One of the world's largest geological formations started to take shape 190 million years ago. Sand dunes with ripples embedded in the granite of Arizona.
Arizona's The Wave sits in the Coyote Buttes Canyon at a height of approximately 5,225 feet above sea level. With gigantic sandstone structures stretched like taffy and cinnamon-colored stratum domes, The Wave has an amazing undulating aspect. It resembles a geological still image, a geological snapshot of the impact of natural processes on the surroundings.
The Wave is made up of Navajo Sandstone dunes that have over time solidified into compacted, vertically and horizontally calcified boulders. Rain erosion and gradual wind erosion combined to generate the unusual and distinctive shifting strata. Up until the 1990s, when it was heavily promoted in German vacation brochures and featured in the 1996 film Faszination Natur, The Wave was essentially unknown. The location became popular when small groups of Europeans came to visit; tour operators admit that most visitors are still from Europe, while Americans are starting to appreciate the scenery.
Many people describe walking in the dunes as a really weird, bizarre, and dizzying sensation. In some circumstances, people even compare it to having a drug-induced walking dream. Professionals and amateurs alike seek to get the ideal midday photo at the rock, when not a single shadow covers the Wave, or they opt for the more dramatic impact of morning or almost dusk, when the high domes cast striking shadows across the landscape.
The rocks are still prone to damage even though they have hardened. Permission is needed and just 20 people are permitted to stroll down the ravine each day. To see The Wave, you need a permission from the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Demand vastly outstrips availability as just 64 persons per day (48 licenses issued three months in advance and 16 permits granted one day in advance) are permitted in the region. An estimated 300 persons apply for the sixteen daily permits throughout the busiest months (April, May, September, and October). You typically have less than a 50% chance of winning one in the daily lottery in the other months. If you're traveling alone or between December and February, your odds are greater.
Tour guides can be hired, and permits can be obtained through both online and offline lotteries.
Don't travel by yourself. Mark the Wirepass trailhead and other significant locations along the way if you're using a GPS. Continue with your group. Bring lots of water—at least four liters, ideally more—if you visit during the warmer months, as heat-related deaths accounted for four of the five fatalities.
