Stage 28 Report: Lake Powell Speedway

Friday, June 23, 2017
Start: Lake Powell, UT
Finish: Capitol Reef National Park, Torrey, UT
Total Bike Mileage: 0 mi
Total Shared Mileage: 48 mi
Cumulative Bike Mileage: 2088.9 miles
Photos

Beautiful morning on awakening and stepping outside to see Lake Powell under sunshine. Breakfast at the Defiance House Lodge on the veranda overlooking the lake. Very nice Russian hostess. Life is good, indeed. We pack our rations for the day and head down to the marina dock to finalize the lease of a 19ft powerboat. It is warm but as I captain the boat out of the marina wake zone we enjoy the breeze as we head near full throttle for the mouth of the great canyon. Of the two million visitors to this lake annually there are few today on this Friday morning. Winds make the waters choppy but we are heading southward to explore the various bays of this waterworld.

Lake Powell was originally the enormous Glen Canyon with the Colorado River meandering through southward towards the Grand Canyon and beyond. It was deemed critical for human and agricultural needs to build the Glen Canyon Dam at the Utah-Arizona border which, in 1972, after years of filling post-dam completion, created the largest man-made reservoir in the USA. It supplies water to seven states – the Upper Basin region (Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico) and the Lower Basin (Arizona, Nevada, and California). Joining Lake Powell are the Escalante and San Juan Rivers whose inflows one can explore while enjoying the lake. Lake Powell is 186mi long and has an average depth of about 130-150ft; water levels fluctuate annually based on the quantity of runoff from winter Colorado mountain snowfall and water release rates through the Glen Canyon Dam southward towards Lake Mead near Las Vegas. However the statistics play, it is a massive fresh water bath for swimming, houseboating, speedboating, jetskiing, waterskiing, wakeboarding, skinny dipping, or whatever else happens under the billion-star nightly natural fireworks show. To be here is to be lost in time; it feels ancient, cavernous, or planetarily intergalactic. This is water solitude, Native American flute pipe melodious, dramatically echoic, nourishing, life-giving womb of warmth surrounding you as you dive into its summer waters. On the lake there remains few relics of human society despite the comforts and hopeful reliability of one’s boat to return you to shore. Off shore one can explore canyons for miles, dock and hike to magnificent Rainbow Arch, or just admire the canvases of rock and vegetation.

Today, we stay water-bound. A six hour cruise. We take turns captaining (and who doesn’t like to drive a boat?) and enjoying the breeze. We stop for lunch in a quiet bay. Jump in and enjoy the waters. Refreshing. Next is waterski attempts. Sherpa, well…splat, splat, and splat; not so good. Curry sprayed all over the lake top. Soaring Hawk… well…like a rodeo rider, I was all bull horns out of the gate, then got bucked pretty quick. Had better luck the last go-around a few years back. Walks With Buffalo, hmmm...tough guy cruises like he’s done this a few hundred times before! Nice! Successful envy. I dump him on a sharp turn into the wake. Sherpa and I wonder if we must be getting too old for this kind of fun.

Nevertheless, how much fun! Just a relaxing morning and afternoon with close friends on a lake, albeit a big lake! Canyon walls 20-30 stories high. All the desert colors. The light shimmering geodesically in one area off the rimmed cave walls. Fantastic echoes!

We return to the marina. Sun-drenched. Dried out from the afternoon warmth. Rested and healthy. Waterski soreness not quite setting in yet. Drive to Hanksville junction. Bikes put-in there for an early evening 50mi ride to Capitol Reef National Park. Surprise fun accommodations awaiting my travel colleagues. Perhaps the funnest of the trip.

The road turns to parched desert. A few cow herds here and there tortured by flies. Cattle guards along the road to annoy us riders with their metal horizontal grids and vertical seams. Care taken to not ruin our bike tires. I drive this section as Mike and Vik cycle. I enjoyed the evening off the bike after relaxing on Lake Powell. A solar recharge day for me.

Off in the distance as we traveled Scenic Byway Rt24 westward one could see the buttes and formations take shape ahead. We were entering another no man’s land zone of other worldliness. Pass through Caineville and then Fruita, a small oasis of fruit trees lining the roadside. Beautiful wandering Fremont River tracks our path through the canyon. I make out a few Anasazi petroglyphs on the mountain walls illuminated by the evening sun.

Darkness. I leave my colleagues as they near completing the evening’s cycling journey by headlamps. Food will be needed ahead and restaurant closes by 10pm. I van ahead to secure a table and order a pizza and some beers for us. Then head across the street to the registration desk at the Capitol Reef Resort in the National Park. I turn to see a man in a white cowboy hat exiting the restaurant and heading to my same registration spot. I turn again. “Holy Cow,” I say to myself, that’s “Dances With Wolves.” I mean, that’s Kevin Costner.

“Hello Sir,” as I extend my hand in greeting him. “It is an honor to meet you, Mr. Costner.” We chat briefly. I am in cycling attire with my cowboy hat on, South Dakota hawk feather-capped. I offer my place so Mr. Costner can take care of his needs at the desk. “Yes, sir” the clerk replies, “the Wagons.” Mr. Costner departs. I ask the very young clerk if he knows who that was. “I think he’s an actor,” he replies. I ask him, “Have you heard of the movies, Field of Dreams, how about Bull Durham, maybe Dances With Wolves, American Flier, The Bodyguard?” “Nope.” “OK,” I’m humored, “how about the last Superman movie, he plays Superman’s dad.” “Oh yeah, haven’t seen it but I get it now.”

OK... Different generation. Wow. So I take care of our own Wagon booking as well, as scheduled. All set. A ring of Conestoga Wagons awaited us out in the fields. A hundred yards away were the tribe of teepees, Native American canvases lit by firelight. It is perfectly quiet. I’m Zening again. This is my kind of place. My fellow cyclists show up. I inform them of the registration proceedings. No worries mates, we’ll see him in the morning. We’re ring roommates, after all. We devour the pizza and enjoy the beers at Rim Rock Patio across the street. We schlep our night belongings to the Wagons. Costner, his wife and kids doing the same right across from us in the ring.

We head to sleep after adjusting to Conestoga Wagon glamping life. This is really sweet. I keep my cowboy hat on as I climb up to the top bunk. I text my wife Judy a photo, just checking in if she still thinks I’m more handsome than the other guy across the way. At least I’m twelve years younger, I wishfully hope she realizes. I still think I'm closer in age, after all, to playing Superman rather than his dad.

The Wagon has plenty of room – two bunk beds and a king size bed, meant for families interested in a morsel of the Wild West American dream. Teepees are for romancing couples; I remind myself of that option next time I’m around these parts. Young men, keep in mind this fact - when you move from Teepee life to Wagon life, your own life is moving real fast from Superman to Superman's dad. So slow down, enjoy the Teepee ring whilst the fires still burn bright.

Tonight, wagon top bunk is definitely the way to go. Closer to the cowboy canvas and the stars.

I’m dreaming about vast lakes and snow-peaked mountains, desert canyons and rivers running through them. I am at peace and I am Soaring Hawk. Soaring above the buffalo and my prairie dog friends in the Badlands of South Dakota. And I was going to make a new friend in the morning, Dances With Wolves.

Stage 28 Photos and Videos

Indexes:

Weather: (10)

Terrain: (10)

Scenic: (11)

Wildlife and Roadkill:
W-jackrabbits
R-jackrabbits

Endurance: (n/a); didn't bike today but I felt strong captaining the speedboat

Medical Report: none

Bike Report: none

Still Having Fun: (11)