Little did I know I'd be sick for 2 months before hand. By the time it came around to go on the trip I barely felt like going but I'm glad we did anyway. I basically planned where we were going to stay in Kanab, Utah and I was glad that my Sister-in-Law Wendy and my brother Ben planned the activities for the trip.
Wendy came up with the idea of trying to get us into The Wave in Arizona but it was really a long shot. They only let in 20 people a day. Ten of those people have had permits that they applied for 6 months in advance. The other 10 have to show up at the ranger's office and actually enter a drawing and win a lottery. Ben called the weekend before and there were 75 people there to win 10 spots. Our chances looked pretty slim so I kind of put it out of my mind. I assumed we'd just go down there and do some local hikes, putter around, and just hang out at the house.
We were super surprised when Ben called us as we were driving to Kanab and said we had won the lottery. So at that point we knew that we'd be doing The Wave the next day. It's kind of like a once-in-a-lifetime thing so everyone was super excited. I had been told the hike to the wave was easy so like an idiot I did not take it upon myself to verify this. Looking back, I'm so stuck on doing things outdoors that I'm not sure I would have even done anything differently.
When we showed up to do The Wave I was already nervous. I knew it would be a 7 mile hike no matter what. Being about 5 months pregnant and walking 7 miles on a flat track might have even been challenging but we're talking hiking up and over sandstone over and over and through deep sand for seven miles, which I also was not aware of. About 1 or 2 miles into the hike I knew I was in deep crap based on the terrain. I couldn't seem to help but have a breakdown and it was embarrassing and then I got mad at myself for having it and for being stubborn enough to try this trail in my condition. It was ugly for a while.
When we got to the actual Wave where most of these pics were taken, I was done. I'd made it to this amazing place and couldn't go any further. So I collapsed at the entrance while everyone went in, it made me incredibly sad but I didn't have a choice. I knew that 7 miles was already what I had to hike and I couldn't add even another mile to that. So I gave Dan the camera and told him to take lots of pics.
We got some amazing photos and I was able to live vicariously a little through the photos. Someday I hope I get another opportunity to do this hike, if I should be so lucky again.
I feel really bad that I had a breakdown and I hope it didn't ruin anyone elses good time. In all fairness, everyone was pretty tired after the hike, not just me, so I felt like it wasn't totally freaking out for no reason. Literally by the time I got back to the car, I was shuffling my feet because I was too tired to lift them. It was sad. I am totally done hiking for the rest of my pregnancy, traveling as well. It was good to have one last blow-out however. At least I think everyone else had fun, I think it meant a lot to my parents too, to be around the kids they didn't get to see too much while we were growing up and now the grandkids. It was worth it just for that, Wave aside.
Here are some great pics proving that we were there. Several of these photos were taken by Ben or Wendy and they were kind enough to share :
2 comments:
Wow! That is beautiful. Looks kind of like huge stretched out pieces of taffy. :) Don't feel bad about your breakdown. I wasn't there but 7 miles while pregnant- seriously? You are superwoman!
Thanks for saying that Tina. Dan said he thought I deserved some type of pregnancy award for hiking that long.
The place really was unusual, pulled taffy like indeed.
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