Forbidding Canyon

I’m going to start this blog with a bit of sad news. One of Rosanne’s sisters, Madonna, husband passed away a few days ago. The funeral is on Friday, October 24th, so we made the decision to cut our trip short so we could attend his funeral. We’ll miss seeing my dad this time as we had planned to leave here on the 23rd to go spend a short week with him down in Goodyear. We’ll plan to get back down to Goodyear sometime early next year. My appointment for the truck tires is first thing Monday morning, after which we’ll start our 1700 mile trip back home, getting in on the 23rd. This still gives us a week on Lake Powell.
I’ve seen a lot more boating activity on the lake than what was here in April. Numerous wake boats and some fisherman and houseboats. I guess I didn’t expect to see it still this busy in October. The water temps are still right around 70.
The winds were really howling mid day, and again tonight. We are at the Rainbow Bridge dock, and the boat is just a rockin’ in the wind. I’d estimate a steady 20 mph with gusts to 35+! Right down the canyon with our bow into the wind. After departing this morning, we came around Padre Butte and had planned to go explore Face Canyon. However, entering the canyon there are a lot of rocks and shoals and my track from April would have taken us right into several rocks now above water. Not trusting my prior track, and not wanting to pick my way through the entrance, I decided we would skip this canyon. Rounded Gregory Butte and Camel Rock and entered into West Canyon. A number of rocks entering here as well, but a little easier to pick my way through with the chart plotter. Entered slowly at around 3mph and after about a mile we were in deeper water. Went back in about 7 miles until we found the end of the water. I had stayed near the end of this canyon last April, and the spot I was beached at, with the lower water, no longer had beach at the shoreline. And the end was now just a few hundred feet past that spot. It was only noon anyway, so we weren’t ready to stop for the day. Along the way we passed an old sunken boat. I did not see this boat when here in April, but with the water levels 14’ lower now, it was likely under water! Came back out of the canyon and around 2pm, started looking for a spot to stop for the day. Nothing seemed to have a sandy beach. Everything was pretty much sandstone. We pulled into Dangling Rope Canyon where a marina use to be. Eerie to see pretty much everything gone. But still some old tires, cables and buoys. There is still the old tramway down from the employee housing, which is also still up there behind the bluffs. Would love to hike up there and check it out. However, there were only a few spots that we might have possibly beached the boats, but they were small and with a cross wind blowing, not easy to pull in to. So we pressed on. Finally getting to Forbidding Canyon, just decided to go up it and stay at the Rainbow Bridge dock for the night. We won’t hike up to the Rainbow Bridge this trip, as you have to wade through some water to get to the hiking path. With the lower water levels, the park service had to pull the docks back some into deeper water, and they no longer provide access to the path.Читать далее