Otherworldly formations at the Second Wave
photo by Alaskan Dude on Flickr
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- Uploaded:
- Jul 16, 2012
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- 3504 × 2336
- Original date:
- Apr 06, 2010
The day before I went to The Wave in early April 2010 a major storm was coming in from the Pacific - the NWS posted severe wind warnings for my day and they were dead-on accurate. The winds were about 30 mph most of the day with higher gusts and colder temps (it went from 70 to 40 in one day). In spite of this I ventured out with permit, camera, GPS, and adventure in mind.
It's only about three miles from the trail head to The Wave - piece of cake except the wind created sandstorms - it was like being marooned in the Sahara Desert. Absolutely nasty - it felt like being sand blasted the whole way in. The wind was so strong it nearly blew me over a few times - taking photos was an effort because I had to time it for when the wind died down for a few seconds.
I planned to spend the entire day in the area but after about 4 hours it was time to head out - it was freezing (even for an Alaskan), sand was in everything (eyes, ears, teeth and cameras among other things, and the sky to the west was pitch black with the storm coming in. I made it back to the trail head just as it started to rain.
There is so much in the area to see - Top Rock, the Teepees, and other incredible formations so I will definitely have to go back again. If you have the chance to win a permit - go for it. Despite the lousy conditions I would go back there in a heartbeat!
Enjoy and good luck
Wikipedia Article
Coyote Buttes is a section of the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), spanning extreme South Central Utah and North Central Arizona, just south of US 89 halfway between Kanab, Utah and Page, Arizona. It is divided into two areas: Coyote Buttes North and Coyote Buttes South. Visiting either of the Coyote Buttes areas requires purchasing a hiking permit.
The Coyote Buttes area is an exposure of cross-bedded aeolian Jurassic Navajo Sandstone. The variable coloration of the sandstones is a result of various iron oxide pigments within the layers. A dinosaur trackway or trample surface is found in the area and provides evidence of a variety of dinosaurs. The area includes dramatic swirling erosional rock formations such as The Wave.
The Wave and Buckskin Gulch share the Wire Pass Trailhead on House Rock Valley Road.
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The Colorado Plateau, also called the Colorado Plateau Province, is a physiographic region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States. The province covers an area of 337,000 km2 (130,000 mi2) within western Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, southern and eastern Utah, and northern Arizona. About 90% of the area is drained by the Colorado River and its main tributaries: the Green, San Juan, and Little Colorado.
The Colorado Plateau is largely made up of high desert, with scattered areas of forests. In the southwest corner of the Colorado Plateau lies the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. Much of the Plateau's landscape is related, in both appearance and geologic history, to the Grand Canyon. The nickname "Red Rock Country" suggests the brightly colored rock left bare to the view by dryness and erosion. Domes, hoodoos, fins, reefs, goblins, river narrows, natural bridges, and slot canyons are only some of the additional features typical of the Plateau.
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A natural landscape is a landscape that is unaffected by human activity. A natural landscape is intact when all living and nonliving elements are free to move and change. The nonliving elements distinguish a natural landscape from a wilderness. A wilderness includes areas within which natural processes operate without human interference, but a wilderness must contain life. As implied, a natural landscape may contain either the living or nonliving or both. In his extensive travels in South America, Alexander von Humbolt became the first to conceptualize a natural landscape. Some have described a transition of a pristine landscape state to a humanized landscape state—which includes the human-modified landscape, the primeval landscape, the ancient landscape, the undisturbed wilderness and the managed landscape. The natural landscape is a place under the current control of natural forces and free of the control of people for an extended period of time.
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Landscape photography is intended to show different spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, but other times microscopic. Photographs typically capture the presence of nature but can also focus on man-made features or disturbances of landscapes, especially within contemporary photography. Landscape photographers often attempt to document the space as well as convey an appreciation of the scenery.
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The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the U.S. state of Arizona:
Arizona – sixth most extensive of the 50 states of the United States of America. Arizona is located in the Southwestern United States and it is noted for its desert climate, exceptionally hot summers, and mild winters, but the high country in the north features pine forests and mountain ranges with cooler and wetter weather than the lower deserts. On February 24, 1863, the United States created the Territory of Arizona. Arizona joined the Union as the 48th state on February 14, 1912.
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