Day #82. September 8.

Off and away from Bridges. 275 to 95. Circle to the south and then northwest into Fry Canyon. More canyon country; broad vistas, mesas, towers, high cliffs, red rock sandstone.

And suddenly, Glen Canyon. Oh my! Miles and miles and miles of the grandest landscape yet. More striking, uninterrupted red rock formations with minimal vegetation. The main canyon and many beautiful side canyons. Lake Powell covers much of the main and many of the side canyons.

Lake Powell is one of the largest man-made lakes in North America. One hundred and eighty-six miles long, with nineteen hundred and sixty miles of shoreline at maximum pool volume, and over ninety-six major side canyons. Just think how many Native People’s archaeological sites are underwater along with evidence of early European explorers and settlers. In relatively short geological time, Lake Powell will fill in with sediment and those archeological wonders will be cemented and fossilized in Colorado River mud, for future archeologists to discover and wonder about. 

Like Hite, UT for example.

Hite is a tiny community at the northeast end of Lake Powell. Five houses, a seasonal general store, a ranger station, a little used private campground and an abandoned marina. But the original Hite is an underwater ghost town, thanks to the Glen Canyon Dam.  Prospector Cass Hite came to the area in 1883 looking for gold, which he found in the sands and gravel along the Colorado River. He built the first structure here; a cabin of notched logs salvaged from the River and established a post office in 1889. Horse riders brought in the mail from Green River, one hundred miles away.

The sparse gold deposit played out, but Cass and his brothers operated a small store that sold Chinese junk and drug paraphernalia to miners and others passing through. In modern times, other people figured to make a fortune by building a marina to serve a future boating crowd. Nice idea but nature has its way. Water level in the lake dropped considerably because, well, it’s a desert. In addition, as the Colorado River slows down when it enters the still waters of the Lake, it drops its sediment. As a results, today you can practically walk across it. Not good if you own a marina. Eventually Lake Powell will fill in with sediment, Glen Canyon Dam will breach and the mighty Colorado will erode another grand canyon. 

We cross the Colorado, on route 95, the only bridge over the Colorado for 300 miles between the Glen Canyon Dam and Moab. Then the Dirty Devil River that also feeds the Lake. This is the same Colorado of course that flows through the Grand Canyon then into Lake Meade, the other large lake on the River, made by the monstrous Hoover Dam.

Route 95 Bridge Across the Mighty Colorado

High Above the Route 95 Bridge on the Colorado River

We travel on 95 along the western edge of the upper reaches of the Lake  then turn northwest and travel to Three Forks, then Hanksville, UT (population 219) just south of the confluence of the Fremont River and Muddy Creek, which together form the Dirty Devil River. In Hanksville we pick up westbound route 24. Henry Mountains (named after my son, Henry) to the south. Hanksville is situated on the Colorado Plateau which sports a cold desert climate, a mean annual temperature of 52 degrees Fahrenheit and an annual mean rainfall of 5.5 inches.

Hanksville, UT Condominium 

My Sentiments Exactly

We turn south on 12 at Torrey, UT (population 182) and drive to Oak Creek Campground in the Dixie National Forest. A long day. We are the only people here. Nearby wild turkeys, mule deer and a jack rabbit. Good eating!

And good night!

More Scenes on the Way to Oak Creek Campground