The Wave, North Coyote Buttes

[powderhound]

A very obscure place...
My wife and I are last minute planners, so signing up months ahead of time for a Wave permit was really never going to happen. So, we gave it a shot on the walk-in lottery for my wife's birthday in early Feb., and beat roughly 35-40% odds and got our permit. First try. We should've gone to Vegas instead...

Shoot me a message if anyone wants info on the walk-in. FYI: we did the lottery the first week of February on a Wednesday for a Thursday permit. Mid-winter, mid-week, and with a questionable weather forecast. The odds were about 37% for us.

Since everyone in the universe has seen pictures of the Wave, I'll just include a few with perspectives I haven't seen much before.

Where's Waldo? There is a human in this photo. Taken from Top Rock, near the "big crack" you use to navigate to the Wave.
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Vermilion Cliffs through Top Rock Arch. (This is the arch near the "big crack," the photo is looking northerly through the arch back toward the Wave)
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Near the Wave
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My best shot of the day. This is the small alcove adjacent to the Wave. This is an HDR photo. The colors are not retouched in any way.
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[tanya]

Love the pictures. The Wave is a magical place. I see you found one of the arches!

Did you venture up to Melody Arch while there?

[powderhound]

No - I was running a bit short on my timeline, so I left Melody for another time. I did find the big, sandy alcove up there which is another cool spot. The reason I ran out of time is that Top Rock Arch was so damn hard to find. I think I scrambled right by it about 4 times before I looked in the right place. I made mental notes from the Wave, and I was right about distance, but you really have to look to find it. Great area.

My wife and I agreed that this area would still be world-class without the Wave.

[tanya]

That sandy cove is pretty cool too!

[accadacca]

Excellent choice of pictures to share. You did well. :2thumbs: