T.-C
Hidden Cove
A hidden cove we stumbled upon (see story below) on the way back.The sun was about to set which further saturated the already amazing color of these rock formations. This really needs to be viewed Large On Black or with B l a c k M a g i c.
Canon 5D Mark II + EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L USM. 17mm 5sec at f/18, ISO400,Tripod.
After testing our Hummer in deep sands the previous afternoon, we decided that it may be the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attempt the arduous unmarked 4-wheel drive on sandy track to the remote South Coyotte Buttes area in the Paria Canyon Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness Area. The next morning we tried our luck again at the Paria ranger station for the 10 walk-in permits to the North Coyote Buttes (the famous "Wave") and not too surprisingly, didn't get it 2 days in a row. The permits to the South Coyote Buttes, on the other hand, are easily available due to the difficulty of access.
So the journey began.
Planning to shoot around Cottonwood access area at dusk, we entered the wilderness area in the afternoon. Most people have finished their day hikes and left this 112,500 acres region south of highway 89. Not maintaining enough revs at the first ascent after Paw Hole, our Hummer got buried in the sands and refused to go any further. The afternoon storm decided to drop in at the perfect timing while we used shovels, floor mats, tree trunks..etc to bring this monster out of the sands again. The rest of the road until the Cottonwood Cove access is more enjoyable after this lesson.
The evening light was unflattering so we just scouted the Cottonwood Teepees area before heading back to the tent.
The rain came in again around midnight and stayed on and off until 10am next morning. The color of the sandstone was deeply saturated under overcast sky and I just kept finding more and more bizarre formations around this otherworldly place.
We were sitting at the north end of the Cottonwood Teepees after the sun came out, gazing at the distant North and South Teepees, about 1.5 miles away. North Coyote Buttes is probably another 1.5 miles further, we were guessing. The Wave seemed so close. After quite some discussions the two of us decided to march north and perhaps accidentally enter the North Buttes...
All we have was one GPS location of The Wave, which is accurate according to Google Earth. Our GPS, however, led us to a place turned out to be half mile away from The Wave, after 4 hours of walking in deep sands and scrambling on the slickrock.
The Anasazi spirits were probably messing with us.
Frustrated, exhausted, and more importantly, out of water, heading back before sunset was the only option. The camera equipments seemed to gain weight with every step and we had to take naps whenever we found big enough trees to offer shades. I was tortured by the thirst, but lying under the trees and watching the lazy clouds over us was strangely relaxing...
On the way back to Cottonwood Teepees the sun started to set. Knowing that we had roughly the right direction, we headed toward the middle section of these alien rock formations instead of following the outer path where we came from. We stumbled upon a nice hidden sand cove after scrambling up a ridge, but only to find that there is no way to get down the other side which happened to be hundreds feet of vertical drop on slick rocks. It's 7pm and the daylight had almost faded with only a hint of color in the sky. We backtracked and decided to follow the outer edge in hope to find the way we came. With only one headlamp we climbed one sand dune after another in darkness. The waypoints and tracks on our GPS were so entangled that we didn't know what to follow any more. Bushes and rocks, near and far, were all mixed together under the moonlight that we found ourselves in the middle of a maze. Lack of water for hours I might have slight delusion and started to believe that we have to stay right there in the desert for the night, without any water, and exposed to all sorts of unknown beasts in the wilderness.
We took a final look at the GPS and carefully examined the track record. At some point our track did intercept with the earlier ones we left the previous day when scouting. Forgetting all the conflicting messages the surrounding landscape was casting on us, we decided to blindly follow the GPS.
Another hour later, we were finally back at the tent.
Hidden Cove
A hidden cove we stumbled upon (see story below) on the way back.The sun was about to set which further saturated the already amazing color of these rock formations. This really needs to be viewed Large On Black or with B l a c k M a g i c.
Canon 5D Mark II + EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L USM. 17mm 5sec at f/18, ISO400,Tripod.
After testing our Hummer in deep sands the previous afternoon, we decided that it may be the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attempt the arduous unmarked 4-wheel drive on sandy track to the remote South Coyotte Buttes area in the Paria Canyon Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness Area. The next morning we tried our luck again at the Paria ranger station for the 10 walk-in permits to the North Coyote Buttes (the famous "Wave") and not too surprisingly, didn't get it 2 days in a row. The permits to the South Coyote Buttes, on the other hand, are easily available due to the difficulty of access.
So the journey began.
Planning to shoot around Cottonwood access area at dusk, we entered the wilderness area in the afternoon. Most people have finished their day hikes and left this 112,500 acres region south of highway 89. Not maintaining enough revs at the first ascent after Paw Hole, our Hummer got buried in the sands and refused to go any further. The afternoon storm decided to drop in at the perfect timing while we used shovels, floor mats, tree trunks..etc to bring this monster out of the sands again. The rest of the road until the Cottonwood Cove access is more enjoyable after this lesson.
The evening light was unflattering so we just scouted the Cottonwood Teepees area before heading back to the tent.
The rain came in again around midnight and stayed on and off until 10am next morning. The color of the sandstone was deeply saturated under overcast sky and I just kept finding more and more bizarre formations around this otherworldly place.
We were sitting at the north end of the Cottonwood Teepees after the sun came out, gazing at the distant North and South Teepees, about 1.5 miles away. North Coyote Buttes is probably another 1.5 miles further, we were guessing. The Wave seemed so close. After quite some discussions the two of us decided to march north and perhaps accidentally enter the North Buttes...
All we have was one GPS location of The Wave, which is accurate according to Google Earth. Our GPS, however, led us to a place turned out to be half mile away from The Wave, after 4 hours of walking in deep sands and scrambling on the slickrock.
The Anasazi spirits were probably messing with us.
Frustrated, exhausted, and more importantly, out of water, heading back before sunset was the only option. The camera equipments seemed to gain weight with every step and we had to take naps whenever we found big enough trees to offer shades. I was tortured by the thirst, but lying under the trees and watching the lazy clouds over us was strangely relaxing...
On the way back to Cottonwood Teepees the sun started to set. Knowing that we had roughly the right direction, we headed toward the middle section of these alien rock formations instead of following the outer path where we came from. We stumbled upon a nice hidden sand cove after scrambling up a ridge, but only to find that there is no way to get down the other side which happened to be hundreds feet of vertical drop on slick rocks. It's 7pm and the daylight had almost faded with only a hint of color in the sky. We backtracked and decided to follow the outer edge in hope to find the way we came. With only one headlamp we climbed one sand dune after another in darkness. The waypoints and tracks on our GPS were so entangled that we didn't know what to follow any more. Bushes and rocks, near and far, were all mixed together under the moonlight that we found ourselves in the middle of a maze. Lack of water for hours I might have slight delusion and started to believe that we have to stay right there in the desert for the night, without any water, and exposed to all sorts of unknown beasts in the wilderness.
We took a final look at the GPS and carefully examined the track record. At some point our track did intercept with the earlier ones we left the previous day when scouting. Forgetting all the conflicting messages the surrounding landscape was casting on us, we decided to blindly follow the GPS.
Another hour later, we were finally back at the tent.