Kyle Jones
Moderator
I spent some time trying to figure out if this structure has a name, as it seems everything else does, but couldn't find anything online. If someone else knows what it is called, please chime in. Until then, I'm going with "spiral tower". This is just outside the west "slot" entrance into the wave looking north back toward the Utah border.
@Johnny Chien asked about my lottery experience, so I figured I'd include another picture with it. Details below the picture...
The lottery for the wave is only held on weekdays during the winter, so Friday's drawing covers entries on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday - three times as many chances to win as on other days. We arrived in Kanab on Thursday night so we'd be able to be in the BLM office for that Friday drawing. For those who don't know, only 20 people are allowed into the wave each day. Ten spots are assigned via the online lottery and the other ten spots are assigned during the walk-in lottery (this is the path we were taking).
We arrived at the BLM office a little before 8:30. There were several groups of people milling around. Just after 8:30 a gentleman came out and started the proceedings. Group leaders were invited into the lottery room to fill out their forms. They made it really clear (which I already knew) that it is unacceptable for multiple people in a party to fill out separate forms to increase their chances. You are required to list all members of your party on your form, and they did cross-check them to make sure people didn't show up twice. This delayed the actual drawing, as there were a bunch of Chinese groups with very similar names and the staff questioned them intently to make sure nobody showed up twice. Groups can contain up to six people.
Once all the forms were in, the staff did their name checks and assigned a number to each one. They then read back the name of the group leader with the number they were assigned. I was number 14. Overall we had 99 people in 36 groups applying for the 30 spots they were drawing for. Alejandro and I were leaving the area Sunday night, so we'd only be able to accept spots on Saturday and Sunday. To make matters worse, a storm was forecast to come into the area on Saturday, making the roads likely impassable on Sunday. Our best chance would be Saturday.
The drawing is held with balls in a round cage. The cage is spun around and a ball comes out. They started the drawing for the spots on Saturday. The first number was called and it corresponded to a group of 3. Seven spots left. The second number was called and it was another group of 3. 4 spots left. Next they called number 15. I remember that one clearly as it was one away from mine and I took it as a sign that we were doomed. As it turned out, that person declined the spot (they were hoping for another day) and their ball was set aside for the Sunday drawing. Still 4 spots left. Next they called Number 14! Yay! I popped out of my seat to accept the spot. We were in. Another group of two got the last spots for Saturday. They then asked if everyone else wanted to stay in the drawing for Sunday and removed any balls that were for groups that were leaving. The completed the lottery for Sunday and Monday in same manner and the groups were set. One of the days (I forget which) had two spots open when they drew the number for a group of 3. They had to decide on the spot who to leave behind - so be aware of that if you go.
Once all the groups were set they did the orientation - including a lot of stern warnings about how bad the road gets when wet and the dangers of hiking in back country. They successfully made me nervous, but the hike really isn't that bad. There is a pretty well worn trail for the first portion and the landmarks are easy to follow for the rest.
@Johnny Chien asked about my lottery experience, so I figured I'd include another picture with it. Details below the picture...
The lottery for the wave is only held on weekdays during the winter, so Friday's drawing covers entries on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday - three times as many chances to win as on other days. We arrived in Kanab on Thursday night so we'd be able to be in the BLM office for that Friday drawing. For those who don't know, only 20 people are allowed into the wave each day. Ten spots are assigned via the online lottery and the other ten spots are assigned during the walk-in lottery (this is the path we were taking).
We arrived at the BLM office a little before 8:30. There were several groups of people milling around. Just after 8:30 a gentleman came out and started the proceedings. Group leaders were invited into the lottery room to fill out their forms. They made it really clear (which I already knew) that it is unacceptable for multiple people in a party to fill out separate forms to increase their chances. You are required to list all members of your party on your form, and they did cross-check them to make sure people didn't show up twice. This delayed the actual drawing, as there were a bunch of Chinese groups with very similar names and the staff questioned them intently to make sure nobody showed up twice. Groups can contain up to six people.
Once all the forms were in, the staff did their name checks and assigned a number to each one. They then read back the name of the group leader with the number they were assigned. I was number 14. Overall we had 99 people in 36 groups applying for the 30 spots they were drawing for. Alejandro and I were leaving the area Sunday night, so we'd only be able to accept spots on Saturday and Sunday. To make matters worse, a storm was forecast to come into the area on Saturday, making the roads likely impassable on Sunday. Our best chance would be Saturday.
The drawing is held with balls in a round cage. The cage is spun around and a ball comes out. They started the drawing for the spots on Saturday. The first number was called and it corresponded to a group of 3. Seven spots left. The second number was called and it was another group of 3. 4 spots left. Next they called number 15. I remember that one clearly as it was one away from mine and I took it as a sign that we were doomed. As it turned out, that person declined the spot (they were hoping for another day) and their ball was set aside for the Sunday drawing. Still 4 spots left. Next they called Number 14! Yay! I popped out of my seat to accept the spot. We were in. Another group of two got the last spots for Saturday. They then asked if everyone else wanted to stay in the drawing for Sunday and removed any balls that were for groups that were leaving. The completed the lottery for Sunday and Monday in same manner and the groups were set. One of the days (I forget which) had two spots open when they drew the number for a group of 3. They had to decide on the spot who to leave behind - so be aware of that if you go.
Once all the groups were set they did the orientation - including a lot of stern warnings about how bad the road gets when wet and the dangers of hiking in back country. They successfully made me nervous, but the hike really isn't that bad. There is a pretty well worn trail for the first portion and the landmarks are easy to follow for the rest.
