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VERMILION CLIFFS NATIONAL MONUMENT, Ariz. — Small wooden balls click rapidly in a whirling bingo basket, as 78 hikers wait to see if their numbers will roll out to win one of 10 permits to visit a rock formation known as The Wave. Some had been contemplating the hike for years. Only 20 people are allowed to visit The Wave each day, with 10 chosen in an online lottery four months in advance and the other 10 picked in this daily 9 a.m. lottery. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management limits access to protect The Wave's delicate red sandstone formation and to prevent overcrowding at the designated wilderness site. Fortunately or unfortunately, The Wave has kind of caught on as a fun hike, Kathy Spellman, a visitor information assistant with the BLM, explained to the room of hopeful hikers in May, where cheers went up as the numbers were announced. The hike out is very nice, she said. "It's 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) round-trip, so it's not too long, not too short. You can go in there and it's not a marked trail. The trees don't have names on them. There are not little rocks along the edges of the trail, so you can feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. The Wave's dramatically flowing contours in bright orange, red, pink and yellow, are a prized image among landscape photographers, who can be seen lugging tripods across the desert wilderness. The fiery swirls have been emblazoned on postcards, posters, maps and computer screensavers. It's just become such a ubiquitous, iconic photo, said Kevin Wright, monument manager of Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, where The Wave is located in the Arizona backcountry near the Utah border. Among "people that love the outdoors and have these bucket lists, I think it's become something to check off their list. About a third of visitors are from other countries, particularly Germany, with an upswing from Japan and China in recent years, according to Wright.READ MORE...http://www.masslive.com