On Thursday, we went with Vivian on a four-wheel-drive tour to Alstrom Point which has a magnificent view of the lake. We met the other 15 or so people at the Glen Canyon dam at 8:15, laden down with lots of water, binoculars, hiking boots, camera, lunch and layered clothing. We loaded the cars and headed west towards Big Water. We then turned north on State Route 12, a rough gravel road. After a while, we started stopping frequently to look at flowers and other “things”.
(ant carrying a flower petal)
Vivian and the other N.P.S. volunteers pointed out the various flowers and sights. We soon shifted into four-wheel drive and creepy-crawled over some rough, rocky terrain to Alstrom Overlook, a high point that overlooked Gunsight Bay.
The view was spectacular and beautiful. We then returned home, arriving to a very relieved and happy puppy who was more than ready to go for a walk.
Friday morning arrived with our predicted 10% chance of rain pitter-patting on our roof. Claudia managed to sneak out of bed without waking me. Gizmo then managed to sneak into bed, also without waking me. I woke up when I felt a warm, wet tongue licking the small of my back. That really got my attention until I realized it was Gizmo. After coffee and breakfast, we headed out to make an Internet connection and WalMart for food and other supplies.
After the aforementioned duties, we headed for the boat to do a few chores. When we got there, a mechanic was there, replacing our Rube Goldberg window arrangement. Cody, our boss, must have worked his magic. One of the windows in the Tracker had a broken window that was replaced with a piece of plexiglass. The plexiglass was so thin, it didn’t fit in the window track and we had two pieces of string running horizontally across the window with two plastic cups stuck between the string and the plexiglass to hold it in place. I swung the barge in place below the window so we had a place to stand on and helped him install it. We now have a new window. Thanks Cody! I also spliced up a new tow line and a side-tow line that snapped last week. This time I used some ¾” gold braid. The barge isn’t going anywhere now! We also got a new vacuum cleaner and replaced all the supplies for the boat. The only thing remaining is for the mechanics to repair the bilge pumps on the barge. I believe (and hope) that will happen tomorrow. I have all fingers and toes crossed and have recited an ancient Navajo chant for good luck.
The Navajo chant must have done it. When we got down to the boat, no one was there but it was on the schedule to be done. I told the mechanic that I would help him and that we would be on the boat doing other things. He soon showed up and pulled the raised box for the helm chair. The bilge was totally full and the pump plugged with twigs, leaves and other micro-mini stuff. Once the screen was cleared, the pump worked fine. We had to keep cleaning the screen as the water pumped down. I scooped out three buckets of mud with my hands and we finally proclaimed the job finished and replaced the helm chair. I taped a piece of PVC to the rear rail to hold a fishing rod and then replaced the radio on the Tracker. The transmit function was pretty garbled and we had a spare radio on board. I took a few pieces of wire, stripped the ends and jury-rigged some power to the new radio. A radio check produced a clean, clear signal so I pulled all the loose wires and hard-wired the new radio in place. Another job masterfully done! We have to load 20 blocks of ice tonight and we will be ready to go.
Sunday morning arrived and we headed for the boat, arriving at 7:45. The first thing on the agenda was to plug in the coffee pot. Gizmo made a quick check of the boat to make sure all was in order. It passed his inspection! Our four volunteers (Bob, Bev, Jim and Cathy) and Cody soon arrived. Two were new to the program but the other two were eight-trip veterans. We ultimately drew on their familiarity with the San Juan Arm, which helped tremendously. After loading the boat with their supplies, we headed off into uncharted (for us) areas of the lake.
On the way up, we stopped at Dangling Rope Marina to refuel. It turned out to be a waste of time as each engine had sipped only nine gallons of fuel so far. Well, I guess it wasn’t a total waste. At least we know how far we can go on a tank of fuel. Now, if I just knew how big the tanks were, I could figure it out. I guess I could figure it out by measuring the size of the tanks, convert that into volume and plug that figure into a table of known components…or maybe just see if it’s embossed on the tanks. Anyway, we putted on for a few miles and turned into Oak Canyon for the night.
The next day, we continued on and subsequently turned into the San Juan Arm of the lake. Just as an FYI, there are no services up the Arm and we were totally on our own. Cell phone service…yeah, RIGHT! VHF radio service…maybe. Luckily, I had an N.P.S. radio on board, and that, unlike most other government entities, usually works.
As we entered the Arm, Claudia, Bev, Bob and Cathy, jumped into the Eliminator (the barge) and proceeded to sweep the sides for trash as Jim and I continued on to find a place to stash the TT for a few days. Finding little trash, the barge soon caught up to us. I sent them on ahead to find a parking spot but an engine malfunction alarm on the Eliminator soon started beeping and we had to shut it down and side-tie it to the TT. We then continued on and found a suitable place to park. After getting settled near Piute Canyon, we headed off to do some local trash picking.
The next day, we headed up the Arm for the day. Because the barge had “alarmed” twice, I decided to side-tie the runabout to the barge as a matter of safety. This slowed us down considerably, but I wasn’t going up there without having a way back. We got a ton of trash, a bushel of bottles, a closet of clothes, a sample of styrofoam, a few tossed tires and a plethora of propane, which ultimately translated into 65 very full bags of trash plus the loose articles. We all agreed we could have gotten much more trash if it were not for the malfunctioning equipment, but we did put a pretty good dent in junk supply in any case.
The next day, we motored back to the confluence of the San Juan and the Colorado and found a beautiful, calm spot near Jack’s Arch.
There was no wind and the water reflected the bluffs beautifully. We were pumped! We threw out five anchors and settled in for the duration. The “duration” was short-lived as the volunteers and I jumped into the runabout. I dropped them off at Rainbow Bridge for a hike while I went to Dangling Rope to refuel the runabout and purchase ice. We then returned to the TT where we were met with a warm, lavish welcome by Gizmo.
The next day was their free day. As was usual, the day started with a hike and a return with more trash. They never stopped! We all jumped into the runabout and headed for Reflection Canyon,
Hole-in-the-Rock (where the Mormon’s brought an entire wagon train down a mile-long cut that descended 1,064 feet to the Colorado River),
up the Escalante Arm to Clear Creek and Davis Gulch where we were awed by LaGorce Arch
and areas of a slot canyon waterway.
We lunched in a massive alcove with a beautiful red sandy beach,
which Gizmo promptly terrorized with “burn-outs” and digs. The group “trash-tracked” all along the way. One notable find was a slide anchor by Jim, who was promptly besieged by photographers for the unusual find.
He was so flustered by the notoriety that he forgot to pick up his picking tool and we left without it. We did return for it the next morning, but it was gone. Some new picker now has a new picker!
Friday morning started out with good intentions of an early start to Cookie Jar Butte for some hiking and to get closer to home for Saturday’s ending. The run to find Jim’s picker slowed us a little but, as we arrived back at the TT, the N.P.S. dispatcher came on the VHF radio with a dire warning of very strong winds to 60 mph later in the day. OOPS!!!!!!!!!!!! Forget going to Cookie Jar! Since it was about 7:30, we had to wait a while until Dangling Rope was awake enough to answer the phone. I called and left a message but later called on the N.P.S. radio to the D.R. Ranger to have Zelda, the marina manager, call me. About 8:30 or so, I got the call and received permission to spend the night tied up to their dock. Time was of the essence, as our ETA at Dangling Rope now coincided with the estimated arrival of the nasty winds. We pulled all anchors and literally threw them into the TT and pulled out of our anchorage. As we turned into the main channel of the Colorado, the wind hit…not the 60 mph predicted wind, but the 35 mph precursor to the big blow. I pushed the throttles up to 3800 to compensate for the wind and we arrived at Dangling Rope JUST prior to some severe winds. As we were now in a semi-protected anchorage, we were somewhat saved from a major derm abrasion by flying sand. We ate dinner inside that night!
We pumped the tanks on the TT and unloaded the barge and prepared for the night. I prepared the barge and runabout for a quick morning departure if the winds cooperated. Predictions were for more wind in the early afternoon, but lighter than today. With an EARLY departure, something around 5:00 am, I figured we could get home prior to the predicted big winds.
The winds only stopped blowing around 4:00 am but the predictions were the same…high winds in the afternoon. Gizmo protested the early wake-up, but did produce two samples during his very early romp. We started the engines and, with the help of the Eliminator’s engine, backed and spun the TT out of its parking spot and against the wind. Once we were straightened out and heading out of the D.R. Marina, Claudia took the helm and I pulled the two pre-set lines that released the two boats. They floated perfectly into position behind the TT. SUCCESS!!!!!! I love it when a plan comes together!
We hit the main channel and headed downlake. We also hit winds of about 25-35 mph. RATS! OK, back to 3800 on the throttles. We slugged it out for several hours and finally made it to “The Cut”, just across Wahweap Bay from Stateline, our destination. Just as a “Ha-Ha”, the winds suddenly increased and we hit some nasty water with wind waves of 2-3 feet. We chugged across the bay and pulled into our usual spot at the dock. Cody was waiting (on his day off!) for us and helped secure the TT and tie up both side-ties. We had arrived!
The volunteers packed up, said their “Goodbye’s” and left. After a short meeting with Cody, Claudia, Gizmo and I finished cleaning the boat and came home to long hot showers. After cleaning up, we headed for Frank and Vivian’s boat for some drinks and dinner. We left early and went straight to bed. Sleep came very, very easy!
2 comments:
Give me the gas tank dimensions. I figure out the gallons for you.
Good pictures, good map, the top red flowering plant is called indian paintbrush. It is hard to guess what species it is, but something interesting about this plant is that it is parasitic to the root system of the host plant, hemiparasitic...
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