Coming out of Capitol Reef, I intended to head straight to Grand Junction, right on the Colorado/Utah border. However, I took a wrong turn in Hanksville and ended up on 95 South driving towards the Arizona border. I realized my mistake when I saw signs for Lake Powell. I had heard about it and really wanted to check it out, so I made the executive decision to go check out the lake. I camped out on some BLM land the day I got there and rented a kayak first thing in the morning the next day with the intention of exploring some of the slot canyons that Lake Powell is so famous for.
I set out feeling a little ill due to the heat and the glare off the water, but after an hour and a couple liters of water I felt a lot better and fell into a groove. I checked out Lost Eden Canyon, and paddled down one of its arms until it got too narrow to continue and the water ended.
The paddle back was much more painful than the paddle out, and by the time I got back to the van I could barely lift the kayak. When I checked a map later, I realized that I had paddled close to 8 miles! My arms and shoulders were sore for days afterwards.