty uneventful trip, but that was just what I needed after the last couple of outings. I have big plans of boat-supported hikes and backpacks out here this year.
Featured image for home page:
I planned this one out a month or so in advance knowing that the weather was a total wildcard that time of year. I hadn't seen my friend Nate in a while though, so a long weekend on the boat sounded great. We got out of SLC just after lunch on Saturday afternoon. By the time we picked up the boat and made it to the ramp, we had just minutes to get it launched and find a campsite before dark. We motored through the Castle Rock Cut and found a beach in Warm Creek to call home for the night. It was a bit shallow for my taste. I think I dinged up my prop and it definitely took a little extra muscle to get us off in the morning, but it did the job.
The next day we headed up lake. No real plan in mind, just exploration and a bit of scouting for some hiking trips planned for later this year.
Old Nikita yawning in the morning.
Nikita and Sage cuddling up for the drive.
We stopped in Padre Bay to cook breakfast and go for a swim before heading further up. After a quick stop to check out Labyrinth Canyon, we arrived at Dangling Rope to top off the tank. They say "never pass gas!"... in a boat.
After Dangling Rope we explored a few side canyons and nooks in that area. It had become overcast out but it was still pretty warm. Driftood Canyon was a real treat with it's narrow passageways and streaked walls, some doing a pretty good job of overtaking the bathtub ring.
One of the routes I was scouting was the old Klondike Trail. It provided access from Klondike Bar to the rim of the canyon during the Glen Canyon gold rush. Notice the steps right in the center of the photo crossing over the high water mark (HWM).
Next we stopped for lunch in a sheltered cove not too far from Rainbow Bridge.
I walked around a bit and scared off a Great Blue Heron. There were carp all over the cove slurping off the surface. I'm not sure why, but we tried to catch some. It didn't work.
I found an old stake pounded into the rock here. It's shameful that this has become common practice here. Not only does it destroy the landscape, but it's also incredibly dangerous. I read an article recently that a boater impaled himself on one of these that had been submerged. He was just swimming near his beached boat, no idea there was a bar protruding up from the rock. Bad day... I stacked rocks over and around it to hopefully keep others from hitting it.
Next we headed up lake and lucky for us, the sun came back out. First stop was Twilight Canyon and Twilight Arch. This one is normally submerged under HWM, but no today.
The other side of Twilight Arch.
Next we headed over to Oak Bay but the wind was howling and campsites looked poor so we decided to head back to our sheltered lunch spot.
It was nice enough there that a swim or two was in order, despite the 60˚ water.
Long exposure at camp.
We had a fine view of Navajo Mountain and it's gnarly sandstone flanks.
The old dog. It seems like she's aged 3 or 4 years since last summer. She can barely walk a couple hundred yards from the boat. But she still loves every second of it. Crazy to think her face used to be almost pure black.
Navajo Mountain from camp
The young dog
Looking down Glen Canyon from a high point near camp.
The next day was clear and super warm. A little windy, but not too bad in the sheltered spots. We explored Cathedral Canyon first. It was spectacular. One thing that really bugs me about exploring Glen Canyon from boat is that the canyons tend to look the same. Slickrock walls with water. No greenery, no trees, no life. Just rock and water. But despite this, Cathedral had a unique and special character. The walls shot up through the navajo and wingate to the tops of the high plateaus more than 2000' above. It was simply stunning. It's hard to capture the feel of being in any submerged Glen Canyon tributary in a photo, but this came close.
After a few narrow spots, we finally hit one that the boat was just too big for. Get out the kayaks!
When we got back out to the main channel the wind was howling. We moved down lake to the Rock Creek shitter and tied up there for a little while, sipping mimosas and soaking in the incredibly warm sunshine. Eventually we threw off the dock lines and headed into Rock Creek.
Once again, I couldn't even begin to capture the place in a photo, but the walls in Rock Creek were sublime. Huge wingate walls with pockets and hoodoos all over the place. We made our way up into Dry Rock Creek and then into the north fork before finding a place to beach the boat and have some lunch. The scenery was excellent.
There was a curious cave right above where we parked the boat. After wolfing down a couple of wraps, I put on some shoes and walked up to it.
Upon closer inspection, there wasn't much to see. Just a little hole and some modern petroglyphs from boaters nearby.
Nate hung out in the shade on the boat. It actually got warm enough that afternoon to make the bimini mandatory.
After Rock Creek, we cruised down lake looking for a campsite. The weather was calm and beautiful until we got down to around Padre Bay.
But then things got pretty crazy. The wind kicked up with a vengeance. We searched around for a sheltered spot in Padre, but just ended up returning to just inside the mouth of Face Canyon where we found a little nook that avoided most of the wind.
By sunset, the wind had calmed down for the most part, leaving us with a fine view of the mesas to the east.
We stayed up late, once again. Tumbleweeds burned and so did some shoes (accidentally). The next day we packed up and headed back to Wahweap for the long drive home. The temps had dropped and clouds covered the sky. Just before going back through the CRC, we passed by an assembling flotilla of houseboats on their way back up to Bullfrog for the busy summer season.
Inside the Castle Rock Cut with just under 10 feet of water.
It was a pretty uneventful trip, but that was just what I needed after the last couple of outings. I have big plans of boat-supported hikes and backpacks out here this year.
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