North and South Coyote Buttes

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Friday, 23 February 2024 - Hiked into North Coyote Buttes early morning to photograph "The Wave," navigating 11 miles with 2,200ft elevation gain carrying 3-4 liters of water, explored unique sandstone formations including Top Rock Arch, The Alcove, Melody Arch, Wall Arch, Sand Cove, and the Second Wave, captured striking patterns in the stone and flowing lines, exited the formation in the dark, and celebrated back in Kanab with a big steak dinner.

The big day - today we will hike into Coyote Buttes - North to see "The Wave"!!! We are all excited. I am concerned that I have planned for the weather properly - we will begin at 0530 at the trail head and be out until sunset. I was advised to carry 3-4 liters of water - which was very heavy. We hiked in the dark - I stumbled several times but did not fall. 11 miles and 2,200 in elevation on the hike.

arizona2024 — We arrived at this spot to wait for the sun.

arizona2024 — After a few shots I moved - the light was strong, so I tried a black and white.

arizona2024 — Deep rock ridges capture the early morning sun.

arizona2024 — We continued our journey to "The Wave" quite a hike.

This is the entrance - there was a small pool of water. A hint of the sandstone which would await us just to the left.

arizona2024 — The swirls in the sandstone at the entrance to "The Wave".

arizona2024 — Sunlight reflecting off a canyon wall.

arizona2024 — Your intrepid photographer standing at the entrance to "The Wave"

arizona2024 — We had been waiting for the sun to crest the mountain and shine into the wave. Here the sun is full on the western wall of the wave.

arizona2024 — There is a small canyon on the north side of "The Wave" which is not very long. The sun is reflecting off "The Wave" into the canyon exit.

arizona2024 — The water in the pool would stand so still the rocks reflecting in it were crystal clear.

arizona2024 — The sun had finally risen high enough to light "The Wave" and we explored the beautiful formation. Fortunately, we were early so there were no other people around.

The entrance to "The Wave" where the small pool was is all the way into "The Wave" and then to the right.

arizona2024 — This is the entrance into "The Wave" - if you look closely you can see sand marred with footprints.

arizona2024 — The unusual rock waves in sandstone.

arizona2024 — Another photograph of me moving through "The Wave".

arizona2024 — "The Wave"

arizona2024 — One wall of "The Wave" has an alluring pattern.

arizona2024 — Sandstone bent into curves.

arizona2024 — We then hiked up a very steep mountain of sandstone. Interesting in that there was no trail and we simply walked up the rock making sure your entire boot was down to increase traction.

At the top was an arch called Top Rock Arch.

arizona2024 — These two hills were on the trail on top of the mountain. I had to hike down a bit to get this picture.

arizona2024 — Patterns on the sandstone walls.

arizona2024 — The walls under an overhang are beautiful.

arizona2024 — We arrived at "The Alcove," which was a giant cave like structure carved out of the rock. In the middle of the space was a 30-foot sand dune.

arizona2024 — Inside "The Alcove" the sandstone has unusual patterns and textures.

arizona2024 — We continued along the top of the mountain to two arches - Melody Arch on the outside and Wall Arch inside the grotto.

arizona2024 — Melody Arch is named after photographer Melody Thomas, who popularized it.

arizona2024 — You can see the North Teepees from Wall Arch.

arizona2024 — From the top of the mountain we headed down - way down to Sand Cove. The hike was as steep as the accent and involved some butt sliding when it was too steep.

The Sand Cove had great lines in the sandstone.

arizona2024 — Beautiful racetrack like lines.

arizona2024 — We then hiked back up (we had walked past to the Sand Cove) to the Second Wave. We were to be here until sunset, but we were early, so we had to hang out for about an hour waiting for the light to improve.

The Second Wave is a flowing feature as well. Here we are above the wave.

arizona2024 — Dropping down to the formation the lines in the sandstone are more pronounced.

arizona2024 — Long lines to the Second Wave buttes.

arizona2024 — The clouds took over and we began our hike out early. There were so many interesting things to photograph.

We walked by these colorful mounds of sandstone.

arizona2024 — A pool of water in the stone.

arizona2024 — Our exit from the formation was back through "The Wave"" so we had a short chance to photograph the feature from a different angle.

arizona2024 — The view leaving "The Wave" only 6 more miles to the car.

We would make it back hiking in the dark for a short distance.

Back in Kanab I would enjoy a big steak with fellow photographers Mike and Dawn to celebrate a very successful day.

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