Travelogue

Our campsite in Gunsight CanyonLaunching the boat at the Stateline Boat Ramp went off without a hitch, and the motor started up with the first turn of the key - not bad after sitting neglected for 9 months.

It felt great to be cruising in the boat again, especially in such spectacular scenery - 186 miles of colorful rock formations, natural arches and bridges, and so many canyons, bays, and coves that there is 1,960 miles of shoreline to explore.

The lake level was 3610, high enough to allow us to take the Castle Rock Cut (impassable at 3585 feet) out to the main channel, rather than the longer route around Antelope Island.

Camping in Gunsight CanyonWe decided to skip popular Warm Creek Bay and continued on to Gunsight Canyon, just shy of Padre Bay, on the northern side of the channel at Buoy 17. We hoped this smaller canyon,, squeezed between the two larger bays, would have less camping options for houseboats and thus be more secluded.

We were right, and soon we were anchored just a short distance off a sandy beach - or at least it did become sandy after about 15 feet of schlepping our camping gear through a bit of muck.

While Herb set up the tent, I spent a productive hour building a sidewalk across the muck, using slates that I found scattered about the beach. Sometimes it’s nice to have life reduced to the simple tasks of survival.

View from tent in Gunsight CanyonWe spent the afternoon swimming and floating in our very own private paradise. While gazing at the surroundings from my float, I saw just why this canyon got its name. Gunsight Butte, the formation at the entrance to the canyon, had two high points on either end - just like a gunsight.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much opportunity for hiking in this canyon, but even if there was, the 100+ degree heat pretty much kept us in the water until early evening. I was developing a better understanding for why animals in the desert are nocturnal.

That night we slept with the fly off the tent, and just lied there gazing up at the Milky Way. What an incredible experience!