This past weekend (1st weekend in March), went to hike the famous Wave in Arizona, by way of Las Vegas. It was a very interesting trip, and the formation must be seen in person, if you can get a permit. For myself, I actually didn't know about the Wave until I read an article about it in the latimes.com travel section. They mentioned that one can apply for the permit lottery online, 4 months in advance. So I applied for some dates, and got March 1.
The drive from Vegas to Kanab, UT, which is the closest accomodations, is quite an interesting drive. The drive to Kanab was done at night though, so we only saw the magnificent scenery on the return trip. For instance, where I15 goes through the Virgin River Gorge, and the red bluffs on the way from Hurricane to Kanab (and the peeks of Zion on the horizon).
There isn't too much to say about Kanab, except that it serves as a decent base for travelling in the area. We stayed at the Quail Park Lodge, which from the outside is a very non-descript motel, but which inside has been refurbished to a decent standard, and was quite comfortable.
The drive to The Wave is 36 miles on paved US89, and then a right turn onto House Rock Rd, which is a dirt road. I knew that part going in, but what other articles I've found on the net don't tell you is that it's possible (depending on season and/or rainfall) that there's a stream crossing to negotiate. If there's been any recent rain, you'll need a serious 4wd with appropriate ride height. We were there when it was dry, but there were ruts in the road from previous travel when it was wet. In the condition it was for us, it wasn't difficult to drive, in fact, I was doing 25mph for most of it, though many places where you need to be slow for a little while (and on the way back, even caught up with and passed (they pulled over to let me) 2 SUVs. Anyway, just be forwarned that if you're in a rental car, you might think twice about taking it here. But if you do, as I did, be careful over the stream; there was a distinct possiblity of getting bogged down, and that would have been a very expensive trip had that happened (i.e. liability to the rental company). Also, as an aside, if you do go down this road with a rental car, and you need to clean it off afterwards, there's a very convenient self-service car wash with high pressure water, in Fredonia, south of Kanab.
The hike to the Wave is not on a trail, though for parts of it where it's through sand, one can see the footprints of the hikers who went before. But much of it is over rock and untracked. The BLM, when they sent you your permit, give you a set of waypoints and color photos of the views from those waypoints so you can see where to go. On your way back, however, you're on your own; it's helpful to have a gps unit for route-finding.
The hike is not strenuous at all, except for a couple of short uphill stretches. The last uphill stretch leads to the Wave itself. We arrived just around noon, and the day had been calm until then, but just as we entered, the wind started to come up, and it was quickly apparant that wind-blown sandblasting was the erosive power.
Pix will go up next.
The drive from Vegas to Kanab, UT, which is the closest accomodations, is quite an interesting drive. The drive to Kanab was done at night though, so we only saw the magnificent scenery on the return trip. For instance, where I15 goes through the Virgin River Gorge, and the red bluffs on the way from Hurricane to Kanab (and the peeks of Zion on the horizon).
There isn't too much to say about Kanab, except that it serves as a decent base for travelling in the area. We stayed at the Quail Park Lodge, which from the outside is a very non-descript motel, but which inside has been refurbished to a decent standard, and was quite comfortable.
The drive to The Wave is 36 miles on paved US89, and then a right turn onto House Rock Rd, which is a dirt road. I knew that part going in, but what other articles I've found on the net don't tell you is that it's possible (depending on season and/or rainfall) that there's a stream crossing to negotiate. If there's been any recent rain, you'll need a serious 4wd with appropriate ride height. We were there when it was dry, but there were ruts in the road from previous travel when it was wet. In the condition it was for us, it wasn't difficult to drive, in fact, I was doing 25mph for most of it, though many places where you need to be slow for a little while (and on the way back, even caught up with and passed (they pulled over to let me) 2 SUVs. Anyway, just be forwarned that if you're in a rental car, you might think twice about taking it here. But if you do, as I did, be careful over the stream; there was a distinct possiblity of getting bogged down, and that would have been a very expensive trip had that happened (i.e. liability to the rental company). Also, as an aside, if you do go down this road with a rental car, and you need to clean it off afterwards, there's a very convenient self-service car wash with high pressure water, in Fredonia, south of Kanab.
The hike to the Wave is not on a trail, though for parts of it where it's through sand, one can see the footprints of the hikers who went before. But much of it is over rock and untracked. The BLM, when they sent you your permit, give you a set of waypoints and color photos of the views from those waypoints so you can see where to go. On your way back, however, you're on your own; it's helpful to have a gps unit for route-finding.
The hike is not strenuous at all, except for a couple of short uphill stretches. The last uphill stretch leads to the Wave itself. We arrived just around noon, and the day had been calm until then, but just as we entered, the wind started to come up, and it was quickly apparant that wind-blown sandblasting was the erosive power.
Pix will go up next.
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