The Wave

Back in March I thought I would try my hand at the lottery system for The Wave. We talked to someone who had been putting in for years with no luck. We didn't think we had any chance at drawing out but I just wanted to see how the system worked. Somehow we got very lucky and drew out. I put in for four spots so that my parents could come along. A few years ago, my parents and I were in Kanab watching Seth play baseball and saw a photo of The Wave on the wall in one of the local stores and we talked about how we HAD to go there.

Our permit was for Friday the 31st; we wanted to get an early start to beat the heat so my parents got us a hotel in Kanab Thursday night. We got up at 6:00 and hit the road. The drive to the trail head took us about an hour. We chose Wire Pass trail head to begin the hike; this trailhead is about 8 miles down the House Rock Valley Road, which is a dirt road. A 4X4 vehicle is recommended. Before we started the hike, we loaded up our backpacks and camel backs with lots of water and treats. Walking on sandstone and in sand with a hot sun can be very warm so we wanted to be extra prepared. Luckily, the weather was a little overcast so it didn't get nearly as hot as it could have at the end of July.

The hike itself is about 6 miles round trip. It is a moderate hike with a little elevation gain. The difficult part of the hike was walking in sand; there are a few sand hills that are hard to walk up. Otherwise, the hike was not bad at all. The trail is only marked in a few places: because of this we had heard that it is easy to get lost. My dad brought his GPS which was very helpful. The BLM also sent a map with our permits that had pictures of landmarks you would pass on the way there and on the way back to the car. Both of these were super helpful and we never felt like we were lost. We could also see that without these it would be easy to get confused.

There is one final ascent to The Wave that is short but sandy. Once we reached it, we were amazed. Here are some photos because a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

There was a volunteer ranger that said he does this hike every Friday to make sure no one gets lost. He gets to bring along two guests, so he had his son and grandson with him. While we were relaxing by The Wave, he asked us if we wanted to go on his behind the scene hike. It is only about an extra two miles and takes anywhere from 1-2 hours. Blake and I decided that we might only make it here once so we should probably just go. We saw SO many other cool things. Here are some photos of what we saw.

The "brain rock" 

View of The Wave from up above.

The Alcove. (We ate lunch here)

Pano of The Alcove.

Looks like a sun shining on us in The Alcove.

Looking through Melody Arch to Wall Arch. 

Wall Arch

Looking out at the Teepees.

Taking a bite of the "Hamburger Rock".

Blake taking a bite!

Looks like lava flowing down the hill. 

We finished up back at The Wave; we took a few more photos and headed back to the car.  This is definitely one of the coolest places we have been. If you get the chance to go, then GO!