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Show New Record Expected In Powell Visitors This promises to be a big year for Lake Powell. Visitors to this beautiful vacation and are expected in record numbers this year. Wahweap Marina has already booked all one-week houseboat rentals for the summer. About 80 percent of the available rooms at Wahweap Lodge are reserved for the summer months. Bullfrog, Halls Crossing and Hlte Marinas report that 80 percent of their houseboats are booked for the summer months. Accommodations at Halls Crossing and Bullfrog are still available, but reservations should be made very soon to insure a motel room. Superintendent Reynolds of Glen Canyon NRA has indicated that the Park Service is planning resurfacing of the Wahweap Ramp. The Stateline Ramp will be lengthened so that it will reach the lower water level this season. In spite of the efforts to accommodate the increase of visitors, Reynolds is not optimistic about the situation for this season. The lack of adequate funding has made it Impossible to properly maintain present facilities. Funding increases for new facilities are not expected. Last year there were long lines at the beginning and end of the day at launch ramps. At times boaters had to wait three hours to put their boats in the water. This season the situation will probably be even more difficult. Construction In the Hite and Bullfrog areas will add to congestion problems there, especially over holiday weekends. Those planning vacations on the north end of Lake Powell should schedule their trips to begin and end on week days and not over holiday periods. Visitors to Lake Powell are encouraged to plan arrival and departure times which take advantage of slack times during the week or mid-day. Even night launchings are a possibility for boaters who know the Lake well. Rangers at Lake Powell are hoping that visitors to the Lone Rock area will take special care to didpose of refuse properly. Last year bacteriological studies Indicated that the side canyons so popular for swimming in that area developed high counts which were bordering on being dangerous. Vacations planned during April and May at Lake Powell would probably work out well. The largest crowds are not expected until June. Those boaters who launched at Clay Hills Crossing on Lake Powell last year will find this area unusable to boaters now because of low water. Even persons planning float trips down the San Juan River should plan to be picked up either at Piute Farms or directly off the lake by boat. Low water and heavy, soft silt accumulations at Clay Hills Crossing have made this area Impossible for river trip pick-ups. |