Above The Wave (part 3)

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In my limited research before our trek out to The Wave, I found out that there was a second small wave and a bunch of neat things to see if you hike up above The Wave. Some people even hike to the top of the ridge, but we did not have optimal footwear to be hiking on sandstone.

I don’t own hiking boots, which is odd since I do a lot of hiking, but we have limited space in the car and sneakers make better all-purpose shoes. By the time we were at The Wave my sneakers had reached the end of their life. Okay to be honest, they were worn out long before The Wave, but I hate shopping and I’m one of the few women I know who is just not into shoes. So instead of nice grippy hiking boots, I entered the sandstone trail in tread-less sneakers (though it’s not as great a story as the one a Ranger told us about the woman who hiked in flip flops). The loose sand on top of sandstone does not make for sure footing, especially when ascending and descending.

I did tempt fate and hike up a ridge to look down into The Wave. I didn’t fall there, though I did slip and fall three other times (and got very banged up the last time).

Our directions to find the second wave included a reference to go straight past ‘hamburger rock’.  We thought we saw a rock that looked like a big hamburger and continued straight, but when we looked back and saw the one below, we knew we were headed in the right direction.

Sounds in Coyote Buttes are strange, the ability to hear things in the distance is like being in a sci-fi movie. It’s echo-y in many spots, like in The Wave, but in more open areas you can tune into sounds far in the distance.  I could actually hear the sound of a bird’s wings slowly flapping as it flew through the sky and a bee buzzing a hundred yards away.

One more entry about The Wave next week…

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