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Show Boredom doesn't exist for the Adams family at Lake Powell JEANNA MANDEV1LLK Times Staff Writer Glen Canyon Recreation area offers unparalleled opportunities for water-based and backcountry recreation. recre-ation. The recreation area stretches for hundreds of miles from Lees Ferry in Arizona to the Orange Cliffs of Southern Utah, encompassing scenic sce-nic vistas, geological wonders and a panorama of human history. At the Glen Canyon Recreation area many activities are offered to visitors. Such adventures are: fishing, fish-ing, boat camping, tours, four-wheeling, backpacking in the Escalante or Orange Cliffs, exploring numerous side canyons by boat, scuba diving, kayaking, wildlife viewing and river rafting. Dave Adams of Orem has been going to Lake Powell since he was 15 years old, and has been going yearly, monthly and sometimes weekly with his family for the past 12 years. Adams wanted to establish a yearly vacation spot so he could bring his son year after year, and once grown, his son could then bring his own children. chil-dren. Lake Powell has become that place. Adams has been flying small planes since the age 18, and uses his experience to fly his family to Lake Powell where he has a car waiting for him and his boat already launched. The dock community is what draws the Adams family back time after time. "We have friends from all over, and it's great to have one of them call us all up and organize organ-ize a meeting where we all will gather gath-er at the lake to share dinners and friendships," said Adams. Adams and his family water and jet ski as well as scuba dive. Adams said that with the water being so low right now, it is like seeing a new lake for him. Different canyons are exposed as well as different shore lines and different monuments. Adams likes to put on his scuba gear and go for adventures locating recent shore lines where he can find barbecues, tents and fishing poles that have been covered by the water. Did you know this about Lake Powell? Lake Powell was formed with the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam in 1963, on the Colorado River in Page, Arizona. It is the second largest man-made lake in the United States and is 187 miles long with 96 major side canyons and a coast line of approximately 1960 miles more than the west coast of the U.S. from Seattle to San Diego. Lake Powell is located within Glen Canyon National Recreational Area (GCNRA) on the Arizona-Utah border. It's located in the heart of The Grand Circle, so named because of the concentration of our country's most fantastic National Parks and Monuments, i.e., Grand Canyon National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Canyon de Chelly National Park, Capital Reef National Park and Monument Valley. Rainbow Bridge National Monument is located approximately 50 miles up-lake from Glen Canyon Dam in Forbidding Canyon. This awesome awe-some span is the world's largest natural natu-ral bridge standing 290 feet high. Lake Powell holds approximately 8.5 trillion gallons of water and summertime sum-mertime water temperatures approach 80 degrees. It is home to many game fish such as Walleye, Western Pike, Large and Smallmouth Bass, Stripers, Catfish and Bluegill. Lake Powell is host to 3.5 million domestic and international visitors a year. By the time the Glen Canyon Dam was completed in 1963, it took another 14 years to fill the lake. Utah rock BnyirDftDirog digs up great ffiimdls JEANNA MANDEVILLE Times Staff Writer Ever been out hiking and come across beautiful, unique rocks and not know what they are or what to do with them? Local Utah County man, Bob Gillman, began as a rock hound simply sim-ply gathering attractive rocks that crossed his path. It wasn't until his wife convinced him to take jelwery making classes, that Gillman decided to take up the hobby of rock hunting. Gillman decided to use the rocks he found for the jelwery he makes and has been doing it for 20 years. Gillman's favorite spot to rock hunt is Topaz Mountain located in the Thomas Mountain Range in Utah. Topaz Mountain is the most traveled site in Millard County's west desert. Topaz, Utah's State gem, is a semiprecious gem-stone gem-stone that is a very hard transparent crystal that can be found in a variety of colors. Topaz crystals at Topaz Mountain are naturally amber colored, col-ored, but become colorless after exposure expo-sure to sunlight. The crystals formed with in cavities of the Topaz Mountain Rhyolite, a volcanic rock Petrified wood, Septarian Nodule and calcite crytals. which erupted approximately six to seven million years ago from volcanic vents along faults in the area. According to Gillman, besides being able to find topaz, one can also find , garnet, petrified wood, geodes, quartz, and obsidian in the Utah mountains. With his finds, Gillman creates hand-made items. He has taken classes on jewelry making and creates necklaces, rings, belt buckles and even clocks with the stones he finds. Gillman is a member of the Timpanogos Gem and Mineral Society who sponsors shows allowing its members to show off their finds, as well as organizes trips in the Utah mountains moun-tains for rock hunting. Different informative classes are held at the Provo Eldred Center located locat-ed at 270 W. 500 N. in Provo. Classes are held the last Wednesday of every month for members and interested non-members as well. A variety of topics are covered at the meetings, for example, one class talked about how to prepare if you find a fossil while rock hunting. For more information about how you can get involved in rock hunting, or become a member of the Timpanogos Gem and Mineral Society, call Gillman at 801-225-4115. Snowmobllax & Watarcraft 8LC: 463-78SS Ut. Co. 465-4741 . .....JO-,: 1 Hour 12 day Full Day f: I Rentals available I ;':0m0. 1 AU machines available for pick up JiWfit i rentals as weu. Page 12 Outdoor & Travel Section , Thursday, May 29, 2003 |