On my recent journey to the American Southwest I spent some time in Kanab Utah. Kanab is a great little town and known to be a jumping off point for a lot of great Southwest adventures. It is a short drive to Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon, and many other very popular outdoor destinations. It is also the closest town to one of the most popular hikes in America, “The Wave”. This hike lives in the dreams of almost everyone who fancies themselves a hiker, and most people who don’t for that matter. They only allow up to 64 people per day (until 2021 it was capped at only 20 people per day) and the permits are very hard to come by. You either have to win an advanced lottery months before your permit date, or win the daily lottery.
I had zero plans to try for this permit as I left Rhode Island. It wasn’t even on my radar. I had only planned this trip about 6 weeks before departing, so at that point I was way to late to try for the advanced permit regardless of my desire to hike there. It wasn’t until I was out exploring White Pocket (my favorite place on earth btw) that the thought hit me to apply to the lottery. I knew I would be in Kanab for a few days still so I went for it! With their new process, you have to enter the daily lottery two days prior to when you want to hike. Not only that, but you MUST enter from a mobile device from a certain geofenced area. You have to physically be located in or around the towns of Kanab (UT) or Page (AZ). If you win the lottery, you then must show up at the office in Kanab (or Page) the next morning for your permit, if your not there right on time you miss your chance for your permit. You then would hike the next day. I entered the lottery then attempted to get some sleep before a night of astrophotography. That was pretty tough to do with the excitement of potentially winning the lottery! I managed to drift off for a bit but woke up somewhere around 730pm, I mistakenly checked my email to see if I had won. To my surprise, there was an email in my inbox congratulating me on winning the lottery. I was so excited! After all, with all the stories of how hard a permit is to acquire, I could not imagine how I ended up winning on my very first attempt. You can imagine how well going back to sleep went with my mind racing about how the hike was going to be.
Armed with my winning lottery ticket (email), I showed up to the required orientation at the Kane County Information Center in Kanab to pick up my permit the following morning. In my opinion, they make a big deal out of the hike and make it sound so much more scary then it is. Sure in the summer months it can be deadly hot, but if you are prepared, the hike is no big deal. I spent the rest of the day just hanging around Kanab as I was tired as hell from staying up all night shooting astrophotography. I decided I wanted to be at the Wave for sunrise so I went to bed early. Sunrise was around 645am so I woke up nice and early and hit the trail somewhere around 530am, as I knew I could make the 3 mile hike in about an hour. Hiking in the dark can always be somewhat daunting, especially when you are not following a “trail”. The trail for the wave traversed slick rock and sand the whole way, and the way the BLM instructs you to route find is by looking for landmarks and hiking towards them. Obviously you are not making out distant landmarks in the dark.
No matter, I was armed with my offline downloaded AllTrails map of the hike. I knew all I had to do was follow along the lines and I would eventually make it to my destination. Since I was hiking into sunrise it slowly got lighter out as I moved along the hike and I made it there without any issues. Despite all the warnings form the BLM orientation about hiking in the dark, I found it simple with the AllTrails map. I certainly would not suggest hiking in the dark blind by any means. Like anything in life, prepardness is key. I walked in to the wave shortly before sunrise and got to witness the amazing scene of this landscape coming to life. I like photographing sunsets more as its easier to work on finding compositions in the light obviously. However, I personally enjoy sunrises more as I just love watching everything come to life with the light. As I entered the wave I was speechless! The famous patterns of the wave revealed themselves slowly as it got lighter out. With each passing moment the hues of red, orange, and yellow became more vibrant filling me with a sense of awe and anticipation for what the rest of the day would bring.
As you can see in the image above, the deep hues of this amazing sandstone are so vibrant before direct light hits them. As you will see in my images, the differences in hue throughout the day are simply mind bending. Before direct light the wave is filled with purples and reds, and as the sun rises and touches these amazing formations they turn to a vibrant orange. I spent about an hour there in the wave taking images and simply being in awe of this surreal place. I felt so lucky to be sitting there, alone, in one of the most coveted places in this country. How lucky was I to be able to not only have the day to enjoy this amazing landscape, but to enjoy it in quiet solitude for a time. Feelings of Gratitude filled my soul.
After taking some time to reflect and snap the images I was looking for in the flat early light, I started my climb to explore the rest of Coyote Buttes North. I went off to explore the rest of the area until later on in the morning when the sun would be high enough to not cast shadows into the wave. My end goal of this exploration was to find Melody Arch, to do this you basically have to just climb the sandstone features. As much as my trusty AllTrails map had helped me earlier in the dark, at this point it was seemingly telling me to climb straight up the rock! To me that did not look safe so I started meandering along and checking out the different features along the way. I really loved being able to look down into the wave and the rest of Coyote Buttes North as you moved higher along the route. This was about the time the sun started to get high enough to flood down into the area. It was quite a site to behold! Just past the wave is another wave, unimaginably called the “second wave”. After just coming from the main attraction, the second wave did not live up to its big brother. There were some interesting formations, colors, and lines but with the whole area being in shadow, I did not find the image making possibilities compelling enough to hang around. I quickly moved along in search of the arch I had set out to find.
It took me quite awhile to find Melody Arch, I got sidetracked to a dead end a couple of time since I was exploring instead of following a trail. Along the way I stopped at this cool sand dune surrounded by a rock cliff, this is called The Alcove. I spent a bit messing around in the sand trying to find some nice compositions, I didn’t find much that interested me but here is an example
Looking ahead, I could see the sandstone formations rose quite a bit further to the sky. I wont lie, at this point I was contemplating just heading back to the wave instead of climbing more. I can see on a hot day why people would not bother with further exploration past the wave, nothing but sun exposure out here! How lucky was I to be hiking on a day with a high in the low 70’s. At this point in the morning it was still kind of chilly unless I was actively climbing. With a renewed determination to find this damn arch, I carried on my hike. Again reaching some spots where I had to backtrack, I really was not in the mood to be climbing essentially straight up these rocks, I went back and forth making my way higher. I got up to what seemed like the top of the formation, only to still not be able to see this arch. According to the AllTrails map, I should have been right on top of it. After stumbling about the top of the butte for a bit, I was beginning to think I may never find this thing. After playing with a few compositions that I didnt end up liking much, I moved down and to my right and bam, there it was! The elusive Melody Arch, most likely only elusive to me as I am sure others didn’t bumble along trying to find it as much as I did. It is such a beautiful arch with a big sand dune right behind it. I think the best part about this feature is a neat little window where you can see the North Teepes across the valley. I spent a bit at this arch trying some different compositions and found one I really liked. I was really drawn to the sunstar I was able to position peaking through the rocks, you can see what I mean below.
After getting my fill of the arch, which I probably did not spend as much time as I should have given the difficulty I had in finding the place, I headed back on down to photograph the wave again with the light on it. I went down a different way then I had come up, and entered the wave from the east this time. I had missed this area earlier in the morning and found some really nice compositions from this angle. I was really able to highlight the patterns in the rock and use the contrasting light to my advantage.
I went back to my original composition from the morning to get some snaps of the wave fully lit up. I sat around for a bit longer trying to work some abstract images into my day. I was fascinated with the swirling lines and colors everywhere you looked in this majestic landscape. I spent a good hour or so just sitting around and enjoying the amazing scenery. Even though it wasn’t a really hot day, by this time the sun was directly overhead and strong enough that I could feel my neck and arms starting to burn a little bit. At this point it was almost 1pm and I had spent about 6 hours in the wave, I decided it was about time for me to hike back to my truck. By this point in the day others had had the time to hike into the area and it was great watching them exhibit so much joy from being in this place. Taking pictures, running around, and generally enjoying themselves like they were kids again. One couple flew from Boston the day before just to do this hike, they were flying back later that night. Nature really does have a way of melting away life’s stress. Every single person I saw that day expressed that they couldn’t believe they were finally here in the wave. It was heartwarming to see so much happy enthusiasm brought about by this amazing place. All the time and effort expended to get the permit was well worth it. Hiking the Wave is a pilgrimage for nature lovers, a journey that grants you a glimpse into the wonders of the natural world.