Travelogue

Our campsite in Chuckwalla Springs CoveLast time we were to Lake Powell, we had found a lovely anchorage in Chuckwalla Springs Cove, where we were able to take a decent hike up a wash to some beautiful red rock formations. But try as we might, we couldn’t find the spot. Maybe the changing water levels since then made everything look different.

We pulled into another cove, where a spring flowed right down to the lake. Hmm...Maybe this was the real Chuckwalla Springs and the other one was an imposter.

There was no sandy beach here, just rock and an old dead tree, so Herb had to spend a lot of time anchoring us securely. One anchor went from the stern and was wrapped around the dead tree. A second one went from the stern to the nearby rocky promontory, where he secured it around a large rock. I thought he was done, but then Herb got his face mask and snorkel out and dove down with a third anchor (I didn’t even know we had three anchors) to place at the edge of a rocky shelf on the lake bottom. I was exhausted watching him.

Sunrise by Chuckwalla SpringsLater that afternoon, we took a walk, but there really wasn’t too far where we could go. We did find the source of the spring atop the hill. We felt a cool rush of air emanating from it even before we saw it. When we got back down to the boat, we even moved it slightly, without upsetting the anchor setup), to get out of the way of the cool draft.

It was a lovely spot, but not as nice as most of our other campsites - no expansive views, no hiking opportunities, and a challenging anchorage. We were definitely getting jaded. If this was our first night, we would have thought it was awesome, and we would have been right.

The next morning the sunrise was pretty red and dramatic. Living in California where wildfires are a way of life, this was not a very good sign. The wind was picking up, most likely blowing smoke from any one of the fires currently burning in California our way.