Lake Powell Houseboat '94 Episode 1: Up the River

Hell Houseboat
a lake powell houseboat adventure

(EPISODE I)
Up the River

Bullfrog Basin Launch to

Lake Powell, Utah. One of the Scenic Wonders of the World. A canyon filled with rock formations in amazing shapes and colors, from white to redrock. Side canyons off the main lake providing a maze of adventure. A deep blue, crystal clear Rocky Mountain water lake formed by the dam slowed Colorado River. This is the story of 4 days spent on Lake Powell with 6 people and a houseboat. And one bobcat.

DURANGO ROADTRIPPING BLOGGED ABOUT LAKE POWELL HOUSEBOATING

click thumbnails to see the big picture

The Lake Powell (Hell) Houseboat trip had been planned for months. Durango had made the reservations, plotted the schedule, organized the logistics and all he asked was that he not be subjected to any pointless, endless itinerary discussions, a pastime Durango knew was a prime indulgence of one of the floatmates, the twin of Big Ed, the flatulent, corpulent, always hungry, always eating, first husband of Wanda, that bearded Wonder of Worry named Homer. Like it said in the intro, we're not going to tell the entire story here, just the houseboat part, we'll spare you the Homerisms leading up to the houseboat, so there will be little mention here of what came to be known as the Vegas Obsession...(except to say that Lulu made the mistake of saying she wished she didn't have to do this same drive she'd just done a few months prior, to which Homer suggested she should have flown to Vegas, rented a car, and met up with us at Bullfrog on Lake Powell. Lulu then told Homer she wished she had consulted him prior, due to his idea's pure brilliance, while she though to herself, what a moron. Homer then excitedly told the rest of us about his brilliant idea. He did not get the hoped for (fake) Lulu-type praise. And yet, he repeated his Vegas Obsession day after day until he was finally told they didn't do the fly to Vegas option because it would not have worked and would have been idiotic, considering our itinerary.)

The Houseboat Expedition was to launch from the Bullfrog Marina, located on the north side of Lake Powell, a half day's float from Rainbow Bridge National Monument, our prime houseboat destination, mentioned in all the mailings Durango sent detailing the itinerary plans for the trip. We spent the night before houseboating in a dwelling called a Housekeeping Unit, which actually was a double-wide trailer, a good preparation for our eventual internment in the confines of the houseboat. After cooking a large dinner for his co-floaters, Durango was hoping for a peaceful, relaxing evening. But just as Durango sat down to relax, Homer picked up a large scale map of Lake Powell and proceeded to engage in 2 hours of pointless endless itinerary discussions. Homer was convinced it was impossible for us to float to Rainbow Bridge, that it was just way too far. It made no difference to Homer that this had already been determined and plotted as doable. It made no difference to Homer when he was told that Tour Boats made daily trips to Rainbow Bridge from Bullfrog. On and on Homer whined...there was no shutting Homer up...Homer was in the grip of a fresh obsession.

The day after listening to Homer waste away our night in the Housekeeping Unit we awoke to a beautiful Utah dawn. We hurried to the docks to begin our houseboating, sending Big Ed and Homer ahead to get piloting instructions.

Above we see Lulu & Jack taking a load to the houseboat. Jack was claiming a back ache which forced poor Lulu into workhorse mode.

Launching the houseboat was a bit daunting...Big Ed became our pilot, maneuvering the huge lumbering whale out of its crowded dock, we were soon out in Bullfrog Basin, trying to read our navigation maps, trying to understand what all the buoys meant, trying to avoid submerged rocks, we soon got acclimated to floating along in a house on water, the roof became a sunbathing deck with Lulu, Wanda and Jack stripped down to string bikinis...after a few hours we started to look for a place to dock for the night....

To the right we see Wanda, Jack, Big Ed and Durango in the pilot's cabin...Homer was on the upper deck still trying to convince Lulu we couldn't get to Rainbow Bridge...or that she should have flown to Vegas, it's hard to remember now the exact details..

As we floated along past what had to be the inspiration for Disneyland's Thunder Mountain Railroad we saw an inlet that looked like it might be a good spot to dock. Big Ed piloted the mothership in for a closer look. Durango launched the rubber shuttle craft and paddled in for a better look. And it looked perfect. The mothership was waved in and the docking procedure began. Within a few minutes we were swimming in the warm waters of Lake Powell. We had found Eden on the Colorado...an auspicious beginning to our houseboat adventure...what could possibly turn this bucolic wonder into Hell Houseboat '94???

Bobcat Cove, name to be explained later...

Bullfrog Basin Launch to

Bobcat Cove to Rainbow Bridge to

Skull Cove to Bloody Bat Cove

Moki Dugway Moab Arches National Park

Canyonlands Bryce Canyon National Park

Zion Monument Valley

Grand Canyon Mexican Hat