High Above Lake Powell
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Hite (historical), Utah, United States
From the northern part of Capitol Reef National Park we
drove, or maybe I should say I drove since Doug’s not allowed to drive on
unpaved roads in Utah anymore, the Notom-Bullfrog road south through
Waterpocket Fold to where it joins with the Burr Trail . Although I drove the
Burr Trail once, most of the road was new to me, and much of it is spectacular
as it rises and falls for almost 100 miles through red rock country in what is
sometimes called a giant wrinkle in the earth. Towards the road’s southern part
where it approaches Lake Powell in the distance, it drops spectacularly for
several thousand feet. Although you get impressive views from high passes in
the mountains in Colorado, there’s something about the barrenness and openness
of the scenery here that makes you think you can almost see to infinity, and in
some cases the views are well over 100 miles over the Canyonlands.
Our intent was to take the ferry across Lake Powell at
Bullfrog. However, this being Labor Day weekend, lots of other people had the
same idea and the expected wait was several hours. We decided to take the
longer way and cross Lake Powell on the road at Hite instead. The pictures I
posted here are mostly taken from the overlooks above Lake Powell near the
crossing at Hite .
Lake Powell in some ways seems like a paradise of water and
natural beauty, although the Lake is a reservoir backed up behind a dam that is
gradually getting filled with silt and is thus an ecological disaster. Cruising
the lake in a houseboat with a bunch of friends for a week in the heat of
summer, swimming and fishing, and drinking beer, sounds like a great holiday.
The Colorado Plateau is a very harsh environment, though. I recall a camping
and hiking trip took to Utah in May 1992 when I stayed at the campground along
the lake near the crossing at Hite. It seemed idyllic in theory, but the harsh
reality was howling winds off and on through the night sometimes accompanied by
horizontal rain sprinkles. It was a much less fun place to camp than I had
expected.
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2025-02-09