Adventure Contest: "The Wave"

Have you ever experienced a silence so profound it envelopes you? A silence so deep your own breathing is muted? This silence and the stunning scenery is what lures me to the Southern Utah desert time and again. There is no hum of electricity, no sounds of ATV's or highway vehicles, no rush of a stream or river, and when no one is talking, no sound of voices. Every once in awhile the wind would pick up. This wind is not the same wind you find in any city or in the mountains, or even in the countryside. This is a desert wind. It blows through your ears around your body and echoes hollow. It's a wind that sounds like it has blown for eons of time. It has no end and no beginning. It's a wind without direction and no destination. It's there to remind you that you are now in it's land, a land so vast and so beautiful and also very deadly. This is a land, that if respected reveals its secrets to you. It's a land of gentle majestic beauty.

Our destination this time was The Wave. A rock formation carved from the flow of water and rush of wind over millions of years. My friend Mason describes this place perfectly, so I'm using his words. "Below a large butte sat a large sandstone formation, probably 50 high and covering maybe an acre and a half. It was made up of fine layers of red, yellow and brown sandstone and had large, smooth troughs about 10 to 15 feet wide where the waves of sandstone dipped and soared from years of slow erosion. If the mountains of the Wasatch or the Sawtooth are evidence of the earths abrupt eruption and the glaciers sudden recession, then Wave and its surrounding area is a display of natures gentle and artistic craft."

After the long hike across the hot desert we were greatly rewarded with this piece of art in the wilderness. As I entered the wave, I was overcome with such a variety of emotions, I had to just stop and take it all in.

I had seen photos of this place, had always wanted to come here, but nothing had prepared me for what was in front of me. This formation is one of natures' most spectacular. The colors were so vivid, the waves of sandstone so perfectly formed. We were not the only ones marveling at this work of art. There were a few others, all as in awe as we were. There was hardly any talking as everyone tried to take in what we were seeing. The beauty and vastness of this southern Utah desert always puts life in perspective for me. Out there you are one tiny person in this wilderness. Out there, you realize that you are but an infant in the sands of time. What it takes for us to create and destroy cities and civilizations is nothing compared to natures work on this land. Out there, you realize there is so much more to this life than our minuscule existence. Not to say our existence here means nothing, but this desert puts your life back into perspective. The mundane things we deal with on a day to day basis mean nothing out here. Out here, nature puts everything back into place for you, helps you realize what is actually important, helps you feel the past in a way nothing else can. Out here, the past, present and future are one. Out here will continue with or without us.

Stacy Henderson

Gearhead/Live Chat

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