Back Road Whispers: Lake Powell, Antelope Canyon, and the Glen Canyon Dam

Lake Powell Resort

Page, Arizona

Wahweap is translated to "Bitter Water" - bitter maybe, beautiful definitely

A little better peek than we had earlier. In fact that is the boat we will be taking into Antelope Canyon tomorrow. Sure looks little....

No wonder the boat looks so small...the lake is 186 miles long and backs up into more than 96 major side canyons. The shoreline is 1,960 miles and encompasses 27 million acre-feet with a surface area of 161,390 acres. It is the second largest, after Lake Mead, man-made lake in the United States. After the dam was completed it took 17 years for the lake to fill to full level. This sucker is HUGE!

Views around the resort. The marina is the largest on Lake Powell and host one of the most luxurious (read $$$'s) houseboats in America according to HGTV. The black windowed one, top of the far right side, on the photo below is thought to be it...not sure if it is for rent but other houseboats are if you are so inclined. Some of them are the permanent homes of the owners.

Recognize the smokestacks in the background? They are at the Navajo Generating Station.

The fire department was out doing whatever they were doing. Sure was pretty from my view point.

The came the highlight of the Lake Powell stop...a boat tour of Antelope Canyon.

The formations were absolutely gorgeous, my camera was worn out by the time we returned to the marina. Enjoy what I saw, there will be very few comments.

The hotel on the left.

The restaurant on the right.

Unfortunately the drought has affected the water levels of Lake Powell also, as you can see by the waterline- um, or on the bottom half of the monkey fac.

There were kids jumping from the the big rock, showing off for the tour boat I think :)

The young lady on the next rock over saw us taking pictures and waved a "wait a minute" type wave and scurried to the edge so she too would be famous.

The fishermen were out trying to catch some of the many fish that reside in the lake: Walleye, catfish, crappie, small mouth and striped bass, and bluegill.

A view of the dam and bridge from the business side...

And now is when I hush as I promised....

Hanging gardens.

Yup we are going down there


Didn't check to see if anyone was home.


about to turn this corner

Nice spot for a picnic.

I guess all the rocks and formations having names along the way has gone to my head....I saw something in all of them that would lead me to name them. The following three are my favorite additions to the name game. You have to use your imagination or be as weird as I am....

The goldfish or lobster tail (darker rock on top with the flipping tail - even has a dark eye)

Gila Monster!!!!! See him coming over the top of the rock?

This one is a bit tougher....The Mole Hole

His face is at the 8:00 position with nose and eyes, the top of his mole hole has collapsed behind him forcing him to come out.

Yes, these were named BEFORE the margarita.

Our last afternoon at Lake Powell was a mini-tour of the area. The first stop was at the Carl Hayden Visitors Center at the Glen Canyon Dam.

and this is the bridge that the bridgephobic rode across....luckily I was so busy taking pictures and getting first looks at Lake Powell (not to mention feeling safe with Paul behind the wheel) it didn't bother me.

Glen Canyon Dam

The stats which make my eyes glaze over, but in case it is your thing....

Height above bedrock: 710 feet

Height above original river channel: 583 feet

Maximum thickness at foundation: 350 feet

Thickness at crest: 25 feet

Length 665 feet

Width 150 feet

Height 100 feet

COSTS

Dam: $145,000,000

Power Plant: $70,000,000

Recreation Facilities: 28,000,000

Lake Powell was named for Major John Wesley Powell, a civil war veteran who was the first to explore the canyons and the Colorado and Green Rivers.. He kept detailed maps, notes and journals of the explorations and the folks back east waited eagerly for his next chapter.


John Wesley Powell

Courtesy of Wikipedia - camping along the Green River, Wyoming.

Doesn't everyone wear suits and ties to do their explorations of rugged country? By the way, I took neither of these photos. :)

Page, Arizona grew from the building of the dam and Glen Canyon Bridge. The community sprang up for workers and after completion of the bridge and dam, they were reluctant to leave and many remained to form the nucleus of a new community.

We took a tour of Page, including one of the favorite stops on the tour...

On one of the previous tours one of the passengers asked Bruce if there was somewhere they could buy some "digestive" medicine. (They probably had eaten the whole regular Indian Fry Bread Taco). Since it was right there on their route they pulled into the Walmart lot. The ones wanting the medicine got off the bus and everyone else did too! They all came back carrying bags of beer, wine, food, and other necessities. So it became a regular stop. It was perfect since it was about halfway through the tour which is when you start thinking "why didn't I pack some XXXX". Scott and I bought sandwiches for $2.00 instead of the usual $20.00 and I got a couple of zippered tote bags that I thought I might need since someone who calls me "Mom" was hitting every gift shop in sight and not buying bookmarks.

The town was sorta cool in its layout. All the churches were along one circle (10:00 Sunday morning has got to be the granddaddy of all traffic jams), all the emergency services were clumped together, the boating shops and services, etc. Whatever your need was it could easily be found by going to one section of town.

Along the way we passed, but didn't stop at the John Wesley Powell Museum. Outside was a replica of the boat he and his crew used to do their explorations.

The Emma Dean

Emma Dean was John W. Powell's wife

He has been honored by the following, also found on Wikipedia:

In recognition of his national service, Powell was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Lake Powell, a man-made reservoir on the Colorado River, was named for Powell.
Powell Plateau, near Steamboat Mountain on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon was also named in his honor.
Powell, Wyoming Major Powell never explored the Powell flats given his name.^[15]
In Powell's honor, the USGS National Center in Reston, Virginia, was dedicated as the John Wesley Powell Federal Building in 1974. In addition, the highest award presented by the USGS to persons outside the federal government is named the John Wesley Powell Award.
The residential building of the Criminal Justice Services Department of Mesa County in Grand Junction, Colorado, is named after John Wesley Powell.^[16]
John Wesley Powell Middle School is located in Littleton, Colorado.^[17]
Powell Jr High School is located in Mesa, Arizona.
He was portrayed by John Beal in the 1960 film Ten Who Dared.

We were worn out from out exciting trip to Walmart, so ate our $2.00 sandwiches and cupcakes and headed to bed. One of our tour mates stayed up to watch the moon rise and said it was beautiful. Hopefully I can talk her out of some pictures.

Up the next morning to see the sunrise at least, and it was beautiful.