The Fourth of July weekend proved to be a busy place in Page and at Lake Powell this year. Lake Powell was blessed with an abundant runoff from the Rocky and San Juan mountains, as well as Utah, and as a result, the lake level rose to 3584.68 feet above sea level on July 8; a rise of just over 65 feet from the lowest level last winter. Glen Canyon NRA and Lake Powell were busy places over the holiday weekend, too.
From left to right, photos by Phil Clark:
A member of the Page Public Library staff walks by in a patriotic dinosaur costume.
Lady Liberty greets the public, celebrating our country’s independence.
The driver of one of a group of old tractors waves to the crowd.
All the boat launch ramps were open to motorized watercraft, with the exception of Antelope Point Public and Stateline Main Ramps. Non-motorized craft are allowed to launch at Antelope Point Public and Stateline Main Ramps. The water is close to the end of the Antelope Ramp and the water has submerged the end of Stateline Main. The “cliffs” that had been exposed at the end of both ramps are now submerged.
Water has returned around Lone Rock, and the lonely monolith is once again an island. There were two levels for people to camp at the beach, the lower level being for four-wheel drive vehicles. With the heat and lack of rain, the sand can be deep. There were a lot of people camping and enjoying the beach.
Houseboats and smaller craft have once again been able to save time going up lake by using the “Cut” between Castle Rock and Antelope Island. The Cut, which was first dredged in the late 1980s, has been deepened for a number of years by dredging and later blasting, as the soft ground gave way to bedrock. With a bottom elevation of approximately 3580, boaters were blessed with just over four feet of water in the Cut on July 1, allowing most watercraft passage through the short-cut.
Parking lots at the three marina areas were almost full. At Wahweap, a handful of vehicles parked along Lakeshore Drive. Wahweap and Stateline Marinas had more water around them and “Potato Rock,” that appeared last year, has once again disappeared. Boaters were able to navigate more easily outside the marina breakwaters and between the walls of sandstone between Wahweap and Glen Canyon Dam.
On the Fourth of July, the City of Page held the annual parade. The weather was warm and pleasant, and it seemed the effects of the pandemic had disappeared because there were more spectators and float entries than there had been in the last three years. People had a great time seeing the floats, emergency vehicles, old cars and other parade entries. The kids and kids at heart raced into the street to collect candy tossed to the crowd.
Earlier in the day there was a market in John C. Page Memorial Park. When the winds started accelerating in the afternoon, some grew concerned that the city’s fireworks display would be canceled. The city provided a live band at the golf course for people to view the fireworks up close. Others watched the display from various other viewpoints around Page.
In years past, the Page radio station would broadcast live for the event. This year, without the radio, it was more difficult to know if the fireworks were canceled or not. After waiting some 45 minutes, some spectators started leaving. Luckily some caught sight of the first bursts of light and returned to their vantage point.
The fireworks were a spectacular end to a long holiday weekend. Visitors and locals enjoyed the lake and surrounding public lands. For information about the lake levels of Lake Powell, visit lakepowell.waterdata.com/. For information about visiting Lake Powell and Glen Canyon NRA, visit nps.gov/glca/planyourvisit/index.htm.
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