Hiking the Wahweap Hoodoos

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a huge 1.9 million acre park in south central Utah, full of scenic wonders and surprises. One of my favorite subjects to photograph is the scattering of hoodoo formations that are found here and there on cliff edges and slopes. Hoodoos are formed when a harder, more resistant layer of rock protects a softer layer underneath. As erosion from water, freezing, thawing, and wind all work their magic, the rock layers are exposed and form into towers of rock ranging from a few inches to tens of feet. One of the best places to see these hoodoos is along Wahweap Creek near the small town of Big Water. The word Wahweap means “bitter water” in Paiute. The hoodoos here have been named “white hoodoos”, “white ghosts”, and “towers of silence”. The round-trip distance is about 9 miles. There really is no trail here, just a long trudge up a mostly dry creek bed. The hike starts near the confluence of Coyote Creek...

@Steve Ancik shares this introduction to Utah's Wahweap Hoodoos, with a plethora of amazing scenery along the way. Take a look at the article below in Issue 39:

Towering Beauty: The Wahweap Hoodoos

Issue 39 Page 1

[Steve Ancik]

I forgot to include: The Author: Steve Ancik is a landscape architect by profession whose hobbies include mountain biking, photography, hiking, and backpacking. He lives in Edmond, Oklahoma. You can see more of his photographs at http://www.lightwavesimages.com/