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.

April, Clint, and I left Orem around 9am and made the long drive down south to Kanab. For the week leading up to our trip the weather reports had looked anything but promising with high winds, rain, and snow within the forecast. We stopped for lunch and then went to the BLM office to try and get Clint a walk-in permit and check up on road conditions for the House Rock Valley road. Luckily the bad weather forecast scared off the tourists and Clint was able to purchase a very rare day before walk-in permit for the Wave. A little under an hour later we were rolling down the House Rock Valley road looking for a place to camp. We quickly set up a mile south of the state line campground in a primitive site and drove to the wire-pass trailhead to make a quick hike down to Buckskin Gulch and back before dark.

April hiking down Wire Pass

Great slot in Wire Pass

Clint getting his shot in buckskin.

We made it back to the Wire Pass trail head just before dark and headed back to camp. The second half of our group pulled into camp a few moments after us. We spent the night eating burritos and hanging out around the campfire. The clouds were a bit thick for star trails but I was able to capture a short 20min trail and take a few long exposures with my new fisheye.

Friday morning I was up bright and early ready for a sunrise that never happened. We had a bite to eat then drove up the road to the wire pass trail head and headed out into Coyote Buttes North towards The Wave. The weather was solid bland and over cast, once we reached the sandy hill just before the The Wave the wind really picked up and the clouds started to give way to blue skies.

There were a half dozen photographers at the wave shooting when we arrived. We set down our packs out of site of the cameras and spent the next hour or two shooting and enjoying one of the most unique places on the planet.

Clint getting his face sand blasted.

the sand (photo by Tyler)

A few hundred photos later we started up out of the wave towards sand cove. By then the wind was really ripping and the sand was flying so the camera got packed away. I saw so many amazing textures to photograph but the flying sand made things unbearable. We looked at our Kelsey guide and decided to make a short cut back to camp via the notch trail. When we reached the notch the winds were blowing 50+mph, the winds were so high that at one point I was leaning into the wind and got tossed over on to my back. The route down to the House Rock Valley road was very hard to follow, the trail is not very well traveled, steep, and with all the blowing sand it was impossible to follow. I can not suggest the notch route to access CNB to anyone, but now that I have done it I would not mind trying it in the reverse direction if I ever get permits again.

One good thing about the notch route was that we were able to get cell/internet service to check the weather and found that there was a large storm front working its way towards us. We had a discussion as to what to do next and rather than risk getting trapped on a wet muddy road we chose to scrap our plans for white pocket and head out toward Page to grab a hotel.

We made it to the Horseshoe bend just in time for sunset.

Me on the edge.

Aside from the showers, great Mexican food, and being able to clean out the sand off my camera gear we had a rather uneventful stay in Page. We left the hotel early and drove to a few overlooks of lake Powell then tossed around the idea of hiking the Wah Weap hoodoos but settled for the shorter Rim rock hoodoos or toadstools.

April was completely amazed out how awesome the toadstools really were.

After our short hike we were back on the road headed towards Kanab. Once reached the turn off for the House Rock Valley Road the rain/snow was really coming down. The washes in the area were flowing and the road was a muddy mess. Glad we got out of there when we did.

The roads between Kanab and Bryce Canyon were snowy, it was dumping and the road was covered almost the entire way. We made our way to the hotel, checked in, put on our snow gear, and headed out into Bryce in a blizzard.

It snowed all afternoon and night. There was a small break in the morning so April and I followed the plows into Bryce to try and shoot a sunrise. We trudged our way in knee/hip deep snow to the view point only to get a few decent shots in flat light.

Far less hiking and camping than I would have liked to do but we did have excellent light at the wave so I can’t really ask for anything more.