Chapter 23: The Rock (Lone Rock, not Dwayne Johnson)

I have a theory: this place is named Lone Rock because all the other smaller rocks blew away in the wind…We’ve hit some high winds on our travels however this place takes the cake. Eloise asked “Will our camper blow over Daddy?” No. At least we hoped not.

Our home parked on Lone Rock Beach

We pulled on to Lone Rock Beach in Big Water, UT early on a Sunday morning. Because we had left Arizona we were now in a new time zone: Mountain Time. (Note: Lone Rock is right on the border of AZ and UT and all week long we crossed back and forth between Arizona time–they don’t partake in daylight savings time– and Mountain time. Boy was that annoying. We kept asking what time is it? oye)

Lone Rock Beach was amazing boondocking. So beautiful. We parked right on the beach and dropped the back deck. We pulled out the inflatable kayak and paddled over to lone rock and in the cove. Eliza was in no way a fan of her life jacket and wanted out of the boat immediately (thus we have no photos from that boat ride). Eloise enjoyed the paddle on the calm waters.

Lone Rock Beach

We enjoyed playing in the sand on Lone Rock Beach and met a few other kids enjoying the beach that week too. It wasn’t super warm but it was in the 60-70 which was warm enough for a kid haha. (The water was cold! But some kids did go swimming. Brr!)

Our neighbor on the beach (who we had just met) warned us of two things: 1.that if there is any wind in the forecast then to make sure everything is tied down, 2. people get their car/truck/camper stuck in the sand here all the time and to be careful.

Hard to see but this is a photo of blowing sand and the rental boat on the beach

We checked the forecast before we went to Lone Rock and there was no wind mentioned. We re-checked it after we arrived and found some light/moderate winds on Tuesday. We didn’t think much of it and went on with our business. Tuesday afternoon the light wind started. Around 5pm the winds intensified and we were sure our awnings were pulled in and all the lightweight items outside were stowed away. At 5:30pm we saw our heavy vinyl kayak and paddles flying in the wind down the beach. We ran after them and secured all of it. At 6pm I noticed our other neighbors running down the beach. I peered out the window and saw a medium sized speed boat up on the beach and people running towards it. Kevin went out to investigate. After 2 hours, Kevin returned. He (and our neighbors who had rented the boat) went out into the wind storm to Lone Rock to save 2 kayakers (a father and son) who had become stranded there when the winds picked up. Oye. Glad no one was hurt. (They had called 9-1-1 but were informed it would be hours before help arrived so this rental boat was their only immediate rescue.)

It should also be noted that while we did not get anything stuck in the sand here (thankfully) we did witness several people who did. Kevin even helped tow one person out of the deep sand.

Glenn Canyon Dam

We were glad when the winds were gone. We were able to enjoy the beach again and also visited nearby Glenn Canyon Dam (took the dam tour which was interesting), hiked out to Horseshoe Bend, and toured Lower Antelope Canyon. At Glenn Canyon Dam we were able to tour all the way down to the generators. Lower Antelope Canyon was beautiful, but a little pricey, crowded, and felt like a mile long cattle march through a canyon.

Pretending to cry as we were stuck with wall to wall people in Lower Antelope Canyon

The whole family at Horseshoe Bend Arizona

We had planned to stay at Lone Rock for a whole week however we re-checked the forecast and saw moderate/high winds in the forecast for Thursday and left. We knew that another day of sand-blasting was not going to be any fun so we hit the dusty trail towards Zion National Park.

Gorgeous Lower Antelope Canyon