Part 5 shows the last few days of our Canyons and Waves adventure near the Utah/Arizona border.
26-29 StateLine campground. This campground straddles the border of Utah and Arizona. It drove us crazy for a while, because we could never figure out what time it was – the phones and the truck just wouldn’t match! So we forced the phones to Denver time and just calculated the right time zones in our heads… Stateline campground is about a mile south of the entrance to Wire Pass and also the Wave hikes. Our plan was to get to this free campground early, snag one of the eight sites for four nights. We would hike the Wire Pass trail into Buckskin Gulch as a warm up, take a day off to rest our bodies, then hike the Wave on the 29th.
We found a very nice site at the Stateline Campground, covered picnic tables and bbq pits!
The Wire Pass day hike also requires a permit, but you can pay for it right at the trailhead, so that’s what we did. The Wire Pass trail is about 1.7 miles and dead ends onto the Buckskin Gulch trail. (Buckskin Gulch is part of the multi-day Paria Canyon Trail hike that we mentioned in Part 2).
We actually went north in Buckskin Gulch about a mile, turned around and went back to the intersection, then went south in Buckskin Gulch about 1.5 miles. (Then turned around and went back across Wire Pass). The next time we come here (and it was cool enough that we will come back), I think we will spend all our time going south. It was just a more interesting hike in that direction…
This is the beginning (and end) of the Wire Pass Trail. It is pretty open and gets VERY hot in the afternoon! (Bring water if you come).Wire Pass trail has some skinny parts (also a dry waterfall that we bypassed).At the intersection, we headed north on the Buckskin Gulch trail.I think maybe hikers must have filled these holes with pebbles?There were neat rocks going north.I think that spire at the top looks like a saber tooth tiger head!When the trail opened up, we turned around and headed south.Going south, Buckskin Gulch got narrower, and there were occasional puddles of mud – which were easy to step in – don’t ask me how I know!The rock formations were grand and beautiful!Here you can see where a flash flood left debris high overhead. Rain is dangerous here! (Chuck is carrying my hat so I can concentrate on getting mud off my boot!)Occasionally, you can see where the walls have collapsed over time, leaving rubble on the ground.We ran into this little critter, probably a Marten (type of weasel).This is as far south as we went, turned around and headed back. Probably 8.5 mile day.
The Wave. We had tried for five years to get a permit to hike The Wave. The BLM office only issues permits for 20 people a day to hike this area. Ten people via a internet lottery four months in advance, and ten people via a lottery of those that show up the night before. There are hundreds of people who are disappointed not to get a spot every day! I’m very glad we persevered, it was a GREAT experience. Chuck says sometimes I put in too many photos, but I think this time you’ll enjoy them!
The hike (definitely NOT a stroll) to The Wave is 2.7 miles of climbs and descents over rocks and sand.(You get a brightly colored permit that you must wear on your backpack to verify you are allowed to be there – ours was pink).The BLM office gives you a map, of sort, with pictures to help you identify landmarks along the way.If it hasn’t rained in a while, you can see footprints from previous hikers in the sandy areas to help lead you the right way. (Unless the wind has blown them away).This is the final climb to The Wave.The Wave (with Chuck to show scale)There are three main “waves” at The Wave.We left on the hike pretty close to sunrise, so we had some amazing colors.Looking down at the main wave.This is one of the side waves. It almost glowed in the morning light!Us standing here gives a better perspective of how large everything is!I just couldn’t get over how beautiful it was!Looking into a side waveI thought this looked a bit like bleachers.Here is a colorful canyon near The Wave.Everywhere you turned, there were more colorful formations!Can you imagine how the earth swirled and settled millions of years ago?So many layers of ground showing, so very colorful!Sometimes the swirls are mountainsSometimes they are valleysTime to hike back.You can see one of the few trailposts here.Karen and Chuck at The Wave!
The Wave hike was the highlight of our Canyons and Waves trip. I’m so very glad we got our permit and finally made it here!
