Bimini Cave, Lake Powell KNOW BEFORE YOU GO MAP A longtime staple for adventurers, the Lake Powell and Its 96 Canyons Boating and Exploring Map by Stan Jones and Steve Ward is an essential tool for going into backcountry areas where cell phone service may be nonexistent. BOAT RENTALS & FUEL Rent pontoon boats, powerboats and kayaks from the Lake Powell Vacations office in Page, Wahweap boat launch and at Antelope Point Marina on Navajo Nation tribal lands. Both locations also have fuel. You also can buy fuel at Bullfrog Marina (Mile 94+), and you’ll need to! Note: Dangling Rope Marina is still closed for repairs, meaning there is NO FUEL mid-lake. Be certain you top off your boat tank before leaving the marina and strongly consider carrying additional fuel in safe gas containers. I recommend 15 to 20 gallons as a reserve. ACCOMMODATIONS Page has a fine range of motels and hotels, including several new properties. You can buy all your provisions in Page. They have a big Safeway and a Walmart, etc. FEES Lake Powell is the heart of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, administered by the National Park Service. If you don’t have the NPS Annual Parks Pass, you will pay $35 at the gate. WATER LEVEL Track Lake Powell’s current water level at lakepowell.water-data.co m. at least, Glen Canyon is returning to life, water in the desert flowing freely, with only my heartbeat to compete with the sound of music, at the apex of a great alcove. This is what I ventured here to discover, a hint of rebirth as this ecosystem is healing before our eyes. I believe Ed Abbey would be rightfully pleased. THE JOURNEY HOME Lake Powell has always had a roll call of wonders, but now there are new wonders to discover as you roam. Rainbow Bridge is currently far from the water’s edge, just as it was for thousands of years, and that distant afternoon I swam directly beneath it in the storied summer of ‘83 now seems like a fever dream. So, it is possible, though somewhat unlikely, that when this great megadrought breaks, that a succession of heavy, snowy winters might fill this great lake—er, reservoir. But until that fateful day, there is much to marvel over and walk and kayak and study and admire at low water, in the corridor of canyons traversed by Powell 150-plus years ago. Even now there are new beaches of soft sand to walk and bed for the night, set under a canopy of supremely dark skies. We camped on such a beach on our last night, in Padre Bay with landmark Cookie Jar Butte just north. A nearly full moon was our nightlight from dusk to pre-dawn, as the minimal lights of Page dotted a sliver of horizon 20 miles to the south. As I relaxed and reflected on the trip, I realized that what I’d happily found was an unexpected rebirth of Glen Canyon. KERRICK JAMES (ALL PHOTOS) 33
Arizona Official State Travel Guide Arizona 2022-23: Page 33
