The Wave is a small bowl of cross-bedded sandstone in Coyote Buttes North, on the Arizona–Utah border. To protect it, the Bureau of Land Management allows 64 people a day, chosen by lottery. Most years, the odds for any single application are in the single digits.
Two draws, not one
There is an advance lottery that runs months ahead and a daily lottery that runs two days before the hike. We enter both for our guests. Across a three-day trip that means several chances, and most of our groups win at least one.
Losing well
When the draws fail, we go to Coyote Buttes South or White Pocket. Both are as surreal as the Wave, and on a typical day you will meet fewer than ten people. More than a few guests have told us the plan B day was their favorite.
We never promise a permit. Anyone who does is not being straight with you.
Losing the lottery twice sent us somewhere even stranger.
