The Reason We Should All Wear Hats: Hoodoos

Scott Chandler

Wildness is a necessity- John Muir
Joined
Jan 4, 2014
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03/22/15

This Sunday morn saw me taking the drive out towards Page. I always forget how long that drive is. My intention was to check out the odd hoodoos of the Paria rim.

I first followed a set of Kelsey directions...to a closed road. "Administrative Use Only." Sighs and low volume curses uttered, I changed course over to the rim above a set of "toadstool" hoodoos. Getting down to the toadstools was a bit of a task, leaving me wondering if I finally dropped down that drop that I wouldn't be able to get back up, but hey, I was able to walk around some pretty sweet rocks at least.

The rim view, looking over the Paria River drainage. Toadstools visible lower left.
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Getting to the toadstools
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The largest of the toadstools, with a cap rock 20-30ft across.
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A giant snail. It even has eyes!
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Luckily, I was able to find my way around to the path I took down without having to tackle the slickrock drops I had gone down. Once I hit the rim I was quickly back to my car driving to Big Water and the Wahweep Hoodoo TH.

Thinking I would be hiking to these hoodoos from the top, I had no idea how far I would be walking from the trailhead. I put aside that nag by thinking about hoodoos. Quite amazing natural wonders they are. Its hard to believe that a simple rock can stop water from eroding the softer rock under it and create awesome towers. If we stood outside 24/7, would a simple hat do similar for us? Do hats help us weather the weather better than not wearing hats?

Those thoughts only entertained me for about half the hike up... I was certainly happy when the canyon's walls magically changed into a composition perfect for melting in the rain and a 40-50 ft tower appeared.
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Knowing more had to exist, I kept following the wash.
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I saw more hoodoos hugging the cliff but a huge thicket of tamarisk separated me from it. Seeing a weakness in the foliage I plunged in...and quickly regretted that. When I found the other side I wuickly saw that if I had just stayed in the wash a little longer I would have passed the thicket for an easy alluvial walk. Oh well, more hoodoos awaited!

Another snail
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There was quite a collection of hoodoos packed into the alcove
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And yet still the hoodoo that I always see pictures of was yet to appear. The hoodoos sure seemed concentrated right here...and there wasn't much canyon left to walk up...but up further I went. Sure enough, right around the next canyon bend was a collection of flowstone hoodoos. So bizarre! Its like The Badlands meets Bryce Canyon. How?! Geology is so cool.
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Satisfied, I headed back down the canyon. It sure seemed to go quicker, even though according to my watch it didn't. I must have zoned out thinking more about natural hats.

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very nice. i think this is one of my favorite reports in a while, so thanks.
 
Haven't made it there yet, always wanted to.
Nice pics....
 
how many miles was the hike into the waweap hoodoos (the main spot) last I went it was 2 miles round trip but I understand access has been blocked and it is a considerably longer hike?
 
how many miles was the hike into the waweap hoodoos (the main spot)

I'd vote 3-4 miles one way. I base that on an hour and a half-ish hike. Maybe it would be shorter as the bird flies but I followed the washbed for the most part which was fairly windy.
 
The Wahweep or Wahweep Hoodoo TH. It's not very well marked from Highway 89 if I remember right but following the one road that goes north out of Big Water gets you there.
 
Nice pictures!
That's a beautiful area.
@Seldom Seen Anderson you can hike from Big Water too. It's a approx 11 mi out and back.


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