Powell Trip was A W E S O M E

[pull-on]

@Hammer family and our family went to Powell last week. Incredible. I haven't been there since I was a teenager and man, I forgot how massive that lake is. It was our first trip together and it wasn't long enough. Here are just a few pics and videos. I have gopro footage to go through and I'll post it up when I get it done.

Our boats.....Hammer has a 2006 Hallett 300T with 525's and a fuel tank that holds 175 gallons. Mine is a 1989 Hallett 270T with MPI 350's and a fuel tank that holds 125 gallons. Per my GPS trip, we put over 200 miles on our boats in three short days. Not bad. Honestly, you're going to run a long way if you stay at Wahweap.

I will say, with the long runs, canyon boating, found a rope swing in a canyon, and just good company, we had an absolute great time.

It started off with a beer on the docks.

The next day, we got up early and went to Horseshoe bend to watch the sunrise.

Then back to the boat and launched.

After that, we pretty much ran around exploring and taking pics.

We also got to crash @Nanu/Nanu 's camp for lunch and meet up. Austin was very gracious and even gave us a bunch of helpful links in case we ever needed anything for the boat, trip, whatever. He's is as genuine as they come.

More pics and videos of running around.

 

[pull-on]

 

[Hammer]

To give this thread the details it deserves I’ll probably need to continue this on a computer, but I’ll get it started….

If you have followed me and my threads around here long enough you know I’ve boated a lot of different places… from the California delta to Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, key west, Texas Outlaw challenge and obviously our home base waterways of Havasu, Mead, Lower River, Mohave and of course the infamous Parker strip.

There have been a few bucket list boating destinations I still want to cross off the list before my numbers called. Lake Powell being one of them. It always seemed like a long shot due to the logistics of getting there. It just seemed so far away to drive and couldn’t seem to carve out enough time to spend a week there exploring. The east coast stuff was always “easy”, I could fly and rent a car thumb a ride on a boat through many of the “RDP CONNECTIONS” and be in and out in 3-4 days. But Powell…. I dunno any RDP’er(well maybe a few ) that would want to be stuck with me on a boat or sharing a houseboat for a week. It just seemed that when I hit Powell eventually I had to do it with my own float some day… Turns out, that some day was 2023 and now I have a wife and kids that are going to be stuck with me and my crazy adventures for the next 12-15 years. .

We made a promise that we’d try and go to a new boating destination every summer as our “annual family vacation” . It just so happens that me and @pull-on have the same boating dreams and decided to make a run to Powell this summer with our families. It took months for the wives to align their schedules. Greg and I just waited for “the date” and punched our Powell tickets!

My Trip-
Started off in Havasu crashing at RD’s condo on Saturday, we were going to hit the road Sunday. I can’t thank Dave and Stacy enough for our friendship over the years. Through thick and thin they have always been there to do me a solid. Even more so for my family. Always willing to make things easy for us while in town. Open door policy pretty much… Wouldn’t let me rent a hotel. Gave me the keys to the condo.

A view from the condo balcony

My father in law was in Havasu from Florida so we took him to the Springs for lunch. This Also gave me an opportunity to shakedown the trusty old 300 before we took off for Powell. She was flawless, like always. It helped that I had a full service done the week before.

The wife looking for places to drown me in Powell

Sunday Morning-
I did the typical run through and checked the wheel bearings in the trailer, checked air pressure etc… and everything looked good!

I had ran into AJ Barrett on Saturday and he advised me to hit Route 66 in Kingman and it will drop me off in Seligman and we will avoid the potholes on the 40.

The only family pic we took together was in the truck on the way out!

To be continued….

 

[throttle]

YES!

 

[Hammer]

To give this thread the details it deserves I’ll probably need to continue this on a computer, but I’ll get it started….

If you have followed me and my threads around here long enough you know I’ve boated a lot of different places… from the California delta to Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, key west, Texas Outlaw challenge and obviously our home base waterways of Havasu, Mead, Lower River, Mohave and of course the infamous Parker strip.

There have been a few bucket list boating destinations I still want to cross of the list before my numbers called. Lake Powell being one of them. It always seemed like a long shot due to the logistics of getting there. It just seemed so far away to drive and couldn’t seem to carve out enough time to spend a week there exploring. The east coast stuff was always “easy”, I could fly and rent a car thumb a ride on a boat through many of the “RDP CONNECTIONS” and be in and out in 3-4 days. But Powell…. I dunno any RDP’er(well maybe a few ) that would want to be stuck with me on a boat or sharing a houseboat for a week. It just seemed that when I hit Powell eventually I had to do it with my own float some day… Turns out, that some day was 2023 and now I have a wife and kids that are going to be stuck with me and my crazy adventures for the next 12-15 years. .

We made a promise that we’d try and go to a new boating destination every summer as our “annual family vacation” . It just so happens that me and @pull-on have the same boating dreams and decided to make a run to Powell this summer with our families. It took months for the wives to align their schedules. Greg and I just waited for “the date” and punched our Powell tickets!

My Trip-
Started off in Havasu crashing at RD’s condo on Saturday, we were going to hit the road Sunday. I can’t thank Dave and Stacy enough for our friendship over the years. Through thick and thin they have always been there to do me a solid. Even more so for my family. Always willing to make things easy for us while in town. Open door policy pretty much… Wouldn’t let me rent a hotel. Gave me the keys to the condo.

A view from the condo balcony
View attachment 1244166






View attachment 1244167
My father in law was in Havasu from Florida so we took him to the Springs for lunch. This Also gave me an opportunity to shakedown the trusty old 300 before we took off for Powell. She was flawless, like always. It helped that I had a full service done the week before.

The wife looking for places to drown me in Powell
View attachment 1244170

Sunday Morning-
I did the typical run through and checked the wheel bearings in the trailer, checked air pressure etc… and everything looked good!
View attachment 1244169

I had ran into AJ Barrett on Saturday and he advised me to hit Route 66 in Kingman and it will drop me off in Seligman and we will avoid the potholes on the 40.

View attachment 1244172

The only family pic we took together was in the truck on the way out!
View attachment 1244171

View attachment 1244173
To be continued….

Continued……
We were making great time and stopped in Williams,Az to get some food. No issues towing and the route was much more scenic than the mundane pearblossom highway/15/40 we take almost monthly to Havasu. I really wish I could have taken pictures of the landscape we were driving through it was beautiful. I’d never been to that part of AZ past Flagstaff. I Had precious cargo behind me I had to take care of, so two hands on the wheel…

Made it to Page and were fueling up the boat..

I didn’t know what we’re getting into so we decided to play it safe and stay at the Wahweap marina/Resort. If I didn’t have a boat I could have stayed poolside and drank all day. The views were beautiful from the pool/restaurant.


@Nanu/Nanu had been in touch. I put a few cocktails down and then the women and children to bed and hitched a ride from the cart service down to Austin’s houseboat …..

Nanu/Nanu- nicest guy in the world! Gave me the rundown for the week and how to find them!

 

[Hammer]

I had to catch a Powell sunrise Monday morning while we waited for Pull-On and family…

The launch ramp-

My youngest scoping out the the lake.

To be continued…..

 

[BUDMAN]

Looks like an amazing trip. Always wanted to do Powell, like you trying to figure out how to fit it in the schedule seems impossible. Looking forward to seeing more pics and videos.

 

[Lunatic Fringe]

There's some really spectacular places on this planet and Powell is definitely one of them.

We had thought we would be out on the houseboat the same week but plans changed

 

[HNL2LHC]

What a great bunch of photos. To see a young family out and on adventures making great memories is such a sight. Those small coves with large walls That open up and other sceneries are amazing.

But those clouds look a little scary to me. Did they open up at all?

Thanks for posting up all that you guy have.

 

[Hammer]

Looks like an amazing trip. Always wanted to do Powell, like you trying to figure out how to fit it in the schedule seems impossible. Looking forward to seeing more pics and videos.

After experiencing Powell, it’s something you just need to make happen in your lifetime. Pictures don’t do it justice. Quite frankly, nothing on the internet does. You have to see it in person.

 

[Hammer]

What a great bunch of photos. To see a young family out and on adventures making great memories is such a sight. Those small coves with large walls That open up and other sceneries are amazing.

But those clouds look a little scary to me. Did they open up at all?

Thanks for posting up all that you guy have.

A cloud covering and "Storm" rolled in everday around 1-3 pm for maybe 30 minutes or so? Then it would open up and be clear skies. Thursday afternoon was the roughest rainstorm that had some decent swells. You definitely need to pay attention to the weather, it could get ugly out here quick if you were in the middle of nowhere and not paying attention to the weather patterns. The lake is so big we would drive out of the rain/clouds and into sunny skies as we headed back to the marina. LOL

 

[mesquito_creek]

If there was ever boats almost exclusively built for Powell it is the 270+ hallets

 

[Hammer]

I had to catch a Powell sunrise Monday morning while we waited for Pull-On and family…
View attachment 1244191
The launch ramp-
View attachment 1244192
My youngest scoping out the the lake.
View attachment 1244193
To be continued…..

Continued......

So we launched Monday morning checked into our slip for the week and decided to take short run around and check it out while we waited for pull-on to get there that afternoon. At first, I was a little apprehensive, I see buoys and various rocks sticking out of the water. I had been watching the water level for weeks and I knew where there was rock formations under the water from pictures online. People were boating along the same area that had a rock or boulder sticking out of the water a week or two prior! . I wasn't sure if they knew something I didn't or if they were just dumb. Before I left, I was asking AJ Barrett what to look out for AJ told me to just follow the mile markers and you'll be fine. Pay attention to Buoys or floating milk cartons as some of the locals will mark water mines as a courtesy. I followed AJ's advise and followed the mile markers out of the wahweap and decided to head back towards the bridge we crossed over the Damn....

I headed back up the narrows towards Navajo Canyon since it was relatively close I was still getting my bearings and didn't want to travel to far solo... The sheer heights of the canyon walls are amazing, and the fingers go back MILES....

We headed back to our slip and got the kids an Ice cream at the dock...

@pull-on and family pulled in just in time to get the boat filthy from the storm

 

[Hammer]

Tuesday we decided to get up early and check out Horsehoe Bend prior to going out on the boats.....

We decided that was going to be our exploring and big boat ride day and we'd figure it out from there as the week went on, this is where I understood why the "narrows" between Wahweap and Antelope Marina suck and why "the cut" is so great, water level wasn't up enough to take the cut. Its a washing machine in the narrows most of the time with decent swells and pockets and took a lot of effort to drive through comfortably, you really need to read the water through here. Tour boats come through with 3-4' swells, wake boats plowing, houseboats etc.. there is just nowhere for the water to dissipate and get calm, it just bounces off of each wall. It sucked going through there every day to and from. It probably took 30-40 minutes to get to Wahweap to Padre Bay where the lake really opens up.

I didn't take any photos but here is a snip of the section I'm talking about...

Antelope Marina where the big boats are... I may have these these on the way back on tuesday?...

my wifes personal favorite

Storm coming in..... I think this was monday?

Heading out Tuesday around 10:30 or so...

Padre Bay!!!

We ended up finding Rock Creek and @Nanu/Nanu where his family was at. If memory serves this was mile marker 38 ish

@Nanu/Nanu set up for the week........

After we left Nanu we headed over to the Arch where there is a hole over the water, was hoping to get a killer drone shot but it was filled with people...

From there we headed to Reflection Canyon which was about 10-12 miles further northeast.... This was the best part of the trip IMO, no boats anywhere north of Rock Creek. Amazing scenery....

---

Continued.................

 

[JD D05]

Awesome! The biggest rock walls are on the North end. Did you get to Escalante?

The water can get big. I always laugh when the wake board boats are trying to head back in getting the living shit kicked out of them and we rip pass at 50 plus.

 

[Crazyhippy]

Looks like a great trip.

 

[Hammer]

Awesome! The biggest rock walls are on the North end. Did you get to Escalante?

The water can get big. I always laugh when the wake board boats are trying to head back in getting the living shit kicked out of them and we rip pass at 50 plus.

Unfortunately no. The furthest we made it was Reflection. Escelante and Bullfrog will be on the must see list next time..

 

[Hammer]

Tuesday we decided to get up early and check out Horsehoe Bend prior to going out on the boats.....

View attachment 1244334

We decided that was going to be our exploring and big boat ride day and we'd figure it out from there as the week went on, this is where I understood why the "narrows" between Wahweap and Antelope Marina suck and why "the cut" is so great, water level wasn't up enough to take the cut. Its a washing machine in the narrows most of the time with decent swells and pockets and took a lot of effort to drive through comfortably, you really need to read the water through here. Tour boats come through with 3-4' swells, wake boats plowing, houseboats etc.. there is just nowhere for the water to dissipate and get calm, it just bounces off of each wall. It sucked going through there every day to and from. It probably took 30-40 minutes to get to Wahweap to Padre Bay where the lake really opens up.

I didn't take any photos but here is a snip of the section I'm talking about...
View attachment 1244314

Antelope Marina where the big boats are... I may have these these on the way back on tuesday?... View attachment 1244324 View attachment 1244325 View attachment 1244327

my wifes personal favorite
View attachment 1244328
Storm coming in..... I think this was monday?
View attachment 1244330

Heading out Tuesday around 10:30 or so...
View attachment 1244338 View attachment 1244339 View attachment 1244340
Padre Bay!!!
View attachment 1244342 View attachment 1244343
We ended up finding Rock Creek and @Nanu/Nanu where his family was at. If memory serves this was mile marker 38 ish
View attachment 1244348
@Nanu/Nanu set up for the week........
View attachment 1244349 View attachment 1244350 View attachment 1244351 View attachment 1244352
After we left Nanu we headed over to the Arch where there is a hole over the water, was hoping to get a killer drone shot but it was filled with people...
View attachment 1244353
From there we headed to Reflection Canyon which was about 10-12 miles further northeast.... This was the best part of the trip IMO, no boats anywhere north of Rock Creek. Amazing scenery....
View attachment 1244355 View attachment 1244356

---

View attachment 1244357


View attachment 1244359
Continued.................

Continued......

Reflection Canyon- @pull-on got some epic video cruising through here...

We traveled Roughly 120 Miles round trip on Tuesday and I had gone about 40 miles the day before. Caught a little rain storm on the way back. Thre lake is so big you drive in and out of storms... It seem to clear up after about 30-40 minutes everyday. Always around 2-4 PM. It got pretty heavy as we pulled into the marina this day though!

My youngest was jonesing to get a beach so he could play with his sand toys and my kids wanted to tube. Wednesday we stayed close and found a beach so the kids could tube and I decided to try and get up on a ski(no luck after 3 or 4 pulls....

We hit the Dam for some lunch after hanging on the beach...

Our last day on the water was Thursday so we went to West Canyon. A huge storm came through here, I under estimated how much fuel to put in and I wasn't able to go back there, I was at 3/8 tank at this point so I opted to hang out in Padre/Last Chance while @pull-on checked it out... A huge storm rolled in while we were waiting!

My daughter wasn't too thrilled as you could tell

Got back and pulled the boats out to head back to Havasu on F

riday...

@pull-on Got a flat in Flagstaff- Quick change out and we were both back on the road. We both have on board air! Great minds think alike!

All in all it was a FANTASTC trip with great people.... I'd definitely do a few things differently next trip out. Hope you enjoyed out adventure! For first timers I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have. It's a trip of a lifetime and I can't wait to go back!

See you on the next one! Cheers