I envy whoever first discovered “The Wave” in the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument in Arizona. The spectacular swirling sandstone formations, located in a small and remote part of the north Coyote Buttes Wilderness Area within the monument, resemble the closest thing to nature’s magic that can be found in sandstone.
Its mesmerizing coral pink, pink, red, crèmes, and subdued cherry colors put the taste of berries in my mouth. The sight of its array of twisting sandstone cones gives an impression of swirled soft ice cream. No, you can’t eat The Wave but it is indeed a delicious place.
On September 5, the American Frontiers team has its opportunity to experience The Wave. Today with a walk-in permit in my hand I am back, this time with my wife, Chris, who does what nearly everybody I’ve seen do upon entering The Wave. Her mouth dropped so far that it was hard to see her smile. She tried desperately to explain what she was seeing but soon went quiet, instead running her hands along the lines of layered sandstone, exploring its texture.
The Wave has been sculpted mostly by wind, which has blasted smooth hallways through the base of the most exposed cones. There’s not a crease or an edge to be found here -- smooth and rounded is the name of the game.
I showed Chris where I had previously fallen while goofing off with my American Frontier team. Now she knows exactly where I received the small scar next to my left eye.
When the American Frontiers team visited The Wave the area was dry and warm although that afternoon we received a hard rain. Chris and I visited The Wave the day after a long hard rain had slammed the area the previous evening. We camped in the nearby BLM campground in that rain. Curious, I got up in the middle of the night to see that the small wash near the entrance of the campground was flashflooding.
The Wave, dry when I first explored it, was drenched today. The wet sandstone colors were richer, somewhat darker, than the September visit. Pools of fresh rainwater filled the hallways in The Wave.
Chris and I climbed above The Wave to a high point where Jacob MacLeod and I once stood looking down on the American Frontiers crew. While up there I guided my wife to the amphitheater discovered and explored by Jake and me. But this time Chris stood on top of the golden sand dune in the heart of the amphitheater while I took photographs. She undoubtedly was standing in Jake’s tracks.
Chris and I followed the sandstone ridge back, paralleling our route in. We checked out the dinosaur tracks that BLM’s Becky Hammond and Marcy Demillion had led us to in September. It was nice to be able to guide my wife directly to the tracks, which are located high on a sandstone slope across a wash to the northwest of The Wave. We even made some dinosaur track discoveries of our own by searching the area longer and harder than the American Frontiers team had time to do.
On the way out Chris commented on the route in, and how navigation to The Wave could be a problem for the navigationally challenged people. She’s right. The route to The Wave is not obvious and all the maps I’ve seen do not show a clear, easy-to-follow path to it. Personally I’m grateful for the lack of navigational aids but admit that my gratefulness is in part a result of my route-finding abilities, which are generally above average.
Chris remembered Rachael Tuller, the BLM employee who works at the Paria Plateau information center, saying to us when we picked up our permit that there’s a lot more to see in the area than The Wave. Chris suspects Rachael says that knowing that some people are unlikely to find their way to The Wave, which would be unfortunate.
For more information on fun things to do in the Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness Area and to apply for a permit, visit: www.az.blm.gov/paria/index2.html.