The Wave

The Wave is an area of unbelievable sandstone formations on the Arizona-Utah border which I had visited in 2007 (image gallery) and 2014 (image gallery). Only 20 people are permitted to visit daily, with 10 permits issued via an online lottery 3 months beforehand and 10 via an in-person lottery on the preceding day. Each lottery has less than a 3% chance of success. My earlier two successes resulted from more than 30 attempts over the years, many from attempts whenever I passed through the lottery's town of Kanab. Lo and behold, I was successful this time!

So, we slept at the trailhead in Starr that night and before dawn made the 3-mile hike in by headlamp. We then had a fabulous full day exploring The Wave and all the other nearby sights, getting back to Starr at dark. And, to top it all off... all this occurred on my birthday!

Panoramas – Tap/click on a pano's thumbnail to show an interactive, moving panorama; use the on-screen control bar or your finger/mouse to move around:

Looking down on The Wave from Top Rock:

Image Gallery – Tap to view an individual image, then swipe to advance; use the top-right controls for auto play & other options (e.g, tap the curved arrow to open sharing options):