EXPLORING THE WAVE

 The Wave is an awesome and unique landscape smoothly carved by water flowing through inclined iron rich sandstone deposits. It is located on Bureau of Land Management (BLM)  lands and accessed with permission from the BLM  Paria field station located 70 km east of Kanab on Hwy 89 enroute to Page, Arizona. Kanab is southeast of Zion National Park and is 60  km north of Jacob from which the North Rim of the Grand Canyon can be accessed.

 Of itself Kanab is an enjoyable stopover. While there it is worth visiting the Chamber of Commerce tourist offices where many posters and mementos can be found highlighting the 70 plus western movies filmed in the area. The lady running the office is a former stunt woman who worked on many of the movie sets.

 Access to the Wave is by lottery. Ten people each day are granted permission to hike into the site. This is by a draw process sharp at 9:00 am at the Paria station which determines the schedule for the following day. If unsuccessful the first day you get two chances for the next day’s draw. As long as you have the time, this is not a problem because there are many readily accessible great hikes in the area including those accessible from the backcountry Cottonwood and Skutumpah dry weather roads best suited for high clearance vehicles.

 The hike to the Wave is an easy 1 ½ to 2 hour jaunt but to maximize photo opportunities it wouldn’t hurt to get there as early as possible and stay most of the day.

 For more, or more up to date, information call the BLM Kanab field office at 1 435 644-4600. Online booking of an additional ten slots each day is possible but it is my understanding that most slots for months in advance are gone within the first hour of becoming available, check the web sites at www.blm.gov/az/arolrsmain.htm or

www.blm.gov/az/paria/checklist.clm 

Good Hiking:          Jim Eickmeier

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