Toadstool Trail

I took Matey for a short walk around the campground this morning and he seemed okay. He wanted to walk further but I brought him back because we had decided if he was okay we’d take him with us on a hike.

I had found an interesting hike on All Trails. It was only supposed to be 1.6 miles out and back, so we figured it was a good one to try. It went up a small wash and Matey was back in form, but most definitely on the leash!

There were some uphill parts as it climbed up to the base of some cliffs along the wash. It wasn’t hard for any of us.

The trail was called Toadstool Trail because there are a number of small hoodoos at the base of these cliffs and some of them look like giant rock toadstools.

This one seems to defy gravity.

We stopped in the shade of this big one for a rest, a drink and a snack.

On the way back we took a detour to the Wahweap Marina at Lake Powell. This is looking down to the water just to the right of the State Line Boat Ramp. The boat ramp goes all the way down this hill. There has been a 20 year drought out here and the lake is at 30% capacity and is fifty feet below its normal level. That makes the boat ramps longer, the main boat ramp is now unusable as it ends well above the water.

We got there just as they were pulling this houseboat up the long ramp. I jumped out and got this video of the two trucks as they and the boat crested this hill.

This is from an overlook of the marina in Wahweap Bay. The lake is so low that the marina almost fills the bay, there’s just a narrow channel to get by. Bud and I think the peninsula coming into the water from the right would be submerged if the lake were full, perhaps the highest point would stick up as an island.

I have read that some people think it is time to drain the lake, but I don’t think that will happen. The town of Page wouldn’t exist without the dam and the lake, it was founded in 1957 as a housing community for workers and their families during the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam. There are hundreds of huge houseboats like the one in the video. Folks here won’t let go of their livelihoods voluntarily.