On Saturday 4th April 2009, I was lucky enough to have a permit for access to "The Wave" - A unique sandstone formation located just south of the Utah-Arizona border about halfway between Kanab, Utah and Page, Arizona. I had been trying to get a permit for almost two years (being British and limited in the months I was able to visit made it much harder), so it was frustrating that the forecast was for snow and rain. As I drove towards Kanab on Friday evening, the increasing amount of snow on the hills and roads was becoming a real concern. In the end I had bright blue sky for most of the day but with a biting cold stong wind (enough to numb the hands for much of the morning).

With the instructions provided with the permit, and a GPS programmed with the route co-ordinates, the wave was easy to find and took about an hour to hike in carrying full camera pack, tripod and the recommended gallon of water. The hike was relatively easy going until the final hike up a large sand dune (see XG9M14010) which leads to the entrance of "The Wave".

There is a limit of 20 people a day issued permits to visit "The Wave" and most seemed content to spend only a short time there leaving plenty of space for those wanting to do a more detailed study.

In contrast to the normal rules of photography, the best light for "The Wave" appears to be from 2-hours before mid-day to 2-hours after, as during this time the bowl is totally free from shadows.

The weather did start to close in about 15:00 with complete cloud cover and rain visible nearby and with warnings that the road out becomes impassable when wet, I called it a day without spending much time looking at the other geological features such as "Brain Rocks" or "2nd Wave". This proved to be the right thing to do as the hike out seemed much harder than the hike in and left me near exhausted by the time I got back to the car.