This is a continuation of multiple shoots in an area of Southern Utah known as ‘White Rocks’.
This first image on the Flickr Explore page.
To be continued,
Ken
Southern Utah March 2025 – White Rocks – Part 8
Tag: Desert
Southern Utah March 2025 – White Rocks – Part 7
We returned to the area refered to as White Rocks in Southern Utah for an early morning shoot. I switched from the Nikon D850 and 24-70mm lens to the Nikon Z8 and Nikon Z14-24mm for this shoot.
To be continued,
Ken
Southern Utah March 2025 – White Rocks – Part 6
This is the final part for the first afternoon visit to White Rocks in Southern Utah in March 2025.
Late day sunlight reflects off of the bodies of these hoodoos and illuminates the underside of the flat tops, which would otherwise by in shadow.
I’ve made up names for these hoodoos, which seem fitting to me, but others might think of other names they like better.
After climbing out of the White Rocks canyon, which was already nearly all in shadow, I paused to capture a few shots over the canyon and the landscape around the canyon. The sun was low in the sky, not quite golden hour, but the lighting was good. We still had to hike back to our vehicle and make a slow drive out of this area, which is best done in daylight, so we never quite waited for sunset.
This wraps up this late day shoot in White Rocks.
Until next time and thanks for following,
Ken
Southern Utah March 2025 – White Rocks – Part 5
More photography in an area known as White Rocks in Southern Utah.
This group of hoodoos seem to be looking about for the fallen head of the headless stump in the background.
There are many of these “Flat Top” hoodoos in this area and many headless ones as those flat tops eventually fall off.
The square shape of the head on this hoodoo looks as if it could have been purposely shaped. Getting this image with that georgeous sky behind it was a bonus.
Maybe those rocks in the foreground are from previous hoodoos here?
The creases and lines in these rocks remind me of baked rolls.
As the various layers of rock erode and collapse from a wall here, interesting textural features are created with lines, shapes and fractures.
The sunlight disappears well before sunset over most of this erroded valley, limiting the opportunity for golden hour light.
Shooting from “behind” these hoodoos, looking down and over the valley of their dominion, seeing that valuey as they see it.
Thanks for following and stay tuned for more White Rocks photography,
Ken
Southern Utah March 2025 – White Rocks – Part 4
More photos from Southern Utah, March 2025.
If one looks very closely, for a sense of scale, there is a photographer in the upper left of this image.
Thanks for following and stay tuned for more Utah landscape photographs,
Ken
Southern Utah March 2025 – White Rocks – Part 3
This post is a continuation of photography in Southern Utah in March 2025.
What’s on the agenda for today’s meeting? Maybe the weather, since that is critical to the formation of these rock features and for their survival.
Stay tuned for more Rocking the Rocks in Southern Utah,
Ken
Southern Utah March 2025 – White Rocks – Part 2
This post is a continuation of photography in an area of Southern Utah that is commonly referred to as “White Rocks”. There are many interesting rock features in this area.
I have to admit to cheating a little in the editing of this first image. In the original image there was a big rock where the two in the foreground are now. I found that single, large rock distracting, so I used Lightroom’s AI tool to break that rock into smaller rocks. This tool is often used to remove objects, but it can also modify objects. the tool creates three choices from which to choose at each activation and one can repeat the activation, if none of the choices are desirable. I could have completely removed that big rock, but that did not seem appropriate, so I chose this broken rock alternative, which I think fits better with the other rocks in the “Broken Circle”. Â Some will object to this blatant modification of a landscape, but I’ve finally gotten to the point of seeing such photography as much as art as in faithfully copying what nature provides. So I’m ok with modifications, within reasonable limits and we have to use our own judgment as to what is “reasonable”.
Geologist refer to these rock features as “hoodoos” or “toadstools”. To me the rock atop the pedestal in the foreground here looks like a toad. So Maybe this is a “Toad’s Stool”.
I titled this “Parent and Child”, but I can also see it as a dog with its tail sticking up. Some people’s pareiodlia may see it otherwise, but in the end it is another of natures marvelous creations, no matter how we perceive it.
This hoodoo, supported by many rock layers, seems to be looking down into the valley at those which lie below its lofty perch.
I made this second image of “Parent and Child” a few minutes after the first, composing from a different angle. Within those few minutes, the sky in the background had changed significantly due to the windy conditions, illustrating how a minor change in view point and changing environmently conditions can affect a photograph.
Just a pair of stylish, cartoon like hoodoos in Southern Utah.
A close up of the hoodoo with the pink bonnet in the previous image and a conversion to monochrome, give a completly different interpretation to this scene.
Getting into a position to make this image was not easy. Steep slopes with gravel size rock chips and thin layers of sand over the hard rock surface and other obstacles, made moving around treacherous and positioning awkward.
These hoodoos are the same one presented in individual photos. Grouping these into one shot, I’m imagining a father, child and mother in these rock shapes, all peering down into the valley below.
Another group of hoodoos that look like a family unit. Dad in the background, mom on the right, casting a sideways look at the child in a curious manner.
That’s it for now. Stay tuned for more Southern Utah landscapes,
Ken
Southern Utah March 2025 – White Rocks – Part 1
I met my son at White House Trail Head and Campground in Southern Utah to spend a few days hiking and photographing in the area in mid-March 2025. We had previously spent some time in this area in 2009. So we knew a little about the area and had some ideas about where to go and what to see, but we wanted to avoid some of the most popular areas, which tend to be the ones most easily accessible and are, consequently, crowded.
Yet, we did spend a fair amount of time driving around and hiking to check out some possibilities. We also had one really windy day that curtailed all but some driving exploration in the area.
We ended up going to one particular area a number of times at various times of the day. This area is not awfully difficult to get to, but it does involve a fairly long drive on gravel and dirt roads, with a long portion on a rugged, 4 wheel drive road, which probably keeps out many casual visitors, followed by a sandy hike. One has to know where this site is, otherwise it is not obvious from any roadway. We saw evidence of other recent visitors, but never saw anyone else during any of our vists here.
For those that are not familiar with the term, “Hoodoo” is used as a description of a pinacle of weathered rock, usually with curious shapes. My pareidolia causes me to see creatures is some of these rock features, so I will often name these hoodoos for what I perceive.
“Ghost Rocks” is an accidental multiple exposure, due to my forgetting to reset my camera menu from an earlier multiple exposure shoot; but I like it. Maybe I should have made more such multiple exposures here.
The generic name for this area is “White Rocks”, for the mostly white rocks in this desert canyon.
Wind whipping the blades of this desert grass around leaves circles in the sand around its base.
I called this area with the many hoodoos a “canyon”, but I’m not sure that is the best term. It is more like an area eroded down into a large flat plain, where the harder rock remains as pinacles with rock caps of various colors and sizes. “Rim View” is a late day shot from the flat plain above the eroded out area.
More Utah rock features later,
Ken
Southern Utah March 2025 – Wire Pass and Buckskin Gulch, Part 1
Wire Pass is a narrow slot canyon, about 3/4 mile long that feeds into Buckskin Gulch, reportedly the longest slot canyon in the world. The trailhead for Wire Pass is about a 45 minutes drive, if the road conditions are good, from White House Campground.
This is a fee area, requiring a small fee for day use. The first time we came here in 2009, the parking lot was small. This area is much better known and much more visited now than it was back then. Now the parking lot is much larger and fenced with a metal bar/pipe type fence. This parking lot is also for the trailhead to The Wave, which requires a permit for access. Permits for The Wave are awarded via a lottery. I have registered for this lottery numerous times, in person and online, over the years, including for this trip, and I’ve never been successful at obtaining a permit.
For photography, the best time to be in the canyon is around mid-morning to maybe mid afternoon. So we did not need to get here super early, but we did want to beat the crowds, so we arrived in time to hike the mile in the sandy creek bed to the entry to the slot by mid-morning. There were already quite a few folks out, but not a big crowd.
It was a cold, but sunny morning. There had been snow fall the previous day, but the dirt road, going south from highway 89 was in fair condition. This road is impassable when it is really wet.
Just into the entry point, the first obstacle, a twisted, broken tree trunk spans across the slot, requiring either crawling underneath or climbing over. I went under one part and over the other. I don’t remember in which order.
This wedged in tree trunk was high enough on the wall to walk beneath and is an indication of why one does not want to go into such a canyon, when there is a chance of a flash flood.
Wire Pass is a typical slot canyon with varying widths through which to pass, but is never extremely narrow. But it is narrow enough that folks have to stand aside to allow others to pass.
Many years of flash flooding have eroded the walls into nicely contoured features and shapes. Light, which varies through out the daylight hours, from the top of the canyon provides varying color to the rock walls.
To be continued,
Ken
Southern Utah March 2025 – The Nautilus
We were informed about a rock feature not far from our White House Campground by another visitor. So one afternoon we hiked to that feature from our campsite.
The hike was fairly short and relatively easy, requiring about 2/10 – 3/10 of a mile hike on the road into the campground, then another 1/4 mile or so in a sandy, dry creek bed.
This rock feature is called The Nautilus, due to its twisting opening through a rock. That slope at the base of the hiker is much steeper than it looks in this image and the loose sand in it makes it a bit treacherous to walk up. Then there is another climb out on the other side that is not as steep. [This first image was chosen for Flickr’s Explore Page].
This image gives a better indication of the narrowness of the lower section. Climbing up the narrow channel and making the sharp turn can be a little tricky with the slippery sand on the rock. At least this is true for adults. Small kids can easily and quickly navigate the slope and turn. It is easier and safer for us old kids to go around to the top, rather than going through the crevice; but I went through, anyway. I’m told by others that small kids like to slide down through this feature. Old kids might accidentally slide down and through, if they are not careful.
Hugging the wall on the left, it is possible to get a view through to the other side of this twisted rock crevice.
‘Island’ is a small scene along the dry wash hike to The Nautilus.
‘Ancients’ is another image made along the hike to The Nautilus.
‘Companions’ is an iPhone image of rock features in the walk in tent camping area of White House Campground.
This is the end of this short adventure. Stay tuned for more Utah rocks and landscapes.
Ken