Spring Break Days 1 & 2 - Seattle to Lake Powell

Day 1 (Friday, April 14, 2017): Left Seattle, Drove to Bullfrog Marina Lake Powell, Utah (21 hours)

We packed the boat over the course of a few days, doing final touches Thursday night and Friday morning. We left Lake Forest Park at 12:30 pm Friday and headed to Lake Powell via Boise and Salt Lake City. The kids did very well in the car – only requiring three movies on the drive. Eben and I took turns driving and we went straight through the night. I had been dreading the drive, but it wasn’t as terrible as I had been anticipating even though it was 1135 miles! In this picture we are about 35 minutes from the boat ramp.

 

Day 2 (Saturday, April 15, 2017): Bullfrog Marina to Fiftymile Creek Inlet.

We unpacked the Tahoe and arranged everything in the boat for lake travel. After launching, Eben tested the boat battery and found it wasn’t charging properly. He troubleshooted it to determine it was the alternator harness. We hauled the boat out of the water and drove it uphill to a marine repair shop who was able to find a replace the part on a Saturday afternoon which was very fortunate for us. We then headed back out on the lake, this time heading down Lake Powell from mile 96 at Bullfrog to mile 68 and the Escalante River Arm. We turned up the Escalante and started peeking in canyons until we found the perfect sandy beach camp spot at the head of Fiftymile Creek Canyon. What a long day with a great end. We unpacked all of our gear and set up camp, enjoying the serenity and seclusion of our special spot. Above our beach was a giant cave. Once inside, it was apparent that the sides had been scoured out below the mouth of the cave and it went down another fifty feet. It was quite impressive. The stars came out and were incredible and we built a giant fire with the wood Eben hauled here from the cabin. 

This is what the boat looks like with all our gear for the week on it.

 

Waiting for Eben to fix the battery.

 

We knew we had the perfect spot for camping when we located this sandy beach at the head of the navigable part of Fiftymile Creek canyon.

 Unpacking all the firewood!

 We had to bring our own table and chairs as it is only primitive camping around the lake due to the fluctuating lake levels. We happened to be there at a very low lake level (3598).

 There was a huge cave above our site on the upper left.

 

Hiking up the hill to the cave above the campsite.

 There is a big mound of earth inside the cave. Do you see us on top of the mound?

 Trying to emphasize how massive this cave is. The mound is in the center and on the edges of the cave it goes down about 100 feet. Do you see Reed and Charlotte down on the cave floor?