Summer of Hell - Days 5-6: Lake Powell

Lake Powell is a Colorado River reservoir held back by the Glen Canyon Dam. It's a figurative sea of cool water in a very hot desert, and we needed a break from all the heat! Wednesday we rented a 44' pontoon boat and spent the day exploring the bays and canyons, plus jumping off the boat and swimming of course. Thursday we hiked to see some dinosaur tracks and a set of amazing sandstone caves before driving into Zion.

Parked for exploring

On a boat!

We didn't really know what to expect, but we were super excited to get out on the water. We took the free golf carts down to the marina and were onboard in an hour - ready to explore!

Lake Powell map

Sara and I are ASA-licensed Bareboat Charter Captains (from when we got engaged!), but they'll let any schmo rent one of these things. It's just like driving an RV. We headed up the Navajo Canyon first.

Captains chair and cooler

The water is 400-500' deep in some places, so there's no anchoring. I got the boat mostly stopped, turned off the engine, and we just swam around while it drifted. I had to turn the engine back on once or twice to avoid bumping into the walls.

Heading into canyons

We were all shocked at how big the boat is! We easily could have slept onboard. The second story was amazing for the shade provided. Also for the waterslide and perfect jumping off point! The water was so refreshingly cool we spent hours floating around the boat.

Miles diving in Charlie on the waterslide Miles and Quinn jumping Swimming the Navajo Canyon Ed floating

We headed further into the lake, everyone got a chance to helm.

Orion at the helm Harriet at the helm

The girls put on a bow dance party. It was so much fun to be traveling with such good friends.

Harriet and Beth dance party Sara and Beth

We anchored in Face Canyon, our previous sailing experience really helped here, and got out and explored a little.

Anchored William and Ed climbing the rocks Miles and Charlie on the rocks

Everyone had a blast, we were all exhausted by the time we got back to the marina.

Quinn and Harriet Kids having fun

Touch the AC vents and die

Bar food for dinner and early to bed.

Sunset

At least that was the plan. It was still super hot and the RV air conditioning wasn't working. After an hour of trying to sleep while sweating through the sheets, and realizing it was cooler outside, I discovered some helpful child had closed the AC vents earlier in the day. It didn't cool down enough for anyone to sleep until 1-2am. Lots of cranky people snapping at each other.

New rule in our RV: touch the AC vents and die.

Thursday morning was super slow, we all slept in, before we packed up and headed off for the 2.5hr drive to Zion.

RVs in the morning