I had to create some smaller thumbnails to display the photos of The Wave at Coyote Buttes that I took with my Sony Alpha 200.

The thumbnails link to the full resolution jpegs. So be aware that if you click through the photos are large.

The entrance to the wave, wide angle photograph:

In the mouth of the wave, looking at a pool of water from a recent desert rainfall. This same location is used as a Windows 7 default background:



Lying on the sand, taking a picture of the reflection of the pool:



Standing at the center of the wave looking North West:

Standing in the Wave and Looking North:



Standing east of the center of the Wave and looking west from the narrow slot:



In the slot at the wave facing East:



Another view of the entrance to the wave. This shot is facing south:



Standing to the South of the Wave, looking North West. The small size of the formation can be determined from this image:



Looking South East across a small desert pool that lies above the wave. This pool was teeming with tadpoles and freshwater fairy shrimp:

Looking South West from above The Wave at the strange patterns on the rocks. I climbed the cliff in the center of the photo to go and see Melody Arch and the Grotto:



The sun begins to come over the cliff behind me and the shallow pool of desert pond water:



Wider view of the pond:

Another look at the whole formation of the wave:

The Middle of the Wave can be seen here. The narrow slot is just to the center left of the photo. Parts of this are used as a default background for Mac OS X:



In the narrow slot, looking west:

The Grotto. A very seldom seen part of Coyote Buttes, it lies only a few hundred feet away, but high up a cliff. The sandstone has been eroded in a beautiful formation surrounding the area:

Similar to the Grotto, Melody Arch is on the cliff above the Wave, but few people ever venture to see it. You can see the arch and the window looking out of a cliff face across the desert:

The Window looking out across the desert inside Melody Arch. This window looks out of a sheer cliff that is 300 feet in height. The Tee pees formation can be seen in the distance through the window.

I hiked the Wave at Coyote Buttes a few months back – I got some amazing photos. Unfortunately, these are so large and at such a high resolution I can’t link them directly on my blog until I make some thumbnails.

To view the photos in their full sized glory look at the directory of photos here:

http://www.walford.ca/hiking/coyote_buttes/

After an important Apache update my blog asploded. (See Strongbad if you don’t know what Asploded means…)

I updated all the files and everything seems to be back in order again.

Here is a quicktime VR showing a 360 degree view standing out on a rocky point overlooking the South Rim of the Grand Canyon:

Here is a Quicktime VR panoramic 360 of the end of Sheep’s Head Canyon (near Antelope Canyon) by Page Arizona:

Here is a Quicktime 360 Panorama of the Valley of Fire State Park:

I drove back to North Carolina on the 14th of May, and on the morning of the 15th I went over to the NOC for more playboating lessons.

It turned out that the Tuckaseegee was not running, so Eternity Hole was not a go. However, the Ocoee was at very high levels!

In Hell Hole:

I had to pay a bit extra for a travel fee, as the Ocoee is some drive away from the NOC center. However, as the Ocoee was on my list of rivers to paddle, I paid it gladly!

I got lots of photos in Hell Hole with my SLR, but unfortunately, the rest of the river I have no photos for. Not even from the guiding companies that take photos along the river.

The day was hot, far too hot to wear my drysuit, but I wore it anyways. It turned out to be a good thing for the amount of time I spent upside down practicing playboating moves.

It was unfortunate that I had a very bad cough, and was sick throughout the paddle, thus I was also exhausted when trying the playboating moves.

The river was fantastic despite my condition, and I had a great day.

At the end of the day, when I got people to use my camera to take photos, a huge thunderstorm broke around us. At times it was deafening.

I had not fitted my seals on my drysuit tight enough, and a fair bit of water got in. However, the water was so warm, and it was such a warm day, I saw people paddling in just a PFD with not even a spraytop on!

On May 8th and 9th I took private whitewater playboating lessons from the NOC on the Tuckaseegee River in North Carolina. The lessons started with lake practice, which I was thankful for, as my instructor Andrew covered some edge control drills that I had not seen before.

Then we went to go paddle in the man made hole on the Tuckaseegee called “Eternity Hole”. It was made by students piling up rocks to divert the river and create an eddy. It is a prime example of how to build a man made feature.

Paddling into the hole. It is considerably smaller than Tarp and Play on the Puntledge, and that makes it perfect to practice the basics like cartwheels and front loops.

I spent a great deal of time practicing front loops. I did not get any, but I got close. Andrew was a fantastic instructor for this.

I kept setting up for a roll instead of keeping my paddle out in front of me – which, as you can see turned my kayak away from upstream…

And I practiced carwheeling. This photo is not one of me linking ends, but I did start getting linked ends by the end of the second day.

I had such a great time I am going back to paddle again on May 15th for another day of practice before I head back to Memphis to work on the client’s project.

I also managed to get a Palm Stikine Drysuit for a steal of a deal, and a new Sprayskirt, and the total price of both was under $800, so I won’t have to pay any duty!

As I wait for my Delica L400 to arrive, I can really appreciate this video:

Mind you, most of these are short wheel base Delicas – mine is a long wheel base so it won’t go offroad quite as well as these – but it will have more storage!

My 1995 Royal Exceed should be here in the middle of May. I thought it was going to be April, but getting JDM import vehicles can take some time.

The Royal Exceed is a Long Wheel base, so that means it has extra storage in the back (almost 2 feet). The drawback to this is that the back end sticks out further, and the wheels are further apart. This means that it drives a bit more like a bus – and is a bit harder to use offroad due to the distance between the wheels. It is still a great 4X4, but I will have to take into consideration that for the extra comfort and storage I am getting I am losing out on the more hardcore off road features. The van will still do quite well offroad however. Probably better than my 4Runner with the sagging rear leaf springs at any rate. Also, since I no longer do crazy offroad driving, a vehicle that is “good enough” to go offroad very well, should be good enough for my purposes. I like the idea of being able to carry my kayaks in the back without and problem, and the seats convert into a bed with ease, or, move out of the way for additional storage. It really is like a 4X4 Westfalia with a much stronger engine.

Some of the modifications I will have to make to it are:

- Install a stronger “bash plate” to protect the oil filter which is at risk on the Delica when going off road.
- Install a Bypass-Oil Filter to help keep soot out of the oil from the Diesel engine, and prolong the engine life. (I will probably use a Frantz Oil Filter)
- Install a Pyrometer/Boost/Temp Gauge to keep an eye on the turbo temps and boost pressure. I will also probably install an oil pressure gauge and WVO temp sensor as well.
- Additional Fuel tanks and WVO conversion – to allow the Delica to run on Waste Veggie Oil.
- Toyota Tacoma Aluminum Rims (modified) to enable 31″ tires to be placed on the van for better off road clearance on logging roads.
- An engine snorkel in the (unlikely) event of deep-water crossings, and extending the breathing tubes for the differentials higher up inside the body.
- A roof “basket” to carry extra gear or sea kayaks.
- A rear ladder to load gear on the roof (this may not be possible due to my rear light bar).
- Install a rear tow bar.
- Install a left looking camera and 7″ dual DIN stereo to be able to see better for passing.
- Install a rear camera for ease of reversing and parking due to the long length of the Delica.

The L400 Royal Exceed I am getting should have all of the following features:

- It is a right hand drive with an automatic transmission. (I prefer manual, but in this model of Delica the automatic is more suited to highway speeds, and the Royal Exceed is only available in an Automatic).
- It has ECS suspension, the suspension can automatically adjust to road conditions (but I will not be using the ECS shocks due to the prohibitive cost, instead I will just have beefier shocks installed).
- 2.8 Litre intercooled Turbo Diesel – capable of running on dual fuel Diesel/Waste Veggie oil with some modification.
- Full 2WD/AWD/4WD/4WDlo. Shift on the fly from 2WD/AWD at highway speeds. (Up to 100 km/h)
- A Crystalite roof with retractable sunshades. You can see the 4 individual moon roofs in the previous post’s pictures. The Crystal Lite roof gives 4 independently operated sun shades (or a master control for all by the driver) plus overhead climate controls for the passengers. This means that the passenger behind the driver has a separate set of controls to maintain the rear cabin temperature.
- Retracting sun roof above the driver. (This sunroof opens fully and partially unlike the passenger sunroofs).
- Full digital climate control. (Just set the temperature you wish to have in the cabin, and the system maintains that).
- A/C
- Heated front windshield to defrost the resting point for the windshield wipers
- Power door locks
- Central door locks
- Limited slip differential (9.5″) on the rear axle. Not as good as a locking rear diff, but still nothing to scoff at.
- Cloth trim and very good speakers, 10 speakers in all. (I will be adding my amp and sub woofer from my 4Runner).
- Thick shag carpeting floor
- Arms rests on all seats – plush fabric (No 1995 series has leather seats). Even the front driver and passenger seats have arm rests in the center, but not on the sides with the doors of course.
- Karaoke machine w/ satellite speakers (Yes, really, it has a Karaoke machine!)
- Heated front cloth seats (Hi/Lo heat on the front seats – great if you have to leave the heater off while the veggie oil tank warms up).
- Steering wheel air bag
- Mechanical mirror adjust – and automatic folding mirrors for better side clearance.
- Chrome bull bar/side steps
- Dual PIAA fog lights
- Sliding power curtains (The curtains in the back are entirely power operated by the driver, plus there are curtains to separate the driver cab from the rear cabin.).
- Gold tinted rear and side windows
- ABS Anti-locking brake system and disc brakes on all 4 wheels