Canyon Cruising

The Amazing Lake Powell

Lisa and I have talked for a long time about our mutual interest in cruising Lake Powell on a houseboat, it’s been on our to-do list for quite some time. For one reason or another, it never worked out until now, although it won’t be on a houseboat but on our very own tug boat, Kismet.

Prior to the building of the Glen Canyon Dam, which was completed in 1963, Lake Powell did not exist and boating was nothing like it is today. It took 17 years to fill the canyons up to their full pool level, which gives you an idea of how much real estate the lake covers. Although the lake is 186 miles long and travels from Arizona to Utah it has over 2,000 miles of shoreline and covers 1932 square miles. Ninety-six major canyons were flooded. The reason it took so long to fill with water is that at full pool the lake rose a total of 440 feet above the average depth of 20 feet of the original river bed.

The reason for our long-time interest in cruising Lake Powell is because of its remarkable natural beauty, colorful canyons, peaks, buttes, and spectacular sunsets.