Refreshed the permit website for months. 1 in 200 odds. The email hit my inbox at 7:23 AM: "Congratulations, you have been selected." The Wave isn't just Instagram-famous rock formations. It's what happens when you're one of 64 people allowed into 112,000 acres of desert. No trails. No signs. Just GPS coordinates and silence so complete it feels alien. I spent four hours there. Saw three other people. The rock looks like frozen ocean waves, carved by wind over 190 million years. But honestly? The best part wasn't the geology. It was sitting in that amphitheater of stone, realizing I'd won something that can't be bought, rushed, or guaranteed. Just pure, dumb luck meeting preparation. #Travel #PermitLottery #SoloHiking