The Wave
Well, when Death Valley gives you the proverbial "finger," the best thing to do is wave back. That, and we learned that when we travel, even if it is to the driest, hottest place on earth that we should ALWAYS bring a raincoat....
Day #1
Michelle and I flew into Las Vegas, Nevada and had Puerto Rican food for dinner getting our HUGE truck. We stayed on the strip at the Paris Hotel and spent our first night enjoying last minute seats at Cirque du Soleil's Mystere show. It was really awesome!
Day #2
We woke up early the next day to get bagels and supplies for 4 days of camping at Death Valley National Park. It has been a dream of mine to see wildflowers in Death Valley, I don't know why. But it was one of those places I have wanted to see, so we found a time and went for it. Well, the wind picked up as we were leaving and we didn't think anything about it. I even got pulled over for speeding by the highway patrol. And there were times as the wind picked up when we could hardly see in front of the car because the sand was so thick. So these were all omens we should have heeded.
Nevertheless we pressed on towards the west to Death Valley, into California. Well, weather didn't improve. We got to the Visitor Center and had a hard time opening the doors as the wind was so strong. There was a moment when I even felt a raindrop on my forehead. With 65 degree temperature and a dark sky at 2:30 in the afternoon, we thought we were in the wrong place. As we explored the visitor center, I ran into a friend who works for the park service. She said the only reason she was working that day was because the power went out at her house. Then 5 minutes after we spoke, the power went out at the VC...and back on... and then off... and so on. We went to the campground see scope the scene.
60-mile-per-hour gusts.... lots of sand. An empty campground. The ranger even told us that they were closing the booth for the day and would come back the next day. I toyed with the idea of pitching a tent and Michelle was patient as she knew that the answer was far different from that. After 15 minutes of deliberation (between me and my self), Michelle was ready and willing to leave... I felt depressed about having to abandon this opportunity but there was really no way to stay if we wanted to enjoy ourselves. I left the vehicle to take a picture of an historical marker and tried to return only to have my sunglasses blown off my face. I chased them down the street as one does a piece of trash being carried away in the wind. Finally I caught up to them and then ran back into the wind to get to the truck. It felt like sandpaper rushing against my skin as the wind flung particles of earth through me. Depressed to leave, but aware of the right decision.
We drove back toward Vegas 2 hours and then continued east for another 3 hours, finally pulling into Zion National Park in SE Utah late at night. Exhausted, we set up our sleeping bags in the back of the truck and slept through the night. We awoke with rain and hail falling onto the roof, but we stayed dry and cozy.
Day #3
When morning came, we were really cold, as the temperature dropped to 38 degrees. Fortunately we had seat warmers and we ran the truck engine for little while until we got warm again. By then, many people were showing up for a day of hiking in the national park. We spent that first day hiking the Riverside Trail and the Kayenta trail to the Emerald Pools. By the time we were on our way back toward Zion Lodge, the Kayenta trail was a wet, soggy, slippery skating rink of red clay. We chose to treat ourselves to an early, but warm dinner in the lodge before taking the shuttle back to our steadfast truck to sleep yet another night.
Day #4
We woke up a bit earlier the next day and decided to hike the Angel's Landing trail. It was really cool but there were many people on the trail. I suspect one day permits may need to be offered for this hike because so many people atop sharp precipices and steep cliffs is a recipe for disaster. We met a nice couple from Ogden, Utah and we chatted with them in the lovely sunshine during the entire hike down. We got back to our car and went east on Hwy 9 through the tunnel and felt thankful not to be sitting in the traffic to get into the park. On a sunny Saturday during the spring break, there were hoards of people on the move to this gorgeous place. Oh well. We eventually made it to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park and passed a lazy and leisurely exploration of the dunes. this place is always a lot of fun :) Because of our time at CPSD, we arrived 1 minute too late to get information from the BLM Visitor Center in Kanab about hiking and places to stay. We used some literature we saw and figured our a free place to stay about 25 minutes east of Kanab. We pulled onto a road in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and found a tiny campsite and parking spot for the truck. As it had recently rained, the road was slippery clay and we got our first taste of how impassible these roads are when wet. We got lucky to navigate the mud that afternoon. Rain clouds formed as we settled in to sleep and rain and more hail pelted the vehicle. After about an hour, the sky was entirely clear. I opened the window and we fell asleep to the sounds of croaking toads.
Day #5
We woke up even earlier for a gorgeous sunrise. But the ice on the outside of the truck was a sign of the temperature. Back to the heat and the seat warmers :) We navigated the clay road (which was still slick) and made it back to Kanab. We found the Kanab Creek Bakery which was AMAZING and then went to the BLM office to enter into the Wave Lottery. The Wave is a very interesting sandstone formation which lies in a special permit zone. Because of the difficulty to get to the area and its fragile state, only 20 people per day are allowed to hike there. Many people enter an online lottery to get a permit... but only 10 people get a permit 4-months ahead of time. The other ten people enter an in-person lottery at the BLM visitor center the day before the permit is issued. As we waited for the lottery to start, I chatted with a friend who is a ranger at that visitor center. We work together every October during the annual trip to the southwest on which I am a guide. It was fun to see him and to watch him conduct the lottery too :)
Michelle and I entered the lottery and waited till 9am. The lottery started and "#8" was called first... that was our number! We were there first two people chosen to go for the next day. That was really exciting because I was unsuccessful in obtaining a permit online. So we knew what the next day looked like :) We waited for the other 8 people to be chosen and then we were debriefed about how to get to the trail-head and given a map about how to hike in the slickrock country. We were also warned about the next day's weather forecast which called for afternoon thundershowers.
The rest of the day was exciting too. We drove to Upper Antelope Canyon and joined the 11am tour which was a great time to visit- the light is best at 11am and 12pm; We didn't know this but it makes sense in hindsight as we consider the 126 other people who joined the tour when we did. This was a busy, crowded experience but we came out with a good memory and really sweet pictures too. Then to Page, Arizona for a brief lunch and then to Horseshoe Bend. We appreciated the Colorado River from our vantage point and made sure to stay away from the foolish tourists who were taking selfies close to the rim. We stopped at the Glen Canyon Dam which has a recently revamped Visitor Center- one worth spending some time in. Then we stopped at the Toadstool trailhead for a short hike and a fun exploration of some neat rock formations. It is like a mini Bryce Canyon but even more rich because there are many different types of rock and all of them are easily accessible to study and appreciate. That late afternoon hike, although only an hour-long experience, turned out to be one of our favorite stops on the trip. We camped at Stateline Campground so we would be close to the Wave and turned in early.
Day #6
Early in the morning, we were awakened with sounds of rain and hail on the truck roof. We thought the storm would be in the afternoon so we got up early so we could in and out before the major weather rolled in. When we got to the trail-head it was cold (40 degrees or so) and interspersed hail and drizzle. Well, that weather continued the entire time! So much for afternoon thundershowers; we put up with rain and sleet during our 5-hour adventure!
After enjoying the hike and seeing lots of blooming flowers, we got pictures of the Wave #1 and met up with another hiker who wanted to explore Wave #2 and the Fatali's Boneyard. We stopped just short of going with him to the other side of the wash because after an hour our hands were cold and we were pretty wet. We met up with him in the parking lot later and he said he had made it there successfully; I'm sorry we didn't stick with him but I'm also happy that we chose to turn around- it was cold hiking!
We did get a little bit lost on the way back, just as was described that we might. But we slowed down and remembered the map and tried to find the pictures. Boy, everything looks different in the rain! And the long-range targets that we had studied on the way in had all become socked in with clouds and were no longer visible. It was a great practice in navigation and a reminder to look for short and long distance navigation targets.
But the blooming Paintbrush guided much of the journey. And there were purple flowers of various sorts- some with stripes, others with long tubular flowers that were gorgeous too. We even saw a hummingbird feed on them during the few minutes when the rain let up. The best was the smell of fresh sage. I only recognized two types but they were full in aroma and a desperately needed olfactory treat- one that I don't too seldom get in the temperate rainforest of the Puget Sound region. The amount of rain that we saw was impressive. Little pools became rushing streams. I could only imagine how long it takes until a flash flood occurs but we definitely saw the beginnings of how water can accumulate in the desert. I am happy for the animals and plants who depend on the seasonal water and the water storage nooks that were recharged after this storm. But again, it was cold and wet for us humans!
I'm glad we hiked but it was a real test. I'd like to go back sometime when the weather is sunnier :)
The parking lot is when we actually got muddy; until that point we were only cold and wet. But crossing the road and signing out on the register turned out to be a dirty endeavor. We got in the vehicle and took off our drenched clothes. We realized the road north would be impassible. In fact, a couple who was hiking in while we were hiking out told us of the damage to their vehicle caused from fishtailing on the road coming from Kanab. They recommended we take the south road.
We chose to leave, instead of stay another night, because our flight from Vegas was the next day. So we took the southern route towards AZ 1065 and Jacob Lake. Boy, what a crazy ride. The first 4 miles were horrible and I fishtailed quite a few times, nearly crashing the truck. That clay is ridiculous. Eventually we got out of the worst of it and then came to a fairly significant hill that had sections of the slippery clay. We spent 30 minutes studying the slope and the terrain and decided to go for it. Fortunately we were successful. Then we took the rest of the route south which turned out to be a beautiful drive, albeit long. Then we drove through the snow/ice over the pass and then through torrential rain in Fredonia and Hurricane until we got onto Hwy 15 south when the weather shifted and we lowered in elevation.
It was a great experience for us and I'm so glad we were lucky and won the lottery. But the hike in the cold rain and hail and the drive on very difficult roads was taxing too. I can't believe how the trip totally shifted on us- not only did we change the direction of our plans but we also were prepared for entirely different circumstances. The weather gods beat us up pretty good but they were kind enough to let us enjoy the experience just enough that we can share our pictures and talk about the stories with laughter and smiles.
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