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Lake Powell, 2021

Racey

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Wishful thinking indeed.

Anyone have a link to more recent satellite imagery?

FYI most of that stuff isn't satellite, they literally fly a plane over in a grid or stripe pattern and take photographs. Those plane flights usually only happen ever few years, and in rural places, like every 5-10 years.
 

Echo Lodge

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The Cut
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Racer56

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We have a one week houseboat trip out of Wahweap Thursday morning. I'm picking up my boat in Havasu and heading up to Page on Wednesday.

WTF do I do if the Wahweap ramp is closed? If it's open on Thursday morning I can launch but what if it's closed at the end of our trip a week later.

Also, anyone know if they reopened the fuel docks at dangling rope?
 

Marios Metalworks

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Looks like we’ll be launching from Lone Rock beach. One of the other tow vehicles is an F150 so not worried about getting stuck.

Good news is I should be getting great parking close to the marina.

Any word on Antelope Valet remaining open?
 

seanroberts

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Wow, this was the 1st rime in 16 years I wasn’t at Powell. I sold my 2 shares on the Midas Touch last year after my July trip. This is very sad to see.
 

77charger

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We have a one week houseboat trip out of Wahweap Thursday morning. I'm picking up my boat in Havasu and heading up to Page on Wednesday.

WTF do I do if the Wahweap ramp is closed? If it's open on Thursday morning I can launch but what if it's closed at the end of our trip a week later.

Also, anyone know if they reopened the fuel docks at dangling rope?
If you have 4wd you can probably use lone rock beach.We are going the 29th i can launch mine easily my brothers dcb worst case well launch and retrive it at lone rock too.Were pretty experienced with soft sand with going to glamis and all just gotta air it down.If you have trouble with a closed ramp when you leave provided its the 30th til the 3rd we can give you a hand well have 2-3 4wd in camp.
 

Racer56

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If you have 4wd you can probably use lone rock beach.We are going the 29th i can launch mine easily my brothers dcb worst case well launch and retrive it at lone rock too.Were pretty experienced with soft sand with going to glamis and all just gotta air it down.If you have trouble with a closed ramp when you leave provided its the 30th til the 3rd we can give you a hand well have 2-3 4wd in camp.

Thanks for the offer. Just got off the phone with my BIL and he is bringing his 4x4 super duty and we should be fine to launch and retrieve at Lone Rock if we have to.
 

mesquito_creek

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Thanks for the offer. Just got off the phone with my BIL and he is bringing his 4x4 super duty and we should be fine to launch and retrieve at Lone Rock if we have to.
You can always call over to Antelope and use the Valet service also... I also bet that they figure out a way to let people get off the water who get trapped by the closure. They will probably close it up top and stop anyone from launching but have a way to get people off the water...
 

Boat 405

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Fuck...

My trip is mid August.
Same here.... But I have heard they are going to open the legacy ramp between wahweap and stateline. Old ramp by the fish cleaning station I think... Ramp they built before the lake was filled.
 

Marios Metalworks

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Mid August here as well with four boats to launch.

Any word on the valet service ramp and when it becomes unusable?
 

kimbalee

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NPS posted yesterday one ramp at Wahweap and one ramp at Bullfrog will be extended 80ft with pipemats so that visitors can enjoy the lake for the rest of the season. We're heading to Bullfrog for after Labor Day so this is great news for us! There will be temporary closures soon for the construction/pipemat installation.
 

throttle

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A bit nervous about our trip this week... our plan is to come and go from a slip at Antelope Point. We plan to use the valet once to launch and retrieve later at the end of week.

@Racer56 dangling rope still closed. no services available.
 

77charger

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Early 90s they didnt have that bouy line there we use to boat right up to it and rest.One year we rode our stand ups from lone rock to there and skied along the concrete touching the dam with one hand.I wont ever forget that was a weird feeling being along a huge wall thinking if it broke you are first over the falls!
 

2Driver

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As a reference for some.

We made it in our rental house boat ( 48’ Navigator with twin yam outboards) to DR and the back of rock creek and back to Wawheap on about 50 gallons. We ran at optimal fuel rpm which I forget what that was and went through the cut. Our boat had the toy tank which you can use to fill the house boat tank if you had to.
 

bk2drvr

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As a reference for some.

We made it in our rental house boat ( 48’ Navigator with twin yam outboards) to DR and the back of rock creek and back to Wawheap on about 50 gallons. We ran at optimal fuel rpm which I forget what that was and went through the cut. Our boat had the toy tank which you can use to fill the house boat tank if you had to.

I thought the cut was dry?
 

Marios Metalworks

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Thanks for the info @2Driver.

The crew and I have been talking about running north to Bullfrog instead of down to Antelope for fuel/ice. Nobody has been that far north yet so why not!

Looks like ~53 miles from the mouth of Last Chance? Can anybody shed light on BF marina?
 

mesquito_creek

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Thanks for the info @2Driver.

The crew and I have been talking about running north to Bullfrog instead of down to Antelope for fuel/ice. Nobody has been that far north yet so why not!

Looks like ~53 miles from the mouth of Last Chance? Can anybody shed light on BF marina?

It’s a long haul to and from last chance to to bull frog. I did it a couple years back. Here are the two tracks I have. The first is from bullfrog to escalante. The second is from escalente to wetherill.


 

Nanu/Nanu

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Yeah absolutely Antelope if I was in Last Chance.
I second that motion going to antelope escalante I think is around Mile marker 68 and your around Mile marker 28 in last chance going off my memory. I don't know how far bull frog is past escalante but that's burning alot of fuel to get fuel.

But if you're looking for a day trip that would definitely be a good one!
 

Marios Metalworks

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Anybody have a good Powell map with mile markers? Mine are in the boat at the shop.

Edit: high quality pdf or jpeg will work.
 

SD2Havasu

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Same here.... But I have heard they are going to open the legacy ramp between wahweap and stateline. Old ramp by the fish cleaning station I think... Ramp they built before the lake was filled.

We just returned yesterday from a week trip in/out of Wahweep. Ranger Staff at quagga inspection zone on the launch ramp confirmed that the Wahweep ramp will likely be closed - potentially w exception of one lane - due to low water levels, but that the original ramp near state line is starting to surface and they intend to refurbish that ramp in an attempt to open it and maintain access to the lake. Not sure on dates when this could occur.

Sounds like Wahweep ramp is already closed to new launches of houseboats and strongly recommending that those on the water get out soon.

Water levels seem to be dropping noticeably each day. I have not tracked measurements on websites, etc.; however it seemed like as much as 3-4 inches per day. As a result, we had a difficult time unlodging the houseboat from the beach each time (something we did every 2 days).

Once on the lake, the boating is incredible. We noticed only a few unmarked low areas between Wahweep and bouy 28 in Last Chance.
 

Boat 405

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We just returned yesterday from a week trip in/out of Wahweep. Ranger Staff at quagga inspection zone on the launch ramp confirmed that the Wahweep ramp will likely be closed - potentially w exception of one lane - due to low water levels, but that the original ramp near state line is starting to surface and they intend to refurbish that ramp in an attempt to open it and maintain access to the lake. Not sure on dates when this could occur.

Sounds like Wahweep ramp is already closed to new launches of houseboats and strongly recommending that those on the water get out soon.

Water levels seem to be dropping noticeably each day. I have not tracked measurements on websites, etc.; however it seemed like as much as 3-4 inches per day. As a result, we had a difficult time unlodging the houseboat from the beach each time (something we did every 2 days).

Once on the lake, the boating is incredible. We noticed only a few unmarked low areas between Wahweep and bouy 28 in Last Chance.


Thanks for the update, yeah the lake is huge. The low water levels will create new explorations that I'm looking forward to next month. How was the gravel ramp at wahweap?
 

Marios Metalworks

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Love the firsthand stuff, keep it coming.

From what I’m reading the lower water levels have opened up some gorgeous beaches in Last Chance so looking forward to that.

And thanks @mesquito_creek. I have ~70 miles from Last Chance to BF of the Google maps measurement tool (within a mile of the mile marker map you posted). At 38mph with a consumption rate of 8gph, I’m estimating 15 gallons one way straight shot. So basically back to camp with ~35 gallons in the boat + auxiliary gas cans.

Same numbers to Antelope put me at 6 gallons one way. So basically ~44 gallons in the boat at camp.

With a swing of 10 gallons and the Maytag straights in play I think we’ll make the BF run at least once. Seams prudent to combine it with a day trip up the Escalante or San Juan. A long late afternoon cruise back to camp sounds lovely.

At this point I might geek out and build an excel calculator for fun 🤓
 

mesquito_creek

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Love the firsthand stuff, keep it coming.

From what I’m reading the lower water levels have opened up some gorgeous beaches in Last Chance so looking forward to that.

And thanks @mesquito_creek. I have ~70 miles from Last Chance to BF of the Google maps measurement tool (within a mile of the mile marker map you posted). At 38mph with a consumption rate of 8gph, I’m estimating 15 gallons one way straight shot. So basically back to camp with ~35 gallons in the boat + auxiliary gas cans.

Same numbers to Antelope put me at 6 gallons one way. So basically ~44 gallons in the boat at camp.

With a swing of 10 gallons and the Maytag straights in play I think we’ll make the BF run at least once. Seams prudent to combine it with a day trip up the Escalante or San Juan. A long late afternoon cruise back to camp sounds lovely.

At this point I might geek out and build an excel calculator for fun 🤓

I think your distances are right on the money. Those gps tracks I posted included a trip to the end of Escalante and a couple quick side canyons totaling about 90 miles one way. I cruise at about 30 mph at 1.5 mpg... So at 38 mph I suggest you get started early so you can account for the floating stops and sights.

Personally, I think the San Juan deserves a night on its own and its a bit of a haul back in there to get to the big bay. I would combine Escalente and Halls bay in lieu of SJ. Halls bay is interesting, you won't hardly see it as you pass, but once you work yourself back in there it opens up to sandy beaches everywhere and you will see where all the Utah people are hiding out...

With the Lake down at 3555, I would invest in Navonics and the bathymetry maps to help you out on the trip. I have found it to be mandatory for me at this lake level.

8 mpg?... practically a hybrid, you got lots of range!
 

JD D05

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Love the firsthand stuff, keep it coming.

From what I’m reading the lower water levels have opened up some gorgeous beaches in Last Chance so looking forward to that.

And thanks @mesquito_creek. I have ~70 miles from Last Chance to BF of the Google maps measurement tool (within a mile of the mile marker map you posted). At 38mph with a consumption rate of 8gph, I’m estimating 15 gallons one way straight shot. So basically back to camp with ~35 gallons in the boat + auxiliary gas cans.

Same numbers to Antelope put me at 6 gallons one way. So basically ~44 gallons in the boat at camp.

With a swing of 10 gallons and the Maytag straights in play I think we’ll make the BF run at least once. Seams prudent to combine it with a day trip up the Escalante or San Juan. A long late afternoon cruise back to camp sounds lovely.

At this point I might geek out and build an excel calculator for fun 🤓

Escalante a few weeks ago.
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