Friday, May 14, 2010

Hiking the Nautilus, Utah

Later that afternoon, still being in the adventuresome mood, we followed up on a tip to find a feature called the "Nautilus". This one was out ona wash near the "White House Road". We were told to look for the giant oyster shell. I'm not convinced it looked like an oyster, but it was close enough to get us there.

As we walked along the wash beside the "Oyster Shell" there it was. An eroded cut in the sandstone about 6 feet wide and reaching all the way to the top of the Dune. A petrified, fossilized Dune is, after all, whatthe "Oyster Shell" actually is.
It was quite a interesting little slot canyon that spiraled through the dune, and you could scramble up the rough sandstone surface quite easily.
I wanted to name it the "Toilet Bowl"

 

Once again the Utah desert serves up a fascinating little treat.

NEXT:We hike to the "Fins" behind our campsite. That will be our last hike in Utah before we beat feet west to the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.

4 comments:

  1. Can you give more information on how to locate this wonder? We are travelling on october and your site is the only place i can get any information when i google the nautilus. awesome photos by the way. i love your site!

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  2. The best way to find the Nautilus is to ask at the BLM's Paria Contact Station on Route 89 between Kanab, UT and Page, AZ. If you post a comment on our new blog site "outindewoods.wordpress.com" I will get your email address and send you more specific info about the Nautilus and other hikes in that area. Your email address will not be published and if you ask I will leave the comment unpublished.
    Ted

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  3. The Nautilus has collapsed. Confirmed to me today by BLM in Kanab! It happened about three weeks ago.

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  4. I will go there on the 20th of this month and take some photographs of it's present state.

    ReplyDelete

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