The Epic Lake Powell Trip 2013

Here is another great Adventure of Todd and Beth. The Epic trip to Lake Powell!!!

It all started off somewhat well before we left. Todd took his truck and the boat into the shop a few days before the trip for basic maintenance. Due to a maintenance error with the transmission filter we had to get Todd's truck towed back to the shop.  A tiny piece of plastic got stuck in the tranny and it would not shift out of first gear.  When they flushed the transmission apparently they got it in there.  The shop was closed until Monday, so we made a change of plans and took Jeff's truck. 

Todd's truck being towed from Wellington

 The night before our trip, we double checked our lists, packed the boat with all our camping gear including our three ice chests. We had good food planned for this trip. Todd got a wild hair and built the ultimate Lake Powell cruising boat with custom shade cover for me.  This was a total upgrade from my 2010 boat. It was late but we were all packed and very excited for the trip!!

The building of "Beth' Boat"the Night Before

 The drive to Lake Powell had it's excitement with many potty breaks, a valve leak (in the brand new boat tire) and lunch at Wiener Schnitzel in Grand Junction. I am not a fan but look at the smiles on those boys faces. Todd ate 3 chili cheese dogs with fries and Jeff had 2 chili cheese dogs and fries.

The tire and the boys' happy faces

 We finally made it to the Bullfrog Marina boat ramp and were happy to have made it that far. We drove all over the coves looking for a campsite that night. We finally found one in the very back of a cove where the water had become very shallow. It was perfect, lots of beach for camping and a place to tie the boat up where no houseboats could get to.

Monday: Bullfrog UT, Boat Ramp

Tuesday was a day of relaxation and fun. We spent the day swimming in the coves, fishing, cruising the lake and relaxing. The water was 83 degrees and perfect for just floating around. I read magazines and took naps in the "Beth Boat" while the boys fished all day. When I got tired of relaxing, I would jump in the bass boat with the boys and fish. The stripers' were 3-5 lbs and boy did they roast drag and fight good!

Our camping spot was not as great as we had first thought. Apparently, of all the coves near Bullfrog Marina, the back of our cove, Forgotten Canyon, had Anasazi ruins that were called "Defiance House".  This was one of the only sights to see near Bullfrog, so we had many visitors at our camp including the park ranger. The visitors parked at our camp and then they would hike up about 1/2 mile to the ruins. So much for our peace and quiet camp.  Our plan was to hike to the ruins on Thursday morning to check it out. 

Tuesday: Fishing, swimming, camping and relaxing

Wednesday morning we all slept in and ate breakfast then went for a cruise around the lake We were so lucky to have such beautiful weather. 

We cruised around and scouted our afternoon fishing and swimming spot, then headed to the marina to get ice for camp. On the way Todd felt the motor of the boat make a vibration so we stopped to check it out. We were missing a propeller piece!!!! How does that happen?? We were just cruising in the middle of the lake and we hadn't hit anything, just our luck. Oh the Great Adventures of Todd and Beth

I grabbed the camera and caught this picture. Todd scratching his head " What just happened???) and Jeff pulling out his phone which had no service. I was laughing the whole time. Oh the Adventures of Beth and Todd. 

: 

It took us about 2 hours to get to the marina using the trolling motor. One hour into our cruise Todd got phone service. He called all two of the boat shops and only one had a propeller that would work, but they wanted $1700.00 for it.  At that point we knew the trip was over, because the nearest city with a boat shop and a reasonably priced propeller was Grand Junction, Colorado four hours away. 

Once we got to the Bullfrog Marina, we put the boat on the trailer and went to Bullfrog Boat Rental to rent a boat, so we could retrieve our camp. When we got to camp, we noticed  ravens had gone through our trash. The trash was everywhere, we had Kraft cheese wrappers under our tent!!! Well at least they did not eat all our bread like our last trip to Powell.

We made it back safe with no problems and loaded up the truck and headed for home. We stayed at a hotel in Grand Junction, Wednesday night and headed home Thursday afternoon.

We truly had a blast. Good memories and great laughs. We all wished we could have stayed longer and seen the Anasazi ruins, fished our sweet spot and swam one last time. But, that will have to be for another Epic Lake Powell trip. During our trip,  Todd reminded me of what I had said to him weeks before. He asked, "Are you sure you want to go?" I answered, " Yes, I don't want to miss out on an Adventure!" So TRUE!!!
 I can't wait for our next trip! I will be cruising on a house boat next time,  I can't wait!!