Since my son would be at work all day Monday, I decided to bring my hiking gear with me to Arizona and try to get in some early morning hiking. I wanted something relatively short, but interesting, so I decided to hike up to the Wave Cave. I drove to the Peralta trailhead parking lot. This was the same road I used when I hiked the Hieroglyphic Trail a couple of years ago. A couple of hikers were starting out when I pulled into the dirt lot. It was a chilly 47°F as I grabbed my gear, but I knew that cold feeling would soon fade into memory. The trail headed across the flat desert floor, but off in the distance I could spot the cave up on the hillside. After about 0.6 miles, the trail reaches the boundary of the Superstition Wilderness. While a trail does run along the fence, I continued north through an opening. In another 0.2 miles, the trail to Carney Springs forked to the right, but I stayed on the more used trail to the left. At this point, I would start climbing toward the cave.
The trail now passed into a ravine and began to climb in earnest. The trail crosses over the ravine and makes the final push up to the cave itself. As I got to the cave, the couple who were ahead of me were just about to leave. I asked if they wouldn’t mind taking a few photos of me on the “wave” before they left. Once they left, I had the cave to myself (since this is a popular hike, it was a rarity, which is one advantage of starting at dawn). After exploring the cave and having some water, I headed back down the trail.
The views out across the desert were lovely, and as I made my way back toward the car, I passed several more hikers heading up. Unfortunately, I made a misstep with about 0.5 miles to go and rolled my ankle. Thankfully, I was able to keep going with just a little discomfort and got back to the car without any further issues. Back at the hotel, I wrapped my ankle and kept it elevated and iced for the rest of the day. This was a fun little hike (despite the rolled ankle).
I am an avid peak bagger, sometimes backpacker, and former sea kayaker living in San Diego. In 2019, I became the third person to complete the San Diego 100 Peak Challenge. Not stopping with that accomplishment, I set my sights on the harder San Diego Sierra Club 100 Peak list, which I completed in 2021. In addition, I have conquered several Six-Pack of Peaks challenges (SoCal, San Diego, Central Coast, and Arizona-Winter). Beyond attempting the San Diego Sierra Club 100 Peak list a second time, I am looking forward to exploring new summits and new adventures across the southwest.