Tag: Utah Landscape

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.

Puppy Head Hoodoo

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.

Flatheads
Ghost Rocks

“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.

White Rocks Hoodoo

The generic name for this area is “White Rocks”, for the mostly white rocks in this desert canyon.

Desert Dancer

Wind whipping the blades of this desert grass around leaves circles in the sand around its base.

White Rock Hoodoos, Fat Man and Little Boy
Rim View

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

 

 

Wire Pass and Buckskin Gulch – Part 2

This is a continuation of posts on hiking and photographing in Wire Pass and Buckskin Gulch slot canyons in Southern Utah in March of 2025.

Mind the Step

Rocks in the path through Wire Pass can be hazardous to a careless hiker.

Mind the Step 2
The Bend Ahead

Water flowing through this narrow chasm over many years have cut through massive sandstone rock formations, revealing the multiple layers in the rock walls and cutting impressive contour features into those rocks.

Mind the Step 3
The Bend Ahead 2

Footprints of previous hikers cover the sandy path.

The Alcove

Wire Pass slot ends at a wide opening at its confluence with Buckskin Gulch. The Alcove is a massive feature carved into the rock wall near this junction.

Stay tuned for a brief hike into Buckskin Gulch,

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.

Wire Pass Slot Canyon Entry
The First Obstacle

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.

Wedged Tree Trunk

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 1

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.

Wire Pass 2
Wire Pass 3
Wire Pass 4

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.

The Nautilus

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].

The Nautilus, Lower End
The Nautilus, Looking down the lower slope

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.

The Nautilus, Lower Wall Details
The Nautilus, View Through

Hugging the wall on the left, it is possible to get a view through to the other side of this twisted rock crevice.

The Nautilus, View from the top side
Island

‘Island’ is a small scene along the dry wash hike to The Nautilus.

Ancients

‘Ancients’ is another image made along the hike to The Nautilus.

Companions

‘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