Take Time To Enjoy Life!
/I’ve posted about Lake Powell before, and yes, we spent another lovely week down there last week.
It’s rare to have an entire week of perfect weather on the lake. Storms are common, sometimes daily occurrences, but not this time.
Out of our three kids, Steph and her family are the only ones who have never experienced the beauty of spending a week on this incredible lake.
It was so much fun to see their reactions as they discovered how beautiful and HUGE Lake Powell really is!
God’s creations in the red rock canyons are constantly changing, and His paintbrush never disappoints!
Lake Powell is only 13% of the National Recreation Area, but one of the largest man-made lakes in North America. At full pool (3700’ elevation) it is 186 miles long, and has 1960 miles of shoreline – longer than the entire west coast of the U.S.A.
There are 96 major side canyons, some of which are 15 to 20 miles in length. Lake Powell has a capacity of 27 million acre-feet. Its maximum depth at Glen Canyon Dam is 561 feet.
Due to the vast capacity of the reservoir, it took 17 years for Lake Powell to completely fill for the first time. On June 22, 1980, Lake Powell finished filling as it reached elevation 3,700 feet, with a total capacity of over 25 million acre-feet.
The highest water level recorded was in July 1983. The lowest was in April 2022, when the lake level was down about 185 feet from its high mark.
In many places you can clearly see the high water mark by the white line on the red rock canyon walls.
It’s sometimes referred to as the “bathtub ring” and was caused by calcium carbonate and other hard minerals in the water that attached themselves to the sandstone leaving behind the white line. The top of the white mark is the high water line.
It gets warm at Lake Powell, and last Friday it reached 109 degrees! We were lucky to be out on the lake where we could jump in with our life jackets on to cool off and play in the water.
We were pleasantly surprised how perfect the water temperature was given all the new spring runoff, it didn’t even make you gasp when you jumped in! It was just right. Given the warm weather we had last week, it looks like it will be a warm one this summer!
Being in a place where you don’t have much cell phone coverage can be a blessing. For the most part, we all un-plugged and just enjoyed the beauty surrounding us.
We played a lot, laughed a lot, ate a lot, and stayed up late every night watching movies or playing games on the houseboat.
Being with family and friends fills our lives with LIGHT and love!!! I’m so grateful for the blessings we enjoy together!
This summer, look for ways to un-plug, get outside – even if it’s on the back patio with a kids blow-up pool and a popsicle!
Just being together with no distractions brings LIGHT into our lives!
Whatever you do, look for the beauty God has blessed us with in these beautiful days of summer, but don’t forget the sunscreen! Have a great week!
Love Ya, Les :)