Adventures around "The Wave"

[teancum]

I just got tickets to the Wave for this Sunday. As long as I was going to be in the area I was woundering if there was any other cool places to do either Saturday or if the wave does not take up all of Sunday.

I searched around this website and the only other places that I could find in the Area was:

Sand Cove
Wahweap Hoodoos
Cottonwood Canyon
Round Valley

The only place that I could find GPS Coorinates for was Wahweap Hoodoos. Does anyone else know of any other places that I could go in the area on Saturday or in the afternoon on Sunday if we get done witht he WAVE early?

[tanya]

It's winter. Check your road conditions to all these before you go. Cottonwood Road in the GSENM might be closed still?

http://www.zionnational-park.com/coyote-buttes.htm

http://www.zionnational-park.com/gshike.htm

[ibenick]

My two cents: give the whole day to Coyote Buttes North, especially with the short days this time of year. The Wave is just a blip compared to the other awesome things in the immediate vicinity. Sand Cove is a great place to kill some time. Just before you get to the Wave you'll get to a wash followed by a steep sand hill that leads to the wave. Instead of going up the sand hill head up the wash. It slots up nicely and leads to beautiful sand cove. Once you're done there you can sneak around the back of The Wave making it kind of a loop or do it the other direction. It's very easy navigation, here's a little map showing some basic points for navigation.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=214533597045798101523.0004993496ba6ce6cff49&ll=36.991619,-112.008533&spn=0.029033,0.034418&t=h&z=15

[Richie]

My two cents: give the whole day to Coyote Buttes North

Same opinion here. Many people do the mistake to just hike to the Wave. But there's so much to explore around there. Sand Cove is a great place and (in my opinion) easy to find.+
Also hike up the plateau that's just up and right to the Wave where you can find a lot of beautiful brainrocks and some interesting features like the Hamburger.

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[uintahiker]

You could also hit up a little bit of Buckskin Gulch as it's in the area.

[Bo_Beck]

One of y favorite spots nearby to The Wave is Melody Arch! It is maybe 1/3rd of a mile away from The Wave proper, requiring a tad bit of scrambling, but so worth the effort! I went out there last winter and Dave and I scrambled/postholed up in the snow. It was awesome! Tanya and I have gone in the snow as well and put up some photos on our website. Here is a link to a photo and another link to the route description with map etc.

Photo of Melody Arch- http://www.zionnational-park.com/images/album2/pages/wave_melody_h_jpg.htm

Route description- http://www.zionnational-park.com/coyote-buttes-paria.htm

[jdgibney]

I was thinking about starting a similar post, so I might just piggy back here, if y'all don't mind! I'll be heading out to Coyote Buttes North for the first time in a few weeks (Jan 25). I'm obviously interested in the Wave, but the pix I've seen of Sand Cover, and Melody Arch have piqued my creative interests as well. I'm trying to figure out how to best map out a route to spend the day and maximize the best light photographically. We plan to arrive at HRVR around sunrise (Staying in Page the night before), so we can get a full day in. So, any suggestions on a route (a nice leisurely one) where we can visit, relax and photograph a lot of the best features of CBN would be much appreciated!

[ibenick]

jdgibney, I didn't do Melody arch but the loop I took, going up to Sand Cove and up to The Wave through the back door was very leisurely and no one else that day entered Sand Cove, we had it all to ourselves. We left the trailhead around 9am and made it back about 4pm and put in 8 miles round trip, so basically, lots of lounging in the sun and taking photos once we were there. Highly recommended. The map I posted earlier in this thread should have enough coordinates to help you navigate, if not let me know, I'm happy to help.

[jdgibney]

@jdgibney (http://www.bogley.com/forum/member.php?u=18923) , I didn't do Melody arch but the loop I took, going up to Sand Cove and up to The Wave through the back door was very leisurely and no one else that day entered Sand Cove, we had it all to ourselves. We left the trailhead around 9am and made it back about 4pm and put in 8 miles round trip, so basically, lots of lounging in the sun and taking photos once we were there. Highly recommended. The map I posted earlier in this thread should have enough coordinates to help you navigate, if not let me know, I'm happy to help.
Thanks! I have the coordinates saved on my map and gps... I dig the pix you posted too, and can't wait to see it in person. Loving reading up on this forum, some ideas I never would have even thought about...
-gib

[Philippe]

Hi Gib,

You can find some information about what to explore around The Wave in the guidebook Photographing the Southwest Volume 2 by Laurent Martres. As I have visited Coyote Buttes many times, I wrote for this Laurent's guidebook a detailled description of a loop from The Wave to Sand Cove and Top Rock.

You can have a look at my pictures in the Around The Wave and Top Rock sections here http://www.phschuler.com/usa2006/COYOTE%20BUTTES%20NORTH/index.html
(they are not very good as I was a beginner in digital photography and post processing when I shot them in 2006).
If you want some more information about a specific geologic feature displayed on these pictures, feel free to ask.

Philippe

[jdgibney]

@Philippe (http://www.bogley.com/forum/member.php?u=2880)
I am in love with these books! I got all three volumes over a year ago, and used Volumes 1 and 2 heavily to plan my 11 day trip this past fall, thank you for the great work along with laurent and the others! I will have to read the Coyote Buttes section in more detail this week while making final plans for the very quick trip!
Thank you and beautiful photos on your website!
-gib

[Philippe]

@Philippe (http://www.bogley.com/forum/member.php?u=2880)
I am in love with these books! I got all three volumes over a year ago, and used Volumes 1 and 2 heavily to plan my 11 day trip this past fall, thank you for the great work along with laurent and the others! I will have to read the Coyote Buttes section in more detail this week while making final plans for the very quick trip!
Thank you and beautiful photos on your website!
-gib

I am happy to read that you apreciate these guidebooks, I collaborated to them to share my passion of the Southwest with others. If you need some more information after reading the CBN chapter, feel free to ask me.

Philippe

[DWayne27]

So how about a little guidance on the best way to actually get permits to the Wave? It has been on my list for a while, and every time I think about trying to get permits, it seems impossible and overwhelming. Should I just keep trying my luck at the lottery?

[Richie]

Best way to get permits? If you can plan ahead such a long time then try the online lottery. If not (or if you have no luck online) try the lottery the day before at Paria Contact Station (keep in mind that the Contact Station is in Utah). There have been people missing the lottery because they stayed in Page and forgot that Arizona hasn't daylight saving time. :eek2:).

I would suggest to plan a few days in Page so that you can try it on a few days if you don't have luck at the first try. Around Page there are so many places and intereting things to see that you could spent a whole vacation just in the Page Area. For example: If you have a 4WD drive you could apply for the Wave Lottery and if you have no luck try to get walk in permits for South Coyote Buttes. There's often a big chance to get one of these.

[jdgibney]

Another way, especially in off-peak times is, check online
https://www.blm.gov/az/paria/hikingcalendar.cfm?areaid=2&CFID=751503&CFTOKEN=33590021&jsessionid=90301c2159c9704f6e54TR
on the 15th of each month to see if any dates open up (it would be at noon MST). from lotto winners who didn't claim theirs. Thats how I got mine for January 25th back on October 15th (there were a LOT of open slots for January). I've checked each month since then and there were some open slots in February and March on Nov 15th and Dec 15th respectively....

[teancum]

Another way, especially in off-peak times is, check online
https://www.blm.gov/az/paria/hikingcalendar.cfm?areaid=2&CFID=751503&CFTOKEN=33590021&jsessionid=90301c2159c9704f6e54TR
on the 15th of each month to see if any dates open up (it would be at noon MST). from lotto winners who didn't claim theirs. Thats how I got mine for January 25th back on October 15th (there were a LOT of open slots for January). I've checked each month since then and there were some open slots in February and March on Nov 15th and Dec 15th respectively....


I got mine tickets kind of the same way. I have that website set as my homepage on all of the computers that I use. So I end up visiting the online calendar 10+ times a day. On the 6th of Jan someone had returned their tickets for the 9th of the same months and I was the first one to see and buy them.

[teancum]

P.S. Thanks for all the information... gps coordinates and help. I had a great time and got back late last night. Later tonight I will try to write my first ever trip report and post some pictures.

[Richie]

Glad that to hear that you had a great time

[teancum]

First off thanks for everyone one for the information.

I went on this adventure with my fiancee, Stacie. On Thursday of last week someone that had originally won the lottery dropped out and sent back two tickets. I was lucky enough to have the calendar open at the same time and was able to buy the tickets for Sunday. I received and email that said that I could pick up the tickets at the St. George Field Office. I live in Salt Lake so I was just going to pick up the tickets Saturday night or Sunday morning depending on what time we where able to get down to the area. The E-mail had no address or phone number for the field office so I had to dig around on BLM website until I found it. I called them Friday night when I got off of work only to figure out that they would be closed until Monday.

I have never seen open slots on the calendar before and I was not going to just let these tickets go to waste. So I printed out the emails they sent me to take in to get my tickets and figured that if I did get a ticket that at least I could report on how much it was. Plus I felt confident that I could bat my eyes, show a little cleavage and talk myself out of a ticket.

Since I didn't have the packet of information that they usually give to people, I downloaded a couple of GPS coordinates from google and packed my GPS and Gazetteer. Scratch that... I thought I packed my GPS, but evidently I left it at home when I was putting in fresh batteries. But we stayed the night in St George and I didn't figure that out until Sunday morning. I used the gazetteer and the gps coordinates to find the Wire Pass trail head and found the road that I needed to turn off to get to the trail head.

After hearing about how horrible the road get I was pleasantly surprised with how it was (I have a 98 ford ranger xlt 4x4). The first 1/3 had snow on the ground and was slick. The middle was mostly frozen dirt with a little frozen mud spots. The last 1/8 did get more exiting with mud larger defined tire grooves. But nothing bad enough that I thought I was going to get stuck on the way back... I did figure that with the sun being out for 8 more hours on the road that it was going to get more difficult to drive in. But maybe I am a little nieve because their was only 2 SUV there when I arrived.

So we didn't have a map or a guide to get to The Wave. The only thing I knew for sure was that we needed to travel south south-east direction and that The Wave was under the crack in the rock. So to make sure that we got their we did bring the car GPS system. We ended up not needing it because the trail was so well marked with footprints in the sand/snow and the rock trail markers; that and idiot could follow it. On our hike their we saw one of the groups of people already heading back. I don't know if they could not find it, didn't want to finish the hike, got cold or just saw everything that they wanted to see; but I am guessing that they got back to their SUV around 1pm (Never saw the other group... so it was a bonus to have the area all to ourselves).

Even if we had not of gotten to The Wave I think that the hike to get their was worth the drive in itself. The Wave is defiantly just one of many amazing geological features in the area. I hope to get some more tickets to visit some of the other places that we did not get time to look at. The only downside was it was windy when we where their, but other than the wind chill and a few white clouds in the sky it was a perfect day.

We started heading back to the car around 4:00. Remember how I said that an idiot would be able to find the trail? Well I take that back... I decided that I didn't need to pay attention to the trail and started cutting back towards the cars to early and ended up on the side of a sleeper mountain. It looked like a pain to get down, but I picked out the path I wanted to take and we started down. We got down a little ways and it just started to look steeper and steeper. And their was still some snow on this side of it. So we had a little pow-wow and decided that the embarrassment of back tracking was better than the embarrassment needing to be rescued.

I don't know what time we got back to the truck, but it was right as the sun was setting. In fact after going to the bathroom we had to use our head lamps to put our gear away and get back in the truck. Which was a good thing because I wanted to have some more time for the temperatures to drop and the road to stiffen up... Well this was the idea and plan. The tire groves seemed to be deeper, but maybe that was the darkness playing trick on my eyes. Either way we made it back safely and I didn't feel like I was going to get stuck anywhere.

Well now that I have forced you to read about my adventure here are the picture from it:

*****Heads up******
We are not photographers and took all of the pictures off of a camera phone or my drop/waterproof camera and then edited them with dynamic photo. As a result there are two people in most of the photos ruining the great scenery. I figure that if I just wanted a good landscape picture of anything, I would buy it from someone that has the time, know how and equipment to do it right.


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[teancum]

And some more photos

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[jdgibney]

So cool! Thanks for sharing your story and your wonderful photos. I'm getting excited, for our visit in 2 weeks!

[wes242]

I'm getting excited, for our visit in 2 weeks!
ME TOO!
Thanks for sharing!

[tanya]

Wonderful photos~ I like the kissing one best! :clap:

[jdgibney]

Wonderful photos~ I like the kissing one best! :clap:
those are sweet, I'm digging the hat and the scarf too!

[jdgibney]

ME TOO!
Thanks for sharing!
Do you guys have anything else planned the days before/after?

[teancum]

those are sweet, I'm digging the hat and the scarf too!

The best part about the panda hat/scarf is at those paws at the end of the scarf are actually mittens!

[americanhero]

great shots, thanks for sharing. Really enjoyed them all :wink:

[teancum]

Do you guys have anything else planned the days before/after?


I wanted to do one of the things that Tanya pointed out in the 2nd post, but I forgot that Stacie had a electronic convention to go to in Las Vegas on Saturday. She was at that really late on Saturday and didn't get to St George and into bed until about 2:00 am. So we where a little pressed on time to do other things. I would defiantly suggest staying in the night someplace closer.... Even though motels in St George where 1/2 the price and I am a cheap SOB.

[jdgibney]

I wanted to do one of the things that Tanya pointed out in the 2nd post, but I forgot that Stacie had a electronic convention to go to in Las Vegas on Saturday. She was at that really late on Saturday and didn't get to St George and into bed until about 2:00 am. So we where a little pressed on time to do other things. I would defiantly suggest staying in the night someplace closer.... Even though motels in St George where 1/2 the price and I am a cheap SOB.

We'll be staying in Page the night before and Kanab the night of the hike (and st george the first night we arrive), have a fun few days planned, hopefully the weather and road cooperate!

[teancum]

We'll be staying in Page the night before and Kanab the night of the hike (and st george the first night we arrive), have a fun few days planned, hopefully the weather and road cooperate!

Have you been to Southern Utah before? What else are you planning on doing?

[teancum]

P.S. Have you looked at taking a guided tour through Antelope Canyon?

[wes242]

Do you guys have anything else planned the days before/after?

We hard driving down Saturday and staying till Wed, staying in Huricane for 4 nights. We will hit Bryce on the way down, Zion one day might take a day drive over to Page Monday, Tuesday the Wave, Wed the drive back home. My wife has some major cabin fever right now so I am letting her decied on what she wants to do.

[jdgibney]

Have you been to Southern Utah before? What else are you planning on doing?
I have, this past fall, we did an 11 day trip and saw a lot of stuff, but didn't spend a lot of time in any one place, it was more of a scouting mission, we looped form Vegas to Page to Monument Valley, to Moab (3 days there saw some of Arches and canyonlands), down to Bryce and back to Vegas (we skipped Capitol Reef and Zion because my friend got really sick)... I'm planning on going to Moab for a week later in the year to see more of Arches and Canyonlands (as well as other places in the area)...

Basically we're arriving in Vegas on Sunday (23rd), driving up to St. George for the night. Monday we're going to check out the Rimrock Hoodoos on our way to Page where we're going to go into Lower Antelope (for a few hours surrounding noon) then to Horseshoe Bend for sunset. Tuesday we'll do Coyote Buttes North and then crash in Kanab. Wednesday we're going to check out Coral Pink Sand Dunes hopefully for sunrise, and then head to Valley of Fire, Vegas and then fly home Thursday. Super-quick trip based on the Coyote Buttes permits :)


We hard driving down Saturday and staying till Wed, staying in Huricane for 4 nights. We will hit Bryce on the way down, Zion one day might take a day drive over to Page Monday, Tuesday the Wave, Wed the drive back home. My wife has some major cabin fever right now so I am letting her decied on what she wants to do.

I'd love to check out Bryce and Zion in winter, just don't have the time to do it justice this trip. Next winter!

[jdgibney]

My two cents: give the whole day to Coyote Buttes North, especially with the short days this time of year. The Wave is just a blip compared to the other awesome things in the immediate vicinity. Sand Cove is a great place to kill some time. Just before you get to the Wave you'll get to a wash followed by a steep sand hill that leads to the wave. Instead of going up the sand hill head up the wash. It slots up nicely and leads to beautiful sand cove. Once you're done there you can sneak around the back of The Wave making it kind of a loop or do it the other direction. It's very easy navigation, here's a little map showing some basic points for navigation.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=214533597045798101523.0004993496ba6ce6cff49&ll=36.991619,-112.008533&spn=0.029033,0.034418&t=h&z=15

So, is there any way to go up to Sand Cove, and from there, up to Melody Arch and back down to the Wave?

[ibenick]

So, is there any way to go up to Sand Cove, and from there, up to Melody Arch and back down to the Wave?

I don't know for sure but I would think so. It definitely is possible to get on top of the mountain at the top of Sand Cove and I would think once you were up there you could head north and make it into a loop. I added a yellow marker to the map where I think the easiest exit was. It wasn't far from where we stopped (furthest south blue marker), we even considered going up there and looping but I hadn't done enough recon and our time was short from all the wandering in Sand Cove.

[jdgibney]

It might be a bit adventurous for my first time out there (and I'm not the most experienced hiker in the world as it is)...
I've got it all plugged into my gps, and printed out, we'll see what the day brings. Thanks for marking those on the map, its a big help. I hope I get some decent images to share, and just have a good relaxing day!

[Richie]

I added a yellow marker to the map where I think the easiest exit was. It wasn't far from where we stopped (furthest south blue marker), we even considered going up there and looping but I hadn't done enough recon and our time was short from all the wandering in Sand Cove.

I didn't go up there (just like you), but I've read a German Trip Report from someone who did and he described a point at the southern end of sandcove. Exactly where you placed your yellow marker.

[Jammer]

> So, is there any way to go up to Sand Cove, and from there, up to Melody Arch and back down to the Wave?

Yes -- it's kinda steep slickrock, but not that bad. You can get down just west of the 2nd Wave and/or Hamburger Rock area. I took a few newbies down this way. They complained a little, but nobody had any real problems.

It's also nice to walk the entire way around the mesa via the east side.

View from above:
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East side of formation:
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Arch from the east:
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- Jamal

[jdgibney]

Nice, thanks for chiming in with some pix, Jamal! Haven't seen the arch from the east at all before, definitely a cool view.
We'll wing it, with the goal of being in the main wave area for an hour or so around noon, we'll have plenty of time to explore before and after. I'm sure as heck we won't get bored :)

[Philippe]

I don't know for sure but I would think so. It definitely is possible to get on top of the mountain at the top of Sand Cove and I would think once you were up there you could head north and make it into a loop. I added a yellow marker to the map where I think the easiest exit was. It wasn't far from where we stopped (furthest south blue marker), we even considered going up there and looping but I hadn't done enough recon and our time was short from all the wandering in Sand Cove.

Hi Ibenik... and other guys interested in CBN,

During one of my 9 visits to CBN I wanted to explore some new stuff so I came from The Notch, I descended at the southern end of Sand Cove and I climbed on Top Rock exactly where you added your last yellow marker (the slickrock is nice there) and I explored that part of Top Rock heading north until the slope that descends to the east side of Top Rock, but I didn't find something really interesting between the climb at the yellow marker and the eastern slope.

My recommandation for people who want to do a quite big tour around The Wave would be to do the classic hike from Wire Pass trailhead directly to The Wave (if you arrive too early at the Wave you will have shadows). Then head to the second Wave and climb up to Top Rock from there (that's steep). Take your marks at the place where you arrive up Top Rock. On Top Rock explore at least the grotto with the sand dune (nice patterns) and Melody Arch, then head a little bit south to find the slope that descends eastward on the eastern part of Top Rock to the Big Mac Rock (on your right) and some other nice rocks. Then, retrace your steps and climb back this slope to return on the top of Top Rock and to descend the steep slope to the Second Wave via exactly the same way that you climbed up (remember your marks). After visiting Second Wave, descend in Sand Cove to the hills with nice red and white striations, then head north in Sand Cove. Just before entering the narrows you can do a detour west (way and back) to visit the Boneyard a little bit further. Continue northward the interesting narrows until you arrive to the wash where is the foot of the sand dune leading to the Wave (that you climbed in the morning). Return to Wire Pass trailhead.

I describe this tour with more details (and a better English as it is rewrited by Laurent Martres) in Photographing the Southwest Volume 2 Arizona.

Here is the Big Mac Rock (where you can see the opening of Melody Arch as on Jammers picture) :

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Here are some pictures taken during this tour during my 2 last trips in CBN (for the previous tours I hadn't got a digital camera) :
http://www.phschuler.com/usa2006/COYOTE%20BUTTES%20NORTH/index.html

Philippe

[Shuntavi]

I'm heading out there in two weeks, we won the lottery, and this post gives some great ideas. Thanks all!

[tanya]

Fun photos!!!! :clap::clap::clap:

[teancum]

If anyone is still following this thread:

There is a single ticket open for the Wave on Saturday March 12:

https://www.blm.gov/az/paria/hikingcalendar.cfm?areaid=2&CFID=896719&CFTOKEN=34047512&jsessionid=8030287529f939532725TR

[Cosmic Kid]

So how about a little guidance on the best way to actually get permits to the Wave? It has been on my list for a while, and every time I think about trying to get permits, it seems impossible and overwhelming. Should I just keep trying my luck at the lottery?

The one time that I went to the Wave, I tried to get tix on-line but every day was booked for something like the next 6 months. So I drove to page, then next day drove to some ranger station in Kanab and purchased a walk-in ticket for the next day. Next day at Wave, even though web-site said all 10 lottery tix had been purchased, I was only person there all day. I camped at Wave Trailhead and hiked to Wave again as a single group of people came and had an extra ticket. This was in winter, and the road from HWY 89 down to the Wave was a complete mess--south of the wave down to HWY 89A was fine.

To make long story short, I believe the ranger station in Kanab, if I remember correctly, holds something like 5 tickets each day for walk-ins. Also, Wire Pass slot canyon (heading down 1 mile into Buckskin Gulch) and the Wave share a common Trailhead.