There is a magical place along the border of Arizona and Utah where years of wind and water have left their trails permanently into the cliffs. The Waves at North Coyote Buttes was the prime destination on our roadtrip through the Southwest in January of 2015.
But there is a problem. You need a hiking permit to get to North Coyote Buttes (legally). http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/arolrsmain/paria/coyote_buttes/permits.html The permit itself is cheap (only $7) but only 20 people are allowed onto North Buttes in a day! And the number of permits allotted are limited by either an online lottery, which needs to be obtained 4 months in advance, or in person lottery, where 10 tickets are given Monday through Friday for the following day. For example, say that you go and win the lottery on Monday- the permit is for your hike on TUESDAY the next day. Due to the uncertainty of whether or not you will be awarded a permit, it is very difficult to plan a trip around this.
To quote www.thewave.info, “During the best months (April, May, September, October) there can be over 150 people applying for the ten daily permits. In the other months you usually have less than a 50% chance of getting one at the daily lottery.”
But oh come on. Look how sick the place looks! Willa and I are horribly unlucky with these things and never win anything, but decided that we would HAVE to at least try. So try we would.
We flew in from NYC and landed in Las Vegas where we stayed for a night. The lottery is held at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Visitor Center in Kanab, Utah- a slightly over 3 hour drive. The lottery is held at 9:00am and we wanted to make sure that we would be there for it on time. This unfortunately meant that we had to wake up and start our drive super early- we left at 4:00am as the party people of Vegas were stumbling their way home.
Well, we made it. And despite our fears of seeing a million people also waiting for the lottery, we put our names down and entered with only around 30 other people. I think going in the winter months certainly must have helped. And so our friendly ranger gave us the rules of the lotto, and in our ball went into the black hamster wheel.
While we were waiting, we overheard someone say “This is my 5th day in a row trying to win this thing!” Oh God. We have no shot.
The numbers started coming- a group of 2, a group of 2, a group of 3. Only 3 tickets left. Another number gets called- it isn’t us.
UGH- we woke up at 4 for nothing.
But in the midst of my heart sinking, the winner announces that he is a group of… ONE!
There are still 2 tickets left.
And since I am writing this post, I am sure you can guess it.
We won!!! You have no idea- we never win things like this (despite always trying). Equipped with a parking permit and hiking permit to attach our bags for the following day, we happily drove on to Page, Arizona where we spent the rest of the day exploring the incredible, photogenic Antelope Canyon.
From Page, it is about a 3 hour drive to get to the start of North Coyote Buttes. One of the things you receive when you get your permit is a very detailed photo map detailing the start of the hike. We arrived at Wire Pass, parked our car and got ready to go.
As instructed, we signed into the trail log- you sign in when you start and sign out when finish the hike. This gives the rangers an idea if somebody is stranded on the trail. I was advised to start the hike early and I would echo that suggestion. This is nature with no street lights. If you try to fumble around in the dark, trying to make it back to the car park, you can get into some serious trouble!
We excitedly began our hike. The Wave is only 3 miles away from the car park- but this is through uneven terrain with elevation changes. We took our time, enjoying the scenery and trigger-happy photographing along the way and it took us about 2 hours to reach the Waves. But I really want to emphasize this: the hike through North Coyote Buttes alone is incredible and individually worth the trip. The scenery is truly out of this world. If you don’t believe me, check this out:
We ooh’ed and ahh’ed all the way through this hike. There isn’t an obviously clear “trail” per say, but the photo map did a really good job of identifying the route. Of note, if you go on a hike like this, intermittently look back since you will be doing the hike the other way later.
Then boom. You arrive at the Wave.
It really takes your breath away. The scenery feels so surreal. It makes you want to surf and jump.
This is a day that I really will remember forever. We were blessed with incredible hiking weather in January. Despite our horrible track record, we won the hiking permit lottery. And we got engulfed in a world so different from home and jaw-droppingly beautiful.
Thank you and peace to you, Coyote Buttes.
Away From Scalpel 