Blanding UT to Lake Powell UT
7-5-14
Day 46
We knew we had to link with a boat to ferry us across Lake Powell
by 4pm so we were on the road just after 6am for the 95 mile ride. The high
desert is chilly at night and in the morning and smokin’ hot in the late
afternoon.
The trip through Glen Canyon to Lake Powell was spectacular.
Far off in the distance we could see Monument Valley and its towering monuments
of stone. All around us was red rock beauty carved by water thousands of years
ago. No matter how hard you try a camera
cannot convey the intense natural beauty this area offers.
From any high mesa you can see for 50 miles or more in any
direction. And wherever you look is a spectacular site to see.
The road to the lake was virtually car free all day unless
you needed to take a leak than there was a parade of 5 or 6 cars going by. Most of the day was spent riding in the
middle of the road without the worry of traffic. If this is how it is on a
holiday weekend I wonder how it is on a slow day!
Lake Powell is a beautiful marine oasis in the desert
surrounded by red rock cliffs. You can
clearly see the lake level is down over 90 feet from its high water mark in
1987. Seven rivers feed the lake but most of its water comes from the
Colorado. The next dam on the river is
the Hoover dam creating Lake Mead.
The lakes marinas are full of ski and house boats. Some of
these houseboats are 70 feet long with two floors of living and a top deck and
even a hot tub. Any house boat under 50’
is considered small here. This is another one of the places we would like to
stay and enjoy but our wagon train must move on.Tomorrow could possibly be one of our most difficult. We are taking a shortcut through the Burr Canyon Trail. Our day will have plenty of climbing and most of that will be on a 16 mile gravel road. If the gravel is hard packed we should be able to get through. Should the gravel be loose we could have problems. Pushing one of these overweight bicycles for any distance would be terribly slow.
95 Miles
Weather 100 degrees Sun
4860 Feet of Climbing
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