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.


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)


Near the Wave


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.

[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.