The Wave Hike
Over Mothers Day weekend in 2021 I was one of the lucky few people who was awarded a permit to hike The Wave in Arizona. A little background on this permit, several hundred people apply every single day for the chance to get 1 of 20 issued permits. Yes only 20 permits per day are given. If you try to hike back here without one there is a penalty of $1,200-10,000 plus jail time and banned for life. They do check too, there was a BLM member who stopped us and asked to see our permit. The permits are done online and in person. Online you apply for 3 months ahead and in person you apply to hike it the next day. Online they do 10 permits, in person they do 10 permits. The in person you must be at the BLM office in Kanab Utah at 6am and apply, They randomly choose the 10 people using lottery type balls and if awarded you get to hike the next day. I applied online in January and chose May for the chance of best weather. End of winter and before the summer heat hits. Back here the temps in summer can exceed 100f easily. Online you pay $9 non refundable just to apply and choose 3 dates you are available. I without even realizing it selected Mothers Day weekend. On Feb 1 I received an email saying I was chosen, I must have read that email 100 times to confirm it was real. When chosen you then have to accept it and pay $7 / person for the permit. If you are chosen and do not get the permit it is not issued to the next person, that’s it for that day. You do not get a rain check or get to choose another day. If you have a large group that exceeds the allotment then sorry, no permit for you. Talking to locals and many other hikers and enthusiast, they tried for years to get a permit with no luck. I remember watching videos of this and one guys video he said he tried for 6 years with no luck. A local in Page Arizona said he has tried 8 years and nothing. How lucky was I to get it on my first try!
As we got closer and closer to the date I was watching the weather like a hawk. The hike itself is not the only challenge, the road to the trailhead is the other. If it rains this road is basically impassable. It is already rough and with rain it will flood or turn in to an ice rink. Even with 4wd and great tires it becomes far too slick to drive on. The road is off of HWY 89 and about 8 miles to the trailhead. The weekend before it was rain/snow mix but the weekend we got to hike it was absolutely perfect weather. low 70’s and nice clouds. The temps back here will be 5-10 degrees warmer with the sun beating off of the rocks and this temp was perfect. No worries about heat stroke/exhaustion.
The hike is 6.5 miles round trip. To most regular hikers this does not sound like a lot of mileage, but believe me it is. This hike is not marked at all, there are no trail markers, no footprints to follow, no visuals to keep an eye on. It is the desert and rocks. You can not even see your destination until you are in it. The BLM will give you a pamphlet with GPS coordinates and some pictures of landmarks. This is pretty useless to be honest. Luckily we had a GPS unit and pre-loaded all of the coordinates. Even with this you can easily get lost. The Wave is around a giant mountain that you hike around so you still have struggles staying on trail, you could easily swing out too far or if you try a shortcut it will take you over giant rocks and put you off course. Some of the areas are in deeeep sand that really take a toll on your energy. There are other areas where it is a straight up hill climb on slick rocks. All of this while the hot Arizona sun is beating down on you with no shade to be found and 4000+’ in elevation. We carried 3l of water and drank every ounce of it. Plus carried lunch and lots of snacks to keep us energized and hydrated.
There are other landmarks and great things to see while you are back here, such as Top Arch, Melody Arch, Hamburger Rock, Alcove. We did not make it to any of these unfortunately. It would have added at least 3 more miles to our trip so we decided to skip these.
Pictures and video can not do this place any justice, you have to see it in person to really appreciate it. The feeling you get when you finally arrive and turn that last corner to see it. All of the planning and dreaming of what it would be like and to finally be inside is pretty amazing. Even though we were exhausted and hungry I had a new bounce of energy. If you have been thinking of trying this place out or never even heard of it, go apply pronto! You have to see this place to appreciate it.
Resources
To apply for the permit click here or another great resource page is here
Keep an eye on my YouTube page as soon I will try and get a video up
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If you want prints head over to my prints page
The Wave
