May 27 - United States: Grand Canyon North Rim, Arizona
The Hike To Coyote Butte
We woke up at 5:00 and headed out to Coyote Butte to see the rocks called "The Waves". The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) is very secretive about this place. They issue only 20 permits a day - 10 over the Internet and 10 by lottery the day before. There are not signs to The Waves and no marked trails. If you are granted a permit (which we were), the BLM ranger will give you a photocopies topography map of the area. But this isn't much use without the accompanied verbal directions: "Walk 1/2 mile on the wash... up and over the slickrock... find the two rock hills that line up with a distant cliff with a crack in it." Sure, these directions could easily be printed up and given to the permit holders, but then they could be distributed and The Waves would suddenly lose their secret location. The BLM is intentionally cagey regarding these directions and they make it difficult to get to the site. The German couple who told us about this place have been here twice. The first time, they got lost both on the way there and back. And the second time, they got lost on the way back. So I had visions of me and Jon wandering the desert wilderness for days.
Thankfully, we made it without any major problems. There were a few harrowing moments, certainly, where we stopped and said, "Are we going the right way?!?" But it all went well. Having said that, this was one of the most hard-core hikes we've ever done. It's not that it was particularly steep, but it was through Utah wilderness, in the blazing sun, over rocks and deep sand, and without a trail to be seen. But once we found the two rock hills and cracked cliff, we were home free. The hike took us about an hour and a half, and we got to The Wave at 10:00AM.
Trail? What Trail?!?!
The Waves
Absolutely beautiful, and well worth the challenging hike. Jon tells me that The Waves are petrified sand dunes, and this is why they are so smooth. The actual Waves area isn't very large, and somewhat resembles a large and colorful skateboard ramp.
In The Waves
When we arrived, there were only 3 other people there. Since we were all in differently places snapping pictures, we barely noticed one another. So while I was earlier cursing the BLM for not providing better maps and markers, I now fully appreciate the secrecy of this place. We'd thought we would put the directions to The Waves on www.connal.com for our future reference, but we don't want non-permit holders to be able to find it - so no dice.
Colors in A Side Wave Canyon
After an hour and a half of snapping pictures (Jon went through three rolls) we decided it was time to leave. We were very pleased with ourselves and made it back to the car with no problems. We did run into on of the BLM Rangers on the way and chatted with him for a while. He said that The Waves used to be an even better kept secret than they are today. One of the reasons that this is no longer true is because a European film crew filmed something here - illegally - and so now the BLM gets a steady stream of Europeans who want to see The Waves. The BLM has a policy of not issuing permits for commercial photography or films for this place. Despite this, you will occasionally see pictures of The Waves in photography books. This really annoys the BLM.
Drive to the Grand Canyon
After hours of hard-core hiking, we headed to the Grand Canyon, but decided to go the long way through Page. We figured we deserved a lunch at Burger King after the busy morning. The drive to the Grand Canyon took us about 3-4 hours, including stops at various Navajo jewelry stands. Right now, I'm really regretting not buys a great necklace I saw. But I'm not certain that it's worth the extra 100 miles it will take to go back and get it.
The North Rim of the Grand Canyon
We checked in at the registration in the North Rim Campground, and our lovely campsite is nestled in amongst huge pine trees and a grove of Aspens. I've decided that Aspens are my new favorite tree. Not that I've ever had a favorite tree, but if I did then this would be it.
The big bummer was the many warnings was got on the way in: "Due to current EXTREME fire conditions, no wood fires, charcoal fires, or open flames of any sort are allowed. Campstoves are acceptable.". Apparently, Arizona is going through its third year of drought conditions. Jon and I looked at the 15lb bag of charcoal in between us, and thought of the four black angus steaks sitting in the cooler. And then we sighed. No grilled steaks for us tonight. with our luck, we would set fire to the entire Grand Canyon and go down in history as "The Dumb Assess Who Ruined It All".
So we set up our tent in our lovely little campsite and prepped dinner - which would be fried steaks, potatoes, and corn-on-the-cob. Jon has marked his territory over the campstove pretty consistently these past two months. Rarely am I permitted into his domain, and even then only in life-threatening circumstances. I'm allowed to chop food and then wash the dishes afterwards. And that's just what I did. I have no idea how he pulled it off, but he had everything cooked to perfection and at exactly the same time. Quite a feat when you consider that we had three dishes to cook and only two burners on which to do it.
Jon At The Campsite (note the hammock!)
Needless to say, dinner was superb. Even if the stead were fried instead of grilled. I could barely taste a difference. Wow. I just love a good stead. Unfortunately, because we got to the campsite so late, it was already dark as we ate. The dishes had to be washed and dried in the dark, which was a bit troublesome, but feasible. After everything was washed and put away, we got in the car and drove to take a much-needed shower.
But the showers closed at 7:00, and it was 8:30.
Of all the nights to have to go to be dirty, it would be the night that we hiked in and out of the desert.