Field Trip Report: White Pocket, Horseshoe Bend and The Wave
Yes, this place is in the middle of nowhere; yes it is a very bumpy ride for a very long time to get there; yes there are no bathrooms out there; and yes this place is unbelievable. All things that were said and heard during the latest Wasatch Camera Club fieldtrip (July 23-25) to White Pocket.
Three intrepid club members made the trip to Page Arizona; one had never been to White Pocket, it was the second trip for another and the veteran of the group made his 8th visit. To even the casual observer, White Pocket is simply amazing, to the photographer it is beyond amazing and yet frustrating all at the same time. The landscape has so much to offer in terms of formations, texture, color, the big landscape and the abstract; but it can be frustrating too as one thing uttered often was "where do I start?” Yes, White Pocket can be confounding; there is so much there and seemingly so little time to photograph it, sometimes it just becomes overwhelming.
But the three members who traversed the many miles made it work in the end. The weather was not quite as hoped; we just missed monsoonal thunderstorms by a day or so; of the two days there, one was slightly overcast for most of the day into the evening; but even under those conditions White Pocket was what you expect her to be, spectacular. It is an unusual landscape, even for Utah and Arizona; however it is one of the single best areas on the Colorado Plateau. No other national park, national monument or state park on the Colorado Plateau can top the White Pocket landscape with its unusual formations, its multi-hued colors and its rich textures; it is a treasure. And what makes it even better, and at the same time problematic, is how difficult it is to get there. One must drive a long sandy, bumpy track where there are no signs, little signs of civilization which all adds to the experience as a serene and peaceful location, where there are very few people and of course ample opportunities for photography.
Just with the two days at White Pocket, would this fieldtrip be considered awesome. Add in an excursion to Horseshoe Bend, a beautiful arch of the Colorado River just south of Page, and a hike to The Wave of the North Coyote Buttes. Of course The Wave has become a very popular place to go; trying to get a permit to visit is difficult enough, add on the 6 mile round trip cross country, exposed hike across undulating sandstone and sand in over 100° heat; one would think we didn’t enjoy it. We certainly did; The Wave lived up to everything it has earned: a beautiful serene pattern of sandstone greets those who push their physical limits which we did.
All in all, a great fieldtrip of which I’m sure in the upcoming club competitions and events, you will be seeing some of the images from the trip. A special thank you goes out to Charly Moore of Overland Canyon Tours in Page Arizona for his driving (getting us safely, to and from Page to White Pocket, in the dark no less) and his good nature; thanks Charly.
Hopefully we will be able to plan another visit to White Pocket in 2011, where more members of the Wasatch Camera Club will be able to experience its beauty. In the meantime, check out our images that we brought back to share.
