The Wave, Wire Pass & Buckskin Gulch - Winter

[Rob L]

The Wave, Wire Pass & Buckskin Gulch

The Wave:
I got a same-day pass on a Monday for the Wave. In fact, the BLM had only issued eight passes in four days, and three of those were when I arrived at the office in Kanab. On the two separate days I used this trailhead, I saw no advance-booking hikers.

Below: There were some vehicle tracks down the access road from highway 89, but not too recently.
http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff206/868mick/usa2008/Dscf8332reduced.jpg

Below: The trail to the Wave is largely across slickrock, with few markers, but even in the snow, a novice like me found no difficulty, especially with the very well prepared trail guidance issued by the BLM.
http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff206/868mick/usa2008/Dscf8338reduced.jpg

We've all seen photos of the Wave, but it still caught me unawares. The formations are quite stunning, even in the snow.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff206/868mick/usa2008/Dscf8349reduced.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff206/868mick/usa2008/Dscf8379reduced.jpg

Again, I find myself fascinated by the minutiae of the place

[americanhero]

The Wave:
I got a same-day pass on a Monday for the Wave. In fact, the BLM had only issued eight passes in four days, and three of those were when I arrived at the office in Kanab. On the two separate days I used this trailhead, I saw no advance-booking hikers.

Interesting, I always thought walk- in permits were for the next day.
Absolutely unbelievable that there was no one else beside you. When we checked the road conditions at the BLM office in June, we could see a billboard with all the requests for the 10 permits per day. Sometimes there were 90++ requests for a single day :eek2:
That always put me off to do that hike.

But I think winter would be the perfect time for me to do that. I really love winter in the Southwest and especially the Wave looks incredible with the snow. :2thumbs:
Thanks for sharing your pics

[Iceaxe]

You might find this story about Buckskin Gulch in winter to be entertaining. :haha:

Buckskin Bites Back
By: Jud Eades
http://climb-utah.com/Escalante/buckskinice.htm

http://climb-utah.com/Escalante/Files/buckskinice2.jpg

http://climb-utah.com/Escalante/Files/buckskinice3.jpg

[americanhero]

You might find this story about Buckskin Gulch in winter to be entertaining. :haha:




:eek1: :eek1: :eek1:


Fortunately I will be there in June. And icy conditions should be very rare during that time of the year :lol: :mrgreen:

[Rob L]

Interesting, I always thought walk- in permits were for the next day. The BLM do issue same-day passes if the quota for that day were not issued the day before.

[raxafarian]

Very nice pics. More snow than I thought there would be. I have permits for 3 weeks from now. Do I need to rethink my outerwear and footwear? How deep was the snow?

[trackrunner]

Very nice pics. More snow than I thought there would be. I have permits for 3 weeks from now. Do I need to rethink my outerwear and footwear? How deep was the snow?

Go with options for differnt types of weather. That includes mud for the hike and car travel. A lot can change within 3 weeks. The area is currently having more of a warm spell compared to all the snow earlier.