Erik’s Letters From The Road: Lake Powell
Continuing our partnership with Carabiner Coffee, Erik’s next journey takes us to the rocky red shores of Lake Powell. If an adventure filled with desert paddle boarding, daring doggos, and good food is wrong, we don’t want to be right.
RED ROCK, WHITE SAND AND BLUE WATER
Some say when you see a mirage in the desert it looks unmistakably real but you can never get any closer to it. Well, I’m here to tell you that sometimes you can indeed get closer and eventually jump in. There are only a few places on earth that this dream comes true and deep in the Arizona desert exists one of those places, it’s known as Lake Powell.
Our crew of six rumbled down to the shore just after sundown and while we had a few close calls of almost driving into the lake, we eventually found our dream site to call home for the next few days. The wind was howling but the moon was full and casting a bright beam across the water that night as we set up camp. A feeling of contentment started to sink in as and tried to contain our excitement for the desert adventure that was to come. I just knew we were right where we were supposed to be.
A swift wagging of the tail from our furry friend Rupert was our alarm clock the next morning as we unzipped the tent to see the moon setting just over the sandstone horizon. Soon after, the sun was up and before I knew it the coffee was on and the paddleboards were hitting the water. We set our sights on the massive stone cliffs across the lake and with no hesitation the crew began to paddle out into the blue (Rupert in tow of course).
You wouldn’t know it at first glance but Lake Powell actually stretches on for about two hundred miles and goes hundreds of feet down at its deepest points. Our minds couldn’t help but imagine scaling the bright red walls as they shot straight out of the lake. Out of the corner of my eye I see someone start to wobble more and more from looking up at the rocks and not soon after all of us were in the water as the thought of getting a cool dip was irresistible. We all wiggle our way back onto our boards and start the paddle back to camp with childish grins stuck on our faces.
When the group lands back on shore it’s a mad dash to start cooking up our beachfront feast. Times like these I’m happy to have the space that comes with the Eureka! Kitchen Table set up and the ability to get the Ignite stoves and Gonzo Grill all fired up at once. Everyone takes their place and before we know it our plates are full and the group falls silent for a moment to enjoy the setting sun and the cool breeze lapping off of the lake.
At the end of each day, with our sunburned noses and sandy feet gathered around the fire, we reminisce about how we spent our time in this Arizona oasis. If there’s anything we could all agree on it was that any day that ends with a ten second walk from the shoreline to your sleeping bag is a good day. There are endless incredible places like Lake Powell in every corner of this beautiful country. The hardest part is just picking which one to head to next.