October 24
My hosts included me on a special-permit trip into the famous Wave formation on North Coyote Buttes. So I made my pilgrimage to that celebrated spot in the company of 3 botanists on a mapping/collecting mission. Normally it requires a reservation long in advance or a win in the previous day’s lottery to be one of the 20 people allowed in daily.
It is indeed a world-class spot—but there are so many spots even in the immediate vicinity. From The Wave we climbed up to the top of the butte to view “The Alcove,” – a wind-scooped, semi-circular, light-bounced, fluted cave with its own resident sand dune; then we went along to “Melody Arch,” – really two arches with a picture window out to the north-east. Along the way we traversed ponds full of primitive life, dried waterpockets with oceans of tiny moki marbles (spherical ironstone concretions), gnarled weathered sandstone looking like crumpled paper, and finally a short, purple, slot canyon exit.
A long day: as near as I can tell, botany is as good a rationale for wandering around looking at stuff as geology or painting ; – )
The three botanists wayfinding across Coyote Buttes
The usual Wave photo
Trilobite descendent? About 1/2 to 1-inch long…
Sand Cove Slot – a short canyon in the wash below the Wave, watercolor on paper 11″ x 15″
suzeart 
You forgot to bring along the famous piece of driftwood that is also included in a plethora of Wave Photos. Thanks for blogging. I like to reach inside the mind of artists and see how we tick.
That’s a tadpole shrimp (order Notostraca), originally from the Carboniferous and little changed since the Triassic – so yes, considered a ‘living fossil’!. Omnivores living in shallow pools; they tolerate brackish and saline waters well. But I confess I had to use Google scholarship to remember what it was.
Hey Suze,
I’m really enjoying your newsletter posts…nice writing style! Man, you sure get around…what adventures! Thanks!
See you in Zion,
Rachel
[…] Source: The Wave and Beyond […]