Looking for local info on Lake Powell

[mcoffey]

Hi all, I know a few of our members here boat on Powell so I was hoping I could extract some "local" knowledge of the area.
So my family is planning a trip there next October. This is something my mother has wanted to do for 20 years and now they are finally doing it. They just went out there for a few days to check out the houseboats and see which would accomodate all of us (8 adults and 4 kids). They also took advantage of the time and rented a small boat and did some exploring.
So they went to Bullfrog as their orginal idea was to launch from there as it is a bit closer to the areas they wanted to explore.
Well, after cruising around a bit in the small boat, they are starting to second guess that decision.
What they found in their journey was that there was no good place (or not many) to beach a houseboat.

So as it stands right now, here is what we see as our options:

Bullfrog:
Closer to areas we plan to explore
No local source of food so must haul all food in from somewhere else.
Not much in regards to sandy beach area to beach boat

Wahweep:
Further from areas we plan to explore
Next to Page which has grocery stores (and everything else we could need)
Seems to have more areas with sandy shores for beaching boat
Also close enough to make quick trips back if more supplies are needed

So can anyone offer any advice or suggestions here? I think we want to be near the Escalante Arm so if there are some nice beaching areas near there, can you tell me where?

So far the plan is to stay 1 week and we might be getting either jetskis or a small (19-21ft) bowrider to explore in (maybe both)
The houseboat they liked was the 59' Discovery XL (and yes it does have a slide on the top deck!)

So any advice anyone can offer would be much appreciated. Just looking to save a bit of gas as well as getting stuck in an area with no place to park a 59' boat

Thanks!!!

[oldno7]

Good morning

I can help a bit with your planning but we are mostly in the Southern end of the lake(Wahweap launch)
There is no shortage of beech spots for any size boat on the North or South.
Beeches change considerably with lake levels and as of now, the lake is down a bit and provides quality beeches.
If the Escalante arm is your destination, launching from Bullfrog is indeed shorter.
Keep in mind, there are no facilities in that area besides a floating restroom/pumpout at the mouth of Escalante.
What I'm getting at is--be prepared! Fuel, Food, ICE,etc. It takes a fair bit of planning to be able to stay out.
Jet-ski's were made for Powell, many canyons are too tight for a boat but allow passage of jetski's.
Also, if your into fishing, the lake is a top spot right now.

[mcoffey]

Thanks for the info! In our latest talks, it seems we are leaning towards Wahweep now due to convience. We have 2 families that will be driving there (from Colorado) and 2 families flying out (from Virginia).
Due to the cost of things, we will probably opt for teh 19' boat rental as it is about the same cost as 1 jetski (and holds 7 people).
Some of us are into fishing so I do plan on enjoying that. I guess Striper and Walleye are good now? I am used to Striper, Largemouth and Smallmouth here in VA, not much else though except those pesky carp and cats.

Again, thank you for the advice and I may be asking more questions as we start booking this stuff and are planning exactly what we plan on seeing in our 5 day trip.

[oldno7]

I'll be glad to help.......

Sept. and Oct. are great months on the lake, fishing is usually outstanding but there is a learning curve, of course.

Stripers and smallmouth are abundant, largemouth a bit trickier.

Walleye seem to just show up for us on occasion when we are fishing for stripers.

Catching catfish in the evenings after your SECURED to shore is very productive.

I believe the rental company has gotten better at information regarding securing your houseboat to shore--don't let anyone play until this has been accomplished.

Winds in Oct. usually are not too serious but still come up periodically enough to cause problems.

[mcoffey]

Well, it is already starting to come together and I am getting excited.
Yesterday my father booked the housboat as they are running specials now where if you book this early and for a fall trip, it is a 50% discount off normal prices.
So we are booked for 7 days starting Oct. 13th through the 19th (in 2013 though).
More research has shown that all of the ski boats they offer only hold 7 people so we will cheap out on that and get only the 19ft base model. They are offering specials on them too so we will need to book that soon, just have not as of yet.
We are also looking at bringing my brother's jetskis with us so we can save a few more $ and still explore what we want. My father will be visiting VA. early fall so he can haul them back to CO. when he leaves. Then he can drag them to Powell in Oct. and then haul them back to VA the following spring.

Also, we did book out of Wahweep so most of the stocking issues should be solved as we will arrive in enough time to stock the boat up with food and drink and also take some large coolers with us as well. I guess that is one advantage of being able to drive there.

So it should be fun and it seems it is all coming together nicely with lots of time to sort out all of the other details.

Thanks again for the help and I am sure I will ask more as we get closer.

[Phillbo]

Nice .. At that time of year you will have the lake all to yourself pretty much. Once on the lake the only thing you should need is ice and gas for the run about. If you take the houseboat up as far as the Rock Creek area then Dangling Rope Marina is a short hop for ice and gas.However the trade off is the fuel burn to get it up that far. You don't see a lot of houseboats up past Last Chance these days with the fuel prices being so high on the lake.

[mcoffey]

We sure hope so, may be a bit chilly in the water and at night but we can deal with that. We are hopeful that we do get everything loaded and all we do need is ice and gas along the way. At this time I am not sure how far we will end up but we are planning on exploring Rainbow Bridge and maybe up the Escalante Arm. So we should end up near Dangling Rope if not just past there. Hey, this is a once in a lifetime family trip for us so we are going to live it up. Gas is cheap compared to what the boats cost to rent
Hopefully we can save a few dollars on food by catching a few bronzebacks or stripers, that would be nice.

[Phillbo]

If you are looking to go north of Dangling Rope then Oak Bay is a good area to stage from for Rainbow Bridge / Escalante exploration (some real cool canyons in the area like Secret, Twilight or Reflection as well).

I've found in the past when taking a houseboat that far up it's nice to break it up. Maybe run up to the Rock Creek area the first day, spend a couple nights there. Then hit Dangling Rope for resupply on your way up lake on the 3rd day.

Also a piece of advice is to move back down lake for the last night so you are closer to Wahweep on the day you have to return the boats. It's a LONG run from Oak in a slow moving houseboat that requires breaking camp at the crack of dawn. Being in Warm Creek or even Padre Bay area makes it a much shorter trip but still allows time for everyone to pack their gear and be ready to unload when you hit the dock.


Check on the closing date for Dangling Rope. I believe it's Nov 1st so you should be OK but they do close it during the off season.


Have fun... You'll be back again !!!

[mcoffey]

Wow, thanks for the info Phillbo, I do appreciate it and I am sure it will come in handy next year. I am sure I will be back as I have been there once alreay, just for a day though. From what I saw it is beautiful, just a bit far from me here in Virginia