This is the second of my series of posts covering images taken within a single 24-hour period. In addition to the photos, I will include some of the travel, planning, and technical aspects of these trips. The first entry in the series covered a day around Banff, Canada on a winter day.
Today’s entry covers the morning of February 2, 2019 through sunrise the next morning. Trust me though, I am strictly adhering to my 24 hour rule for these posts. I made plans to visit the area along the Utah/Arizona border in early February with a friend. Our primary goals were to visit “The Wave” in the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument as well as Horseshoe Bend near Page, Arizona.
Our trip started the day before, as entering Coyote Buttes North (i.e. The Wave) requires a permit – only 20 people are allowed to hike into that area each day. Ten spots are assigned via an online lottery and the other ten spots are assigned during a walk-in lottery (this is the path we were taking). One reason we made our trip in early February was to hopefully find a smaller crowd of people competing for the permits. The lottery for the wave is only held on weekdays during the winter, so Friday’s drawing covers entries on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday – three times as many chances to win as on other days. We arrived in Kanab, Utah on Thursday night so we’d be able to be in the BLM office for that Friday drawing.
We arrived at the BLM office a little before 8:30. There were several groups of people milling around. Just after 8:30 a ranger came out and started the proceedings. Group leaders were invited into the lottery room to fill out their forms. They made it really clear that it is unacceptable for multiple people in a party to fill out separate forms to increase their chances. You are required to list all members of your party on your form, and they did cross-check them to make sure people didn’t show up twice.
Once all the forms were in, the staff did their name checks and assigned a number to each one. I was number 14. Overall we had 99 people in 36 groups applying for the 30 spots they were drawing for. Since we were leaving the area Sunday night, we’d only be able to accept spots on Saturday and Sunday. To make matters worse, a storm was forecast to come into the area on Saturday, making the roads likely impassable on Sunday. Our best chance would be Saturday.
They started with the drawing for the spots on Saturday. The first number was called and it corresponded to a group of 3. Seven spots left. The second number was called and it was another group of 3. 4 spots left. Next they called number 15. I remember that one clearly as it was one away from mine and I took it as a sign that we were doomed. As it turned out, that person declined the spot (they were hoping for another day) and their ball was set aside for the Sunday drawing. Still 4 spots left. Next they called Number 14! I popped out of my seat to accept the spot. We were in! Another group of two got the last spots for Saturday. They then asked if everyone else wanted to stay in the drawing for Sunday and removed any balls that were for groups that were leaving. They completed the lottery for Sunday and Monday in same manner and the groups were set.
Once all the groups were set they did the orientation – including a lot of stern warnings about how bad the road gets when wet and the dangers of hiking in back country. They successfully made me nervous, but the hike really isn’t that bad. There is a pretty well worn trail for the first portion and the landmarks are easy to follow for the rest.
We left our hotel in Kanab (we stayed at the Days Inn which was definitely nothing special) before sunrise so we could be at the trailhead about dawn. We wanted an early start to give ourselves time to complete the hike and get back to a paved road before the rains came. This would also give us some time to ourselves for photography. The trek to the wave is about 3 miles, crossing the border into Arizona along the way, and we got there in a little over an hour.
The wave is a formation in the red sandstone along the Arizona/Utah border famous for its curving shapes and lines. There are several entrances into the formation and we split up as we arrived so we could stay out of each other’s way. I entered through the slot on the west side of the wave, and the image above was my first view. As with most of my shots that morning, I used my Canon 5DSR camera with the Canon 16-35 f/4L lens. I did a lot of focus stacking (taking multiple images focused at different distances) to help ensure that the sandstone was sharp throughout the image. The incoming storm provided some nice clouds to fill the sky and helped to soften the light.
We then swapped positions and I took my turn photographing the view from the North entrance into the wave. This view was made famous by a desktop wallpaper that Microsoft included with Windows. I was excited that there was some water pooling in the rock, giving me a chance to get low and capture the reflection.
Turning around I took a shot of the swirling sandstone framing the view looking back toward the area that we hiked through to get there. I started to see some blue sky moving through the area as well. With a little patience (not always my strong point) I could wait for the sun to highlight areas within the scene. In the shot below, I liked that it lit the formations in the distance.
I took some other detail shots focusing on the lines in the sandstone and then moved on to the area that most people consider the actual wave. The image at the top of this post was taken there, using an unwilling volunteer (me) to give an idea of scale. The image below is my favorite from that area, showing the curved waves and some of the weathered buttes in the background.
I grabbed a longer lens to focus on some of the details here too.
I could have spent multiple days shooting in the area, but I wanted to avoid the incoming storm – especially since we only had a 2WD vehicle. We made our way back through the slot taking a few shots along the way. I noticed a small tree growing out of the rock above me and took the shot below.
Coming out I stopped to photograph the slot itself. For this one I really wanted to emphasize the lines and swirls in the sandstone.
Looking outside the wave from the slot, I noticed a formation I dubbed the “spiral tower” with some nice leading lines. I’d already packed up most of my gear so I went with a handheld shot.
We hiked back to the car, stopping a few times for pictures along the way. The rains held off long enough to get back to the paved highway so I no longer had to be paranoid about getting stuck. We decided to head to Page, Arizona for lunch and to get ready to shoot Horseshoe Bend that night. We’d scouted it out the previous evening so we knew we wanted to get to the parking lot at 4:00pm when the construction crews left and the lot opened for general use. I’d already figured out where I wanted to shoot as well, having walked along the rim checking out my options.
Once we got back to the car it was a 60 minute drive to Page. We ended up going to the “Birdhouse” for lunch. They specialize in fried chicken and it was awfully tasty – especially after a morning of hiking. I had “The Best” chicken sandwich which had their fried chicken with house made pickles and sauce on a brioche bun. I’d recommend a visit if you are in the area. We had some time to kill so we made a visit to the Big Dipper for some ice cream. Nothing special there, they serve Dreyer’s, but it hit the spot.
Horseshoe Bend is just outside of town. We got a spot in the parking lot (they are building a larger lot with more facilities so there are regular closures and construction work taking place) and relaxed for a little while in the car before hiking to the bend. Horseshoe Bend is a 180° curve in the Colorado River below the Glen Canyon Dam. The viewpoint is an easy half mile hike from the parking lot and provides views of the bend and river 1000 feet below. There is a viewing deck with fencing for safety, but you can explore the canyon rim on either side. My favorite spot was to the right of the viewing deck where some of the rock structures did a nice job framing the bend. Sunset was cloudy, but I thought that the clouds were fantastic and created some nice drama over the bend. I shot this with a 14mm lens on a full frame camera, allowing me to get the whole bend into the frame as well as enough of the rocks and sky to not feel too cramped.
After sunset we drove back to Kanab (it is about 90 minutes from Page) through a hard rain. We had dinner at the Rocking V Cafe in Kanab. The food was good and the staff was very friendly. I’d recommend it. Another early alam had us headed back to Page and one more shot at Horseshoe Bend for sunrise. It was still raining in the morning, but the forecast called for clearing skies so we had a chance at some interesting weather.
We arrive at the parking lot an hour before sunrise, which is my usual goal to have time to get set up and catch any pre-dawn light in the sky. There was only one other car in the parking lot so I knew I wouldn’t have to fight any crowds at my favorite spot along the rim. There wasn’t any color in the sky and we noticed some rain approaching from the west. I was shooting with my 14mm lens again when the sun crested the horizon and added a rainbow over the scene. I had to rush to switch to my 11mm lens to get the whole rainbow into the frame and captured the shot below.
On the way out of Page we made a stop at the Wahweap Overlook for a view of Lake Powell and the surrounding landscape. From there we drove through Zion in Utah and Valley of Fire in Nevada, but this is the last image I can squeeze into this 24-hour post…
Feel free to add your comments or questions!