In Utah, just over the border from Page, Arizona, lies one of the most coveted hikes around: The Wave. This is not it.
I'd spent the night at the Motel 6 in Page and it was fairly resort-like for that brand. It also wasn't that expensive (IIRC ~ $100). And, Page is a nice, small resort town.
Then, things didn't work out as I would have hoped, but I made a form of electric lemonade...
It's very hard to get permits for The Wave and I wasn't able to do it. So, I settled for a permit for "Buckskin Overlook via Wire Pass Trail" since it starts at the same trailhead. I wasn't going to try to do The Wave since rangers check permits due to its popularity and there are large fines.
But, when I got a mile up the dirt road leading to the trailhead, there was a deep gully that would have been very foolish to try to cross. Maybe a lifted Jeep could do it, but not my Subaru Forester. And, because it was not only raining but there was occasional lightning, I decided that walking the road on foot or biking it would not be a wise idea either.
So, I drove down the road and did the Hoodoo Trail. Still craving how new wave action, I drove back up the road (Hwy 89) and asked the friendly folks at the BLM office for ideas. They suggested the New Wave trail as a scrambly option so I drove back down the road again and did it despite the lightning. After all, it's only 1.4 miles.
So, getting out of my Faraday cage I did the loop, always cognizant of the fact that I could become a toasty human at any moment. I really wanted to scramble up some of the features, but I also didn't want to press my luck any more than I already had. Thankfully I avoided a 100 million volt lightning bolt in the lemonade.
Next time I'm in the area I'll do this again but at a better time of day. At sunset on a clear day you can probably snap some fairly good pictures.
