Friday Apr 16, 2010 at 10:37

Wave Goodbye

A quick update on the last few days activities:

Having successfully procured an online permit to visit the wave at 6:45am on January 1 (in Edinburgh, with a hangover), the appointment finally came around last Monday. Jim Talaric and I trekked in, arriving mid-morning and found ourselves almost last to arrive, but also last to leave.

The light was pretty decent, but things soon started to cloud up and the wind picked-up as forecast. We had planned on hanging out until late afternoon in order to shoot the Second Wave, but the deteriorating weather convinced us to high-tail it out by 2pm. Sure enough, by the time we got back towards the sandy stretch beyond the saddle, the wind was blasting us with sand and the temperature was falling. (We also encountered a grimly determined Frenchman and his young family just heading out to the Wave as all this was picking up – nuts, if you ask me.)

The temperature had fallen by around 35 degrees Farenheit by the time we got back to the car, all the way down to 39°. On the drive out along House Rock Road, it even started snowing. Not quite what I had expected. Not sure when I’ll be back to the Wave – the permit situation makes it tricky and you need to have plenty of flexibility in your plans and dates.

Things cleared up the next day and we headed out up the tricky sandy roads to White Pocket, somewhere I hadn’t planned on going by myself given the risks of getting stuck. However, Jim’s Jeep Rubicon ate up the sand and we got there with ease.

Very glad we did as the area is spectacular, although somewhat overwhelming to shoot when it’s the first time you’ve seen it – so much to point the camera at!

Next it was on to Coyote Buttes South, the last stop on my tour (as it turned out). Sunrise was clear with some nice light, but things blocked up for sunset. However, the subdued light still allowed some flattering tones to be captured in the rock formations:

After camping out two nights, it was back to Page for a fat-boy breakfast, then time to hit the road. In the end I drove the full 635 miles back to Boulder, awaking this morning to my first overcast skies in two weeks. (I needed to get back – after all, I have a product to launch tomorrow…)

Stephen · Friday, April 16, 2010, 10:37 · Permalink

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