The tall, white formations, called the “Towers of Silence” are located about five miles up Wahweap Wash, above the small town called Big Water, Utah, fifteen miles north of Page, Arizona, on Utah Highway 89. This is the spot where all the concrete was mixed for the Glen Canyon Dam, back in the 1950s. Today, their main industry is houseboat storage for Lake Powell boaters. A BLM Visitor Center is directly across the highway from the main street into Big Water.
Walking up Wahweap Wash is the most direct route to the towers. From Highway 89, drive north at the BLM Visitors’ Center and through the center of Big Water. Continue north onto the dirt road beyond the intersection of Smoky Mountain Road (that goes east). Follow the dirt road, which veers northwest. You will drive past a long row of man-made fish farm ponds and a single house sitting on a rise overlooking the ponds. When you come to the corral, turn left heading west. As you reach the wash, don’t drive across if the stream is flowing. Park and walk with your gear up the west side of the wash. If the wash is dry, drive up the center of the wash. At the barbed wire fence, about a half-mile north, pull out of the wash and park on the high spot on the left. Walk alongside the flowing wash or up the center of the dry wash for 4.7 miles. The Towers are on the west side of the wash. The tallest fluted column has a black cap rock. You can see it in the distance as you approach. This journey is best made in the early morning for the best light on the towers and maybe a good sunrise. There are very few footprints around these formations. The off-white, fluted silt-stone columns that support black cap rocks are fragile. It is very important that visitors to this delicate area do not walk or climb on the formations or damage them in any way. A tripod leg can punch a hole in the brittle material. Once damaged, the formations can never be restored. Avoid harming the area and it may never be fenced off and “protected” from the public. West of Gainesville, on the Gulf Coast, I headed south at Cross City, Florida, onto County Road 351 for eighteen miles to the small gulf-side community of Horseshoe Beach. The road through the town continues past the last house, crosses a small bridge, and loops around to return to the pavement. I parked near the bridge and photographed royal terns on poles standing in the surf. All the birds were facing out to sea, into the strong wind. Suspicious of me, the terns continuously turned their heads, giving me some better portraits. I had lunch at a small restaurant and watched a storm move toward the coast.
This trip took me along the Florida Gulf Coast in Issue #78 of Photograph America Newsletter. The Oregon Coast is easy to explore. Highway 101 follows the shoreline most of the way. Make this trip from north to south and you will find the drive much easier. Fly into Portland, drive down the coast and then return to Portland up the Interstate. If you are driving up from California, drive both north and south on the coast. You may prefer to drive north on Highway 97, east of the Cascade Range, with a stop at Crater Lake along the way. Make a stop at the Columbia River Gorge to photograph the waterfalls, then head west into Portland, out to the coast, and then south for at least a one-week drive down the coast.
Driving north along this coast makes it more difficult to see the ocean, and you’ll always be turning left, into oncoming traffic. Quick decisions to stop and check out something you spot on the beach will be much safer if you are already heading in a southerly direction. Compare the pros and cons of renting a motor home to staying in motels and eating in restaurants. Having a kitchen in the back of your motor home means that you can buy the fresh salmon, local clams, crabs, homemade blackberry pies and all the other goodies you’ll discover along your way. In the summer, you can pick wild blackberries along the back roads. After a long day of exploring, hiking, and photographing, you will want a good meal, a hot shower, and a comfortable bed. If you do your traveling in a motor home, you can be out there, ready for the sunrises, the sunsets, and the best light. With an RV, you can be even closer to the best photography. Oregon has some of the cleanest, best-planned campgrounds in the nation and most are located in the perfect places for photographers. Driving north from Albuquerque on Highway 550 or south from Bloomfield on Highway 550 (about 25 miles) watch for Route 57 located on the south side of the old and abandoned Blanco Trading Post on the west side of 550. This old building with a yellow sign was once a gas station. Route 57, one of three routes to the badlands of Ah-shi-sle-pah, starts just south of the Trading Post. A sign at the junction will let you know you have found Route #57 and a BLM sign spells out the name of your destination–Ah-shi-sle-pah. A paved road heads into the distance, toward the West. Do not attempt to drive this road if has rained less than a week ago. After 4 miles of broken pavement the road turns to dirt and you will sink into sticky red mud. If weather forecasts predict rain, avoid this road. The eighteen-mile dirt road becomes a muddy nightmare after a rain. Watch for potholes in the paved road. When the pavement ends, a rough dirt road continues along deep tire tracks that have dried into miles of dried ridges, it’s hard to follow these and avoid the potholes. The worst I encountered was two feet deep.
There are many junctions and side roads leading off route #57. DO NOT turn unto any side road with a 4-digit sign, like 2974. Continue following the most heavily-traveled road. Route 57 eventually passes through an opening in a barbed wire fence with a small sign marked Wilderness Study Area. A sign marks the parking area, on the north side of the road. From there it’s about a one-mile walk to the trailhead. The trail drops a few yards into a caldera. Head northeast to find the giant boot where Mr. Flat Rock appears to be wading the San Juan River in new boots. From a distance, some areas across the landscape appear to be dark gray. Up-close, these are areas covered with tiny bits of coal, about the size of a pea. Don’t set your gear on the hoodoos and don’t climb on them. Up-close, you will find many fascinating distractions, great subjects for a photographer. The small blocks scattered everywhere, about the size of a candy bar, are petrified wood, over a million-years old, all the same shade of light pinkish gray. Resist the urge to collect anything you find here or you will be haunted by them for the rest of your life. Your camera can preserve their memory. |
BlogNotes and images from Bob Hitchman. Archives
February 2025
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