Snow Almost Ruined My Hike to the Wave

---

“The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage.” -Thucydides

Four months ago I was sitting at my desk stressing about work, so I pulled up my bucket list Word doc and decided I needed to cross something off soon. I picked "Photographing the Wave." There is a very stringent set of rules about hiking the Wave though, put forth by the Bureau of Land Management, BLM. I got on their site and found this out. They have a lottery four months in advance, you put in the top three days you want and wait to see if you are picked. There are only 10 people picked for each day, currently they also give out 10 additional passes between 8:30-9am every morning. Dozens of people, evidently, line up for these passes.

So I flew in a few days before my date, wanting to check out the area and acclimate a bit. (Check out my two previous entries to see how I spent my time) The weather today did not want to cooperate with me. It started snowing last night while I was at dinner and when I awoke this morning there was about four inches of snow stacked up on top of the Jeep. As I was getting ready for the day, wondering what I am going to do, everyone advised against going. "The road is impassable when wet." "It won't be any good hiking through snow." "The wave will be covered in snow and you won't even see it." "Sounds dangerous, live to fight another day." As I am packing and contemplating the power goes out, in the whole town. The snow covered trees were surrendering to the weight of the snow and ending up taking down power lines. My plan had been to wait it out for a bit in a diner and hope that the weather clears enough for me to go. With no power in town I decided to drive the 15 miles to the neighboring town and make my decision over breakfast.

While eating I was weighing my options, drive back to St. George through Zion and take photos with snow covering everything I have seen two-three times already, find something close that is safer to hike, or eff it all and do it. Considering this is a bucket list trip I decided to just do a little reconnaissance on that road... could it really be that bad?

Starting down the 13 miles of clay, sand and rock road was not so bad. A few miles in I changed my mind. The motel manager had warned me about driving on this clay, how it is as slick as ice once it gums up the tread of your tires. He knew what he was talking about. Steering was all but pointless, I basically controlled the vehicle with the accelerator, only twice was I truly fearful about ending up in the ditch. Once at the Wire Pass Trailhead parking area I threw on my backpack, grabbed the map the BLM sent me, and started off.

To say that this trail is unmarked is a bit of an understatement. Due to the strict rules about the ten passes many people want to hike to the Wave illegally. To remedy this the BLM makes it as difficult as possible to find, the middle of the trail is completely unmarked and over slickrock so you can't even see the footsteps of those who have gone before you. Thankfully the only snow sticking was to plants and not to the sand and stone. It did make the rock a bit slippery, but as one of my football coaches often said, not to me of course, "be an athlete, keep your feet." The snow/rain continued to come down lightly for the majority of the hike. The only time that it really bothered me was when I wondered off track to what I thought was the Wave and knew that I was lost. This is the middle of the UT/AZ desert here, not the most welcoming of landscapes to be lost in. Here is what Wikipedia has to say:

"In past years there have been a significant number of Search and Rescue Operations conducted by both the Coconino County Sheriff's Office (Arizona) and the Kane County Sheriff's Office (Utah) for persons lost during the over-land hike to and from The Wave. Visitors are advised to take particular care in their navigation, carry a topographic map, compass and GPS and use them in the course of their excursions. The changing appearance of the terrain as the direction of the light shifts seems to be a important factor in a number of incidents. Any lost or missing persons should be reported immediately to either Sheriff's Office as the response time for SAR personnel to the area can be protracted. (It is best to call early and possibly have to cancel the response, rather than wait, which may cause the SAR operation to be conducted in the dark or after inclement weather moves in.)"

Anyway, I started looking around, using my zoom lens as a monocular and saw a crack running vertical in a rock in the distance. I had read about this four months ago, something about just follow that crack it will lead you right to it. So from the hundred or so feet up here I had to slide down this slick stone wet I was pissed off, but ready to make my way the rest of the way there. I put my compass away and walked by sight. I passed a man and his dog on the last stretch, which was encouraging, I didn't expect to see anyone out here in this weather.

The Wave is amazing.

Ebbs and crests like real waves made from rock layers of different colors and textures formed by winds during the Jurassic era. How incredible is that? There was one group there when I arrived, two Germans, (evidently this place is famous from some film in Germany), and one Spaniard. They departed in less than five minutes of my arrival. I had the place to myself to photograph and explore and that is what I did. After a while, I realized I could photograph every square inch of this photogenic beauty. What I did instead was just sit down and relax; let the spiritual experience this was supposed to be find me. The wind rushed through, moving sand, playing across the water pools from the melted snow. Things like this, all of the travels that I take, I am trying to recreate this feeling. The feeling where I realize that I need to burn this memory into my mind to access later. On days like I had four months ago where stress gets the better of me. It took millions of years to create this place, it is bigger, more immense, than any of my problems. It reminds me that no matter what happens in my life, no matter how significant it seems to me at that moment, the sun will still rise in the east tomorrow and set in the west. Eternity is something I dwell on late at night, this place has seen my 32 years come and go and will be here long after I am gone. I packed up my things feeling much lighter than I did when I walked up just minutes before.

The hike back was much more uneventful, funny how that works... I remember just smiling and even laughing to myself, very proud to have accomplished what I had just done. Much of the snow had melted off of the desert vegetation. The snow/rain had stopped just as I had reached the Wave, and if I stood real still I could hear the ground opening up to take in the water. I don't even know how to explain this sound. Maybe if you had a million sponges and put them in water softly enough that it made no sound could you hear this. No, I am not imagining this; it was incredible.

Once in the Jeep I drove back up the slick clay road with a smile on my face, thinking about everything I had done today, feeling physically a bit sore, but mentally relaxed. My only plan was to drive back to St. George before my flight tomorrow am. My phone buzzed a few times as I reached a point where it had reception, sometimes it is nice to just be away I thought, text messages coming through. The phone continued to buzz though. Surprised I looked down at my phone. One of my buddies from work was calling. I told him about my trip and my hike, the smile still on my face. Turns out he was calling to tell me that someone was pissed about something I said at work last week.... Somethings are bigger than work. The smile is still here.

---

Photos

My favorite one
Looks like you could just ride it over the edge.

Quote Reads:
"Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it." -Theodore Roosevelt 1903