Day 89: Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, AZ

Today we hiked The Wave in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness. It is a very popular adventure that requires winning a lottery through the National Parks Service. It was incredible. It rivalled Lower Antelope Canyon as one of the most beautiful places we have seen.

This is a back country hike into pretty remote wilderness with extreme heat in summer and little shade. We were up at 3:30am to ensure that we were at the trailhead (which was an hour drive from our campsite, first along the highway followed by a bumpy ride down a rutted dirt road) by sunrise. Our aim was to be done by noon so that we weren’t hiking in the 40 degree heat.

Everything went to plan and we ended up meeting the family we did our safety screening with yesterday at the trailhead. We hiked out together which added some reassurance since one member for that family had done the hike before - last Fall. There is no “trail” since much of path is over unmarked sandstone so having an informal guide was amazing.

The hike had a very Star Wars or Zelda feel, like we were explorers on a foreign planet. It was incredibly cool. We hiked the first part before sunrise while the temperature was enjoyable (about 24 degrees Celsius). The trip to The Wave was only about an hour and not too difficult at all. 

The Wave formation was definitely worth the effort. It was beautiful in the shade and then the rock looked like it was glowing once the sun hit it.

It was a balance waiting for the sun to get high enough to avoid shadows but also realizing that this was coupled with rapidly rising temperatures that would make the return hike more difficult and potentially dangerous. We took some beautiful photos, explored a second wave formation and then headed back via a loop to see an area called the boneyard with fantastic box formations similar to ones we saw in Wind Cave. 

The box work pieces were scattered haphazardly around the boneyard. Very odd.

We also passed a series of three-toed dinosaurs tracks. They were smaller than the ones we saw a few days ago but more plentiful.

Looked like a bunch of chickens running around.

We also saw what looked like lacework on the rocks, swirling red and white rock which looked like cliff paintings (but weren’t) and a bunch of teeny moqui marbles (spherical mineral concretions).

Moqui marbles.

The return hike was tougher; it was hot. We arrived back at the truck at 11:45 am. Right on time. It was 39 degrees Celsius. We were tired and hot but it was a successful adventure.

Liam made a friend.

The rest of the day was very low key. We swam, ate lunch and post-hike ice cream sandwiches, and hung out at our campsite. Dinner was jalapeno poppers, watermelon and s’mores on the campfire after the sunset. For our last full day in Arizona, it was a great one.

Ice cream at the pool!

It is extremely dry here. No grass and our tree is dying so not much shade either.

Our campsite is next to the bathroom, which no one but us seems to use making it our own private bath house.