Hoodoos of Escalante

Sun, Oct 9, 2016

One of the interesting features of Grand Staircase – Escalante Nat’l Monument are the hoodoos in Devil’s Garden.

How are hoodoos formed?  Here, let me plagiarize from Wikipedia.

Hoodoos typically form in areas where a thick layer of a relatively soft rock, such as mudstone, poorly cemented sandstone or tuff (consolidated volcanic ash), is covered by a thin layer of hard rock, such as well-cemented sandstone, limestone or basalt. Over time, cracks in the resistant layer allow the much softer rock beneath to be eroded and washed away. Hoodoos form where a small cap of the resistant layer remains, and protects a cone of the underlying softer layer from erosion.

Here are the four famous hoodoos in Devil’s Garden.  Don’t they look like Hobbits?  Or perhaps some Brits heading to the pub (the fourth guy has already lost his way).

The area is full of hoodoos but they don’t always resemble beings.