The Wave

There is a place about forty miles southeast of Kanab that, when I saw pictures many months ago, I was convinced it was not real.  The pictures were doctored and the tales of its grandeur were fabricated.  

The place is reachable by a terrible dirt road that floods often and can leave you stranded for days until the water subsides and the mud dries out.  From what is called a trailhead along this road, there is no trail, and to find the magical place, you must navigate with map and compass over three miles of limestone ridges and ravines in scorching heat.  Still an average of two hundred people per day from all over the world want to experience the place.  But only twenty are allowed to go.

You can enter an on-line lottery four months in advance.  I did this twice before coming to Kanab, and lost twice.  You can also enter a daily lottery for one of ten slots reserved for people who come to Kanab and sit in a room hoping their number will be drawn.  I sat in that room with fifty others and lost.  But yesterday I decided to try again, and, Yippee, the last number called was mine!

Words may come to describe what I saw today, but this evening after visiting The Wave, I can only yield to my pictures.  In them you see just one branch in a labyrinth of truly astounding natural sculpture.  The pictures are in order as I walked along just one passage of The Wave.

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