Lake Powell 2015

In 1998 I worked at Bullfrog Marina for a summer with some friends, and made others while I was there. I worked on the docks teaching customers how to pilot houseboats and cleaning the things up when they brought them back covered in sand. It was hard work, especially during the weeks when the temperatures were as high as 118 degrees Fahrenheit.

We stopped at Lake Powell at three points along the river.  Our first encounter with the lake was at Hite, which is pretty much a ghost town now. We didn't drive into Hite but crossed the river at the bridge. At that point in time the lake stretched below the bridge with blue water that was deep enough to take a jet ski up Fry and White Canyons. Now the water has dropped so low that this end is a lake no more. Instead the Colorado River flows far below between verdant sand banks already covered in lush vegetation. Fifty or more feet above the river you can see a thick line of driftwood along the cliffs from when the lake was at a high water point. The driftwood line stretches for miles across the barren rocks.

Looking upstream towards Canyonlands from the Hite bridge crossing. The river was brown after heavy rains for the past week.

Looking downstream. At the lower right you can see driftwood that is leftover from the high water level. The driftwood line stretches for miles. All the of the vegetation here used to be dozens of feet underwater.

About two hours later we made it to Bullfrog, which is 30 miles downstream from Hite. Bullfrog is fairly remote and out of the way for a place in the lower 48 states and I had not been back since, so this trip I wanted to pay it a visit. It's right next to one end of the Burr Trail, too close to pass up on our route. We went to the marina where I sweated out all my days. It was just as shocking as the Hite area.

Me standing 10 to 15 feet underwater. Where did the boat docks go? Navajo Mtn. straight ahead. Photo by Jimmy Gordon.

A railing carved with employees nicknames used to protect people from falling into the lake.

What used to be the Marina Grocery Store is now storage for tools and spare appliances.

Abandoned and overgrown, the paved path that formerly led to the water. I used to walk down this everyday to get to work on the docks.

A view from the dingy restaurant (formerly "classy") used to look down at the lake and docks.

The docks now have been moved much farther away and involve a a very long walk down a dirt ramp and across a narrow floating walkway. Farther out in the water what I assume are the private boats are now covered (an improvement over how things used to be).

Two days later and much farther downstream, by the dam, we wandered out across the slickrock to find a good place for swimming.

The marina store was closed and being used for storage. The sidewalks were abandoned, overgrown with large plants creeping in from the forgotten landscaping. Exercise equipment and old refrigerators were piled out in the sun in place of tables. A long railing that kept people from falling in the water as they navigated large coolers down the floating dock ramps stood starkly over an extensive gravel field, which itself was covered with plants. The lake was barely visible in the distance. Far off, what used to be an island had turned into an immense wall of rock now separating Bullfrog Bay into two isolated bays, requiring a long detour of probably 15 or 20 minutes.

The lodge, which formerly sat surrounded by water across the marina bay, could now be walked to in a straight line. We drove. Inside it was dirty and run down. The front desk staff seemed to be constantly putting out fires and complaining about the indecency of their guests. That probably wasn't new.

There was still a lot of boat activity down by Wahweap.

Jimmy jumps!

A few days later we arrived in Page, Arizona, next to the Glen Canyon Dam. About 10 miles up the road I used to jump of cliffs straight into the lake. I knew those would be high and dry so we had to find somewhere else to swim. In the Wawheap area the changes were huge but not as dramatic as upstream due to the deeper water near the dam. A huge island had emerged out of the middle of the bay. Large and flat it was supporting so much sage that you would never have guessed it had been under water just a few years ago. It's appearance also redefined the original river channel through the area, funneling all traffic around it far to the south.

After several tries we eventually did find a good spot to go swimming, and despite all the people in the area we had it to ourselves. The water in Lake Powell is still pretty clean and feels great on a hot day. We swam until the sandstone rubbed our feet raw, and called it a day.

We had a good spot to ourselves with a lot of open ground to explore if we wanted.

Plants are pioneering the newly revealed rocks and sand.

The water was pretty clear. Much better than upstream around Hite.

Seeing how things are now is bittersweet. On the one hand the lake was much prettier and far more extensive in the 1990's. When I worked there I had access to free use of the boats and jet skis. Because of that I was really lucky to get to see so much of Lake. There were many places I never reached, but I saw a lot more than most people and got to experience days of speeding up the serpentine canyons of the Escalante at high speeds over glassy water. There were days we could free climb straight up the vertical walls of Glen Canyon. When we had climbed high enough to scare ourselves (a different point for each person) we would just push off the side and fall all the way back into the water.

Jimmy carefully attempts to walk across the water. He was able to stay on top for about 20 feet.

White leached rock had a lot of gouges and scarring that i assume are from things like dragging boat anchors.

Jimmy found these particularly interesting carvings. My best guess is these are from the chain of an anchored buoy rubbing up and down. We were at the corner of a rock formation where waves occasionally came from different directions.

A cool mini bay with some islands you could swim out to.

On the other hand I was blown away by how fast the desert life is reclaiming the newly surfaced islands and channels. What I thought might take decades is happening five times faster. Some people complain that the high water line, or “bathtub ring” has ruined the rock forever. That doesn't appear to be the case. It's not unattractive, for one thing. The sandstones of the Colorado plateau are lined with sudden color shifts everywhere. The bleaching that is exposed now seems to only be on the surface, just a few millimeters thick. That stuff will come off pretty easily over time. When all the water is gone it won't take long at all for everything to be revegetated.

There will be more “permanent” change near the river bottom. I realize now that plants will stabilize the sediments that have accumulated near the bottom of the dam much faster than the river will be able to erode them away, except during floods. Floods though, are extremely powerful. Since i've worked in Zion they have changed what i thought were "permanent" features of my lifetime. 

Walking back after our feet could take no more. I also hurt my broken toe jumping off the cliff.

Glen Canyon Dam. On the far right where the cliff breaks is the spillway intake. The water level is now below the intake, so I guess they can't do any more of those simulated spring floods.

It's fun to look down at all the rafters taking off far below.