A Great Day To Be Great

In emails, I kept calling us, "Team Double Wave". The chances that two of us got in on our first try was unbelievable. I even went out and bought real lottery tickets on August 1st, as I felt like I was on a hot streak! And today, the four of us get to experience this awesome place again. I felt inspired, excited, and nervous (not as much as Marie) that we were going to trek an unmarked trail. So I am reminded of the inspiring quote on the Hampton Inn bathroom door - "it's a great day to be great!"

This time, we didn't have a guide, but the map provided by the Bureau of Land Management and our memories from Thursday. We ventured out cautiously, and arrived at the Wave right on track.

Despite meeting an odd photographer, our experience was calming and filled with photos as we enjoyed the scenery. Here are some photos:

 

 

Team Double Wave! Standing...



Kneeling...



So we leave the Wave, for the last time to venture out and explore more of the area:

Out in the open land:

 

In front of one of the only trail markers:

We decided today that we would explore Wire Pass Slot Canyon in Buckskin Gulch. We struggled to find the best way to get into the slot canyon, did some scrambling at heights that Marie was a bit uncomfortable, but finally made it in. Here's a photo of us trying to figure it out:



Here's a picture of Steven, Marie, and Kristin pointing upwards from where we came:



Here are some photos exploring this raw slot canyon - definitely not as pretty and polished as Antelope, but still awesome and it felt adventurous (remember, a great day to be great!):

We kind of had to climb out of this slot canyon too:

After our adventure, we made it back to the car, and drove the one hour back to the hotel. Kristin and I dipped into the Jacuzzi one last time and for our last dinner in Kanab, we decided to return to the Rocking V Café. We imbibed the most we had all trip and chatted it up for our last night in Southern Utah. We surely lived it up and experienced so much in this unique region!

Back to Page

So I was in Page back in March, and had told Marie about the beautiful things I saw here. After three days of straight hiking, we opted to do an easy sight-seeing day. We piled in the car and dove southeast for about an hour and past Glen Canyon Dam to Page - a jumping off point for trips to Lake Powell, Glen Canyon Dam, and Rainbow Bridge.

I had visited the famous Upper Antelope Canyon in March, so we reserved for a slot canyon tour of Lower Antelope Canyon. They are different experiences as for Lower, you have to climb down and is much narrower than upper, as you can tell by the photo below:

Nonetheless, neither experiences disappoint as you can tell by the photos below:

 

 

 

 

 

 Apparently, this was a Windows 8 wallpaper option:

And our guide pointed out images and shapes that people have seen in the slot canyon....

The Rocky Mountains:



An old man face on the bottom:



A seahorse formation:



The smiling shark from the movie, Finding Nemo:



The New England Patriot mascot:



 Pocahantas:



Kristin climbing out of the slot canyon:





We then drove over to Horseshoe Bend Canyon where the Colorado River does a complete U-turn. There was a lot less people than last time as it was not sunset - but the steep drop-offs still are pretty scary. Here a few photos:





We were on our stomachs for some photos to play it safe:





I remembered eating a delicious meal at State 48 which was a gastropub in Page when I was here in March. So we ended up there for lunch and had kimchi fries and tacos, before we headed back to Kanab. On our way back, I wanted to stop at the Toadstool Hoodoos that Steven M. and Leann had mentioned. Steven opted to take a nap in the car, while Marie, Kristin, and I explored the area which felt like another planet!

We ran into some other hikers with their dog - they told us between the online and walk-in, they have tried to get into the Wave hike over 200 times! Marie mentioned we got in twice as I tried to elbow her and we were just glad they didn't ask us how many times we had tried...

Back in Kanab, we picked up groceries for our lunches tomorrow and ate dinner at Peekaboo Café for some pizza and salad. The owner raved about the Peekaboo slot canyon which was apparently nearby. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to rest for our last day of hiking!