Westward 2013 (5/9: The Wave)

There are times in our lives we all have a loss for words.  Getting to see The Wave is one of those times.  You want to say "beautiful, incredible, amazing, unbelievable", etc. but that just doesn't cover what we saw today.  The hike was 3 miles in through about a mile of sand and 2 miles of slickrock - a very strenuous walk especially at the altitude. The elevation difference from the trail head to The Wave is about 350 feet, but the trail gains and loses quite a bit, so you’re actually climbing more like 500 to 700 feet vertically over the course of the round-trip hike. The biggest climb is the last quarter-mile, where we ascended nearly 200 feet (according to the books).  It was very overcast which made the hike much more pleasant - I can't imagine hiking through the dessert in full sun.  We did run into another snake - Jeff was in the lead and jumped pretty high (and backwards).

You can see a storm approaching.  Luckily we were able to explore the area before the rain started.

You really have to wonder what happened here so many years ago when you see some of the wave formations.  

We really were here!  Check that one off the "bucket list".

Here is a picture of our friendly(?) snake.

We didn't take many pictures on the hike back.  We were not only exhausted but frozen and soaking wet from the storm that passed through on at least 2 miles of our walk out.  We did however have a little fun with   a large tumbleweed on our way out.

Vaughan always wanted me to wear an up-do.

Starting home tomorrow - three days in a Jeep travelling cross-country with a cat is not on my bucket list.

This will probably be our last post until we return here in late July.  It was a great trip with an amazing ending.