Not much snow accumulated in Kanab that night but  we were a little worried about the conditions of the House Rock Valley Road so we checked out of the hotel well before sunrise and headed off towards the wave.  The further east we traveled the snow storm increased its production.  We reached the house rock valley road just before sunrise and got out to check the conditions, 4-5inches on the road and it was still pounding down. The best news was that the road was frozen solid under the snow so we had no issues making it to the wire pass trail head.

Things were starting to light up but the snow was still pounding down as we put on our snow gear and started making first tracks on our way out to the wave.    The miles or so of trail was pretty easy with just a few inches of snow covering the sandy wash bottom but once we reached the slick rock things became quite treacherous.   Slick rock and snow are a bad combo, I took a few falls and in all honestly considered turning around but we kept on going.  At one point I walked in a knee deep drift and became terrified that the wave would be completely covered in snow.    Once we made it too the wave it all became worth it.  We had the place to our self’s and the biggest concern in life I had for the next few hours was keeping snow flakes off my lens.

After a few hours of shooting in flat light things had warmed up and the snow was slowly melting off the wave. A a group of 4 showed up (with moon boots and an umbrella) and we talked to them for a few moments before we hiked up to the second wave and brain rocks   There was an easy 5 inches of snow in this area and hiking the snow covered slick rock was pretty sketchy.

Watch your step!

Again the clouds and flat light plagued us at the second wave so we at a late lunch then wandered our way back to the wave where we ran into the  a  couple from Vancouver.  They had picked up some walk-in permits that morning  and were told at the field office that they were the only people with permits and on the  previous weekend over 100 people put in for lottery.  Pretty amazing how a little cold weather will scare off the masses.   For the first time that day the sun actually started to poke out of the clouds and I started shooting the wave once again.

We started our hike out and because most of the snow had melted we  made great time compared to our slippery slog on the way in.   We made it back to the car just 7.5 hours after we left,  a pretty long day for such a short mileage hike.   The house rock road had yes to freeze over and and there was definitely a few scary muddy moments on the drive out but we made it back to the highway with no real problems.   We made it to the horsebend just in time for an uneventful sunset.

I was so sore and tired that night I had no trouble sleeping. We woke up and ate then headed west to the rim rock hoodoos for a shot hike.  It was clear cold and windy so we spent about 2 hours wondering around before we started the long drive back to Utah county.

Great trip, it was so amazing to see the wave covered in snow and only a hand full of people.  I have edited a few  photos and still have lots more to post and print over the next few months.

After work we packed up and hit the road around 4 and headed up Spanish Fork canyon towards the swell. The original plan was to drive down to the San Rafael Desert to hike Moonshine, Colonade Arch, and Horseshoe Canyon then head to Goblin Valley to our reserved campsite for some showers and time in the goblins. As we approached Green River the pounding rain and thunder made it quite clear that we would not be driving the long dirt road into the San Rafael desert this trip. We gassed up then decided to stick on the pavement and head to goblin valley. As we drove down highway 24 all the washes along the road were full of running water. Straight wash (or Eardley Canyon) was running much higher than the San Rafael river.

The rain let up a bit as we approached temple junction so we decided to leave the pavement and try our luck at one of our favorite “go to” sites near temple mountain. The roads were very slick and muddy and as we came around the first bend we saw a wet, cold couple waving their arms at us. We pulled up next to them and they told us their story of a short day hike that turned into an epic experience. They had parked in a wash and started day hiking before the storm hit. After the flood waters went down they made it back to their car to find it it completely destroyed along with all of their expensive camera gear. We made room for them in the cars and drove them to the Goblin Valley visitors center where they waited for a Sheriff to give them a ride back into town. We got their email addess and wished them well then we set out to find a campsite before dark. We drove down the little wild horse road to find a campsite. When we came to the crack/chute canyon drainage it was flowing like a large river.

We settled on one of the sites just outside goblin at the base of the Entrada Cliffs. It was a muddy, muddy mess and continued to rain for most of the night.

The morning after we left our tents up so they could dry out and we headed north to check out a few canyons. Because all the slots would have standing water we opted to hiked the wider wild horse creek and visit the wild horse window. The water was flowing in Wild Horse and Bowen (4yo) got completely soaked after falling into some quick sand and a deep pothole. I ran back to the car to get him changed while April, Whit, and Lanik hiked up and down Wild Horse Canyon. After our hike it was off to Goblin Valley, we followed the kids around for a few hours and just let them have some fun and run around the goblins.

We checked into our campsite that we reserved a week prior then ended up switching it for an open walk-in site that I found more photogenic for my star trails. Whit and I ran back to our camp from the previous night and loaded up our tents in the back of the truck and moved them to our new site in Goblin.

It was a pretty lazy day for us. We watched the kids run around the goblins in our camp then followed it up with a sunset hike in goblin valley. That night I set up and shot a few star trails from within our campsite, the goblins made for great foregrounds.

Again not much hiking on this trip but my wife is pretty awesome to have the desire to go camping when she’s 8months pregnant.