Coyote Buttes- A Whimsical Product Of The Forces Of Nature.

Coyote Buttes, on the Arizona/Utah border, is a landscape that defies description. Freud would have trouble developing a diagnosis for this patient.

One look at it will put a smile on your face along with a frown. It’s situated at The Vermillion Cliffs National Monument and is well protected. At North Coyote Buttes, a trip to The Wave is only accessible for 20 daily fortunates who were victorious in the dreaded lottery put on by The Bureau of Land Management.

It’s a riot of abstractness, details, hues, textures, patterns and dizzying sandstone  shapes. The Navajo Sandstone calcified dunes evolved into its current look due to erosion from winds and rains.

This is a repost from 2014..

Coyote Buttes The Wave

Coyote Buttes The Wave

Coyote Buttes The Wave

Coyote Buttes The Wave

The Second Wave

Coyote Buttes North

The Wave

Coyote Buttes North

Coyote Buttes North

Coyote Buttes Sand Cove

Sand Cove

Coyote Buttes Sand Cove

Coyote Buttes The Wave

At South Coyote Buttes, the unusual is the usual at this landscape.  Grotesque shapes of rock cast by millions of years of weathering have produced a carnival of  oddities that Barnum & Bailey would be proud of.   I half expected a woman with a beard to come  walking around the corner.

South Coyote Buttes

Coyotte Buttes

It seems as if someone put one of those curvy carnival mirrors out there to give Coyote Buttes it’s distorted look. But it is real. I think.

South Coyote Buttes

South Coyote Buttes

South Coyote Buttes

South Coyote Buttes

It’s highly believable that it took millions of years for the gods to create Coyote Buttes.

You just don’t put this together in a week.

Michael Andrew Just

Dawn2Dawn Photography

The Wave

It’s hard to get a permit and was even harder getting there because of muddy roads due to recent heavy rains but me and some first timers had a ball!

Unusual sandstone rock formations produced through erosion are the feature at The Wave at Coyote Buttes North in the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

Another Trip To The Clay Beds

Had to bring another photography friend to the clay beds at Coyote Buttes. Lian had never seen anything quite like this place.

 

 

 

 

 

Colorful Clay Beds

Made another trip last week to one of my favorite places. Clay beds in the Coyote Buttes area of Northern Arizona. Colors are a product of minerals leeching through the Chinle Layer, mostly made of clay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video From After Visiting The Wave

Outside of The Wave

Second post of three from my recent hike through Coyote Buttes North and The Wave. The areas on the hike to and just beyond The Wave are incredible in their own right. Little known Sand Cove and Fatali’s Boneyard are fascinating.

This natural sculpture is known as The Second Wave.  The Wave is a tough act to follow but this isn’t too shabby.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Wave Revisited

It had been 3 years since I last won a lottery permit to visit The Wave at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. More and more people are showing up for the dreaded lottery so its been difficult to get a permit. They only issue 10 per day for walk ins and I was fortunate to get one. About 5o people showed up for this days’ lottery. A few years ago, only 7 showed up for a weekday drawing in January. On one day during the this past year’s Christmas Holidays, 390 hopefuls showed up for the 10 spots, an all-time record.

This is the first of three posts. This first post will show images of The Wave proper. The second post will be from Sand Cove, an unusual geologic wonderland nearby. The third post will showcase abstract images from these two areas.

My friend and photography protege Alison shot a number of the images in these 3 posts and also served as a great model!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The nearby Second Wave.

 

Paw Hole

Paw Hole is an area at South Coyote Buttes that is part of Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona. Its unusual sandstone rock formations are a photographer’s playland.

 

Unusual sandstone rock formations make up the landscape at South Coyote Buttes at The Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

Unusual sandstone rock formations make up the landscape at South Coyote Buttes at The Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

Unusual sandstone rock formations make up the landscape at South Coyote Buttes at The Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

Unusual sandstone rock formations make up the landscape at South Coyote Buttes at The Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

Unusual sandstone rock formations make up the landscape at South Coyote Buttes at The Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

Unusual sandstone rock formations make up the landscape at South Coyote Buttes at The Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

Unusual sandstone rock formations make up the landscape at South Coyote Buttes at The Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

Unusual sandstone rock formations make up the landscape at South Coyote Buttes at The Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

Unusual sandstone rock formations make up the landscape at South Coyote Buttes at The Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

Unusual sandstone rock formations make up the landscape at South Coyote Buttes at The Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

Some More Surreal Clay Bed Images

The location for these clay beds is very close to my formerly somewhat secret spot of colorful clay beds.

 

Clay Beds_0306

 

The colorful clay beds are exposed at Coyote Buttes at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

The colorful clay beds are exposed at Coyote Buttes at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

The colorful clay beds are exposed at Coyote Buttes at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

The colorful clay beds are exposed at Coyote Buttes at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

The colorful clay beds are exposed at Coyote Buttes at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

Clay Beds_0293

 

The colorful clay beds are exposed at Coyote Buttes at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

The colorful clay beds are exposed at Coyote Buttes at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

The colorful clay beds are exposed at Coyote Buttes at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

The colorful clay beds are exposed at Coyote Buttes at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

The colorful clay beds are exposed at Coyote Buttes at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

 

 

Frozen In Time- Vermilion Cliffs National Monument’s White Pocket


Constant erosion from wind and water over the last 200 million years have produced some sandstone oddities that are worth the effort to drive to. White Pocket is about 20 miles from any paved road so few venture to it. The Vermilion Cliffs  National Monument is a place that deserves protection. See all my photos at Dawn2Dawn Photography

Unusual sandstone shapes produced by erosion make up the landscape at White Pocket at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona


 

Unusual sandstone shapes produced by erosion make up the landscape at White Pocket at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona


 

Unusual sandstone shapes produced by erosion make up the landscape at White Pocket at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona


 

Unusual sandstone shapes produced by erosion make up the landscape at White Pocket at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona


 

Wispy clouds hover over the sandstone anomalies at White Pocket at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona


 

Unusual sandstone shapes produced by erosion make up the landscape at White Pocket at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona


 

 

Unusual sandstone shapes produced by erosion make up the landscape at White Pocket at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona


 

Distorted sandstone shapes make up the landscape at White Pocket at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona


 

 

Unusual sandstone shapes produced by erosion make up the landscape at White Pocket at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona


 

Unusual sandstone shapes produced by erosion make up the landscape at White Pocket at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona


 

Unusual sandstone shapes produced by erosion make up the landscape at White Pocket at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona


 

Unusual sandstone shapes produced by erosion make up the landscape at White Pocket at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona


 

Wispy clouds hover over the sandstone anomalies at White Pocket at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona