Granite Bay to Burro Bay, Oct. 29
It rained last night. A few moderate down pours and a few sprinkles. We heard the slapping of big bass jumping out of the water as they pursued bait fish. We woke to cloudy skies with patches of blue.
We continued our journey up Greg Basin marveling at the beauty of the topography around us and the very few, 1 or 2, fishing boats we saw. The farther up the arm and deeper into the coves we went the more bass we saw jumping out of the water. It seemed even Chris could catch a fish here, but alas, we had no fishing license.
During our journey we saw beautiful white throated loons swimming in the water. Now we know where the Loonies we didn’t see in Canada went! There was a beautiful Blue Heron overhead. We saw a hawk flying above in Hualapai Bay land on a pinnacle rock to oversee his surroundings. As we reached the end of the water, we saw a herd of cows come down to the water’s edge to drink from the clear, cool water.
Motoring at ¾ power, the boat was moving along at 5.4 knots in flat water. That’s almost hull speed at ¾ power! Love that new motor. We motored and sometimes sailed until we ran out of water. With the depth sounder showing 3 feet and the water thick with sediment we had reached the point where the Colorado empties into the much reduced Lake Mead.
Motoring at ¾ power, the boat was moving along at 5.4 knots in flat water. That’s almost hull speed at ¾ power! Love that new motor. We motored and sometimes sailed until we ran out of water. With the depth sounder showing 3 feet and the water thick with sediment we had reached the point where the Colorado empties into the much reduced Lake Mead.
Chris wanted to get some pictures of Enosis sailing in Lake Mead and this seemed like the perfect spot to do so. I got in the dinghy and took a series of pictures while Chris sailed around me. See slide show below.
Anchoring in Lake Mead can be like anchoring in Canada. The water is so deep right up to the rocky shore that you are unable to anchor away from the shore. The day was quickly passing and we decided to anchor in Burro Bay. Shades of the Copelands in Canada. We were so close to the rocks you could almost reach out and touch them. The winds started to pick up and were blowing between 10 and 20 knots with much higher gusts.
Again, this was a beautiful arroyo with lovely green trees at the water’s edge at the end of the cove. When preparing dinner, I looked up to see a burro ambling along the shore not more than 20 feet and slightly above me. It was spellbinding. The donkey was a pale beige color with dark brown markings with huge ears and looked well-groomed and in good shape. It gave me a glance and ambled on down to the head waters to drink. I went back to dinner prep and a little bit later I looked up to see 2 or 3 more donkeys nibbling on the grass at the head of the arroyo. Stopping work, I watched as a group of 5 donkeys starting coming up the path in my direction, on down a little past me to where the path went down to the water to drink. Seconds later a “colt” came bounding out of the grass running up to his mom and the rest of the herd. The herd basically paid us no mind until Chris made the “come hither” sound and all of them snapped their heads in our direction looking for food. These donkeys were trained. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your opinion about feeding wildlife, we had nothing to give them. They soon gave up waiting for food and strolled up the trail to their home.
The night was colder than past nights, but this time we had a heavier sleeping bag and more blankets to keep us warm.
The night was colder than past nights, but this time we had a heavier sleeping bag and more blankets to keep us warm.