Trip Report: 2009 Lake Powell trip participants were Bill (Admiral) & Gretchen (Head organizer), Steve & Karen from Nevada. Kevin from Utah, Tim & Tracy from California, Joel from Wyoming, Don and Dan from New Mexico. Craig and Cyndi had to cancel the day before because of sickness. Everyone except for Don and Dan spent Saturday night at Pat and Kevin's house in St George. The next day we all drove to Wahweap Stateline Marina and loaded the houseboat with kayaks and provisions for 7 days. Steve and Karen brought their power boat for scouting and touring.

Sunday, Nov 8th: Drove the vehicles and kayaks to Wahweap Stateline Marina, started loading the houseboat around 9am and got under way around 11am. Met Steve and Karen in their speed boat after the cut and we towed it to Last Chance Bay. Steve, Kevin and Dan got back into the speed boat before Last Chance Bay to scout for a good campsite for the houseboat. It was determined that Randy's Cove was the best location for the houseboat. The houseboat arrived around 2pm and we setup camp and secured the houseboat. Kevin, Don, Dan, Joel and Steve and Karen setup their tents in various location on this great beach. Weather was no wind and temps in the 60's. Steve cooked Dutch Oven Ribs and Kevin made an Apricot Crisp in the other dutch oven.

Monday, Nov 9th: We all woke up at 6:30am from the sound of the generator and a smiling face from Bill making coffee. The first day paddle was going to be the coves at the end of Last Chance Bay and hopefully a nice hike. We had Fried Egg Sandwiches for breakfast and each person made their own lunch for the paddle and hike. Karen was loading her lunch bag from the snack bin when she came across a large chocalate bar and thought she would just have this for lunch. Gretchen broke her bubble when she told her it was one the desserts after dinner. After that everyone took turns watching the snack bin so Karen would not sneak it out. We paddled about 10 miles that day and were only able to do some short hikes, the canyons were difficult to get out and many of the canyons were box canyons. Dinner was Thai Chicken Pizza's on the grill. We also had a dutch oven cherry crisp for dessert. Weather was sunny, warm 60's and no wind..

Tuesday, Nov 10th: The 2nd day destination was to explore the coves directly across from Randy's cove and find the Geo-cache that Steve had loaded in his GPS. Breakfast was pancakes (shaped like states) and Bacon. We all pack a lunch, we all remided Karen about the chocalate again. We paddled across the bay about 3 miles and got out where the Geo-cache was showing. We all hiked up a steep slope and finally found it high on the ridge with a beautiful view of our kayak below. We took some picture include a group picture and explored the rest of this cove. Many of us paddled back into Randy's cove where the houseboat was and went all the back into the cove where some nice slot canyons were. After returning to the houseboat (another 10 miles of paddling), we felt that this was a great campsite, but not many place to paddle and hike. So Steve, Tim, Don, Dan and Tracy took off in the speed boat to explore a new campsite in West Canyon where Don and Dan had hiked before. While they were gone Kevin, Bill, Gretchen and Joel went for hike around the slick rock by the houseboat. Joel almost made it to the top of the canyon where a cave was, but ran into a dead-end. When the speed boat returned, a nice beach/campsite was found about 2 miles into West Canyon and about 6 miles from the end of West Canyon where all the good hiking was. It was decided to move the houseboat the next day. We loaded the kayaks up that evening to save time in the morning. Dinner was Moroccan Grilled Salmon cooked on Cedar boards on the BBQ. Joel made a wonderful Flan for dessert. Weather was sunny, warm 60's and no wind.

Wednesday, Nov 11th: Everyone was anticipating the generator in the morning for those sleeping in their tents, since they would have to be taken down and packed up again. Again we all came into the houseboat seeing the smiling face of Admiral Bill making coffee. Breakfast was Huevos Ranchos with Ham and Spinach. We got packed up around 10am and got to the new campsite around noon and we setup camp again. We went for a paddle into West Canyon to look for another Geo-cache that Steve had loaded into his GPS about 3 miles from camp. We found the Geo-cache on the top of some slick rocks as West Canyon snaked along heading south. It was a panoramic spot. Dan and Don headed back further into West Canyon and scouted the end of canyon hike. The rest of us headed back to the houseboat and explored some slot canyons on the way back. Paddled about 8 miles that day. Dinner was Buffalo Sloppy Joes. Weather was sunny, warm 60's and a slight wind.

Thursday, Nov 12th: The plan for today was for Don and Dan to hike as far back into West Canyon as they could with wetsuits for difficult water crossings. Steve, Karen and Gretchen took the speed boat with Dan and Don to the end of West Canyon for the hike. Kevin and Bill took Kevin's Tandem and Tim and Joel took Bill's Tandem and paddled to the end of West Canyon about 6.5 miles. The hike was done in different stages for the group. Steve and Karen went in a couple of miles to view Don and Dan's adventure and came back out and back to the houseboat for a later pickup of Dan and Don around 4pm. Kevin, Bill, Joel and Tim hike back a couple of miles, ate some lunch and returned. They paddled back against some wind in a little over an hour, averaging 5 mph in the tandems. Kevin and Bill beat the youngster back by two minutes. Dinner was fajitas and margarita night and we ate Karen's chocolate bar for dessert. Karen had most of it. Weather was a little cooler 50's with slight winds in the morning and it picked up in the afternoon.

Friday, Nov 13th: The weather was getting a little cooler and cloudy and chance of rain was really good. Everyone was paddled out, so we decided on a hike from the houseboat on the mesa behind us. Breakfast was Jalepeno Corn Fritters & Sausage. Everyone except Don (who went for a short paddle) hiked on top of the mesa behind out houseboat and followed the game trail. We ran into a wild horse on the ridge who really wanted to get past us and did not care if we were around. It was a beautiful site. We hiked around some large slick rock washes and back toward the lake, we hike around 6 miles. We loaded the kayak on the top of the houseboats that evening. The final dinner was Southwest Chicken and Sausage Stew. The weather was overcast and cool all day with some rain on and off.

Saturday, Nov 14th: It seem to rain on and off during the night and we anticipated the sound of the generator and the smiling face of Bill making coffee for the last time. The tent people were busy packing there items and storing them on the houseboat. Breakfast was Breakfast Burritos. We broke camp around 10am for the long trip back to Wahweap. The weather was cold and overcast with some rain. Steve, Don, Dan, and Tim went to look for one last Geo-cache in Face Canyon in the speed boat while the houseboat plugged along against the wind and waves. We made it back to Wahweap around 2pm and unloaded the kayaks and gear into our vehicles. Everyone except Don and Dan drove to St George to Kevin and Pat's house and spent the night where Pat made Split Pea soup and sandwiches.

It was a great trip with pretty good weather for November at Lake Powell and everyone seemed to get in plenty of kayaking, hiking, eating and drinking.

The pictures below are a mixture of Kevin, Steve, Tim, Joel and Don's pictures. Dan's camera seem to have gotten wet and it look like he lost the pictures.

Karen with her fansy hat with Kevin and Tim in the background.

Next campsite in West Canyon.

Looking south in West Canyon at the location of the Geo-cache.

Hiking at the end of West Canyon.