A spectacular view into the upper section of Mud Creek Canyon. 

A few years ago I posted an article on the hoodoos hidden away in Mount Shasta’s Mud Creek Canyon. The canyon is the largest on Mount Shasta and one of the most spectacular landmarks in California’s North State. For all of its grandeur, it remains a largely unappreciated destination, in significant part because there is no trail access. Only the Clear Creek Trail offers glimpses into the staggering chasm. These views, while magnificent, are focused on the lower part of the canyon and the upper section is obscured. It is in this isolated upper canyon that the hoodoos are sequestered. The hoodoos, tall pillars of volcanic rock and compressed ash, are some of the more fascinating and unusual formations on Mount Shasta, made all the more so by their anonymity and inaccessibility.

I recently revisited the rim of Mud Creek Canyon, one of my favorite spots on the mountain. Here, beneath the tall spires of Sargents Ridge, the Konwakiton Glacier and the gaping maw of the massive canyon, one gets an unusual sense of the wildness of Mount Shasta, as land itself is still in upheaval. Great cataclysm created this landscape and cataclysm continues to shape terrain. The glacial outburst from the Konwakiton Glacier in 2014 sent huge amounts of debris roiling down the canyon all the way into the McCloud Flats. However, it is the deep cut into the mountain, a fissure nearly 1,500 feet deep, that is the most volatile. While there is a significant amount of bedrock within Mount Shasta, much of the volcano is composed of loose rock, cinders and ash, the result of numerous eruptions. Mud Creek, which flows from the glacier, has succeeded in carving deeply into the flanks of the mountain, exposing the eruptive layers and more loose debris that demands to be settled. Consequently, the slopes of the canyon still seek their angle of repose. The hoodoos are redoubts that have, to some degree, resisted the erosion that has undermined the canyon walls.

The first time I came to the canyon rim and spied the hoodoos, I was shocked to discover their existence. These were a completely unappreciated but incredible feature on the mountain. I reckoned the towers measured 100-150 feet high, impressive monuments to the mountain’s violent past. A few of the hoodoos were impressive enough to warrant naming at that time. A pair of particularly prominent spires boasted balanced rocks. Through a bit of convoluted logic, I dubbed these Thor’s Twins (see my first post on hoodoos for the reasoning). Another nearby formation seemed to be a cluster of towers and these I named the Valkyries.

On this latest trip to Mud Creek Canyon, I was surprised to notice that the landscape had been altered considerably. The balanced rocks on the Thor’s Twins had been toppled. Meanwhile, the somewhat nondescript tips of the Valkyries had eroded into small balanced rocks of their own. Obviously there had been a significant amount of tumult in the earth since I had last visited.

Be sure to enlarge these images to see the detail. The changes in the rocks and conditions of the canyon is amazing!

While I was dismayed to see the loss of the balanced rocks atop the Twins, I was happy to see the evolution of the Valkyries. However, the most astounding change to the landscape was atop a tower that had previously lacked any distinction. Where a loose pile of rock had rested atop the tower when I last photographed it, I was now excited to observe a fabulously balanced rock now appeared. I reckon the rock is nearly 15 feet across and it sits tenuously atop a narrow stem of tufa (I am guessing as to the composition). It immediately reminded me of Camel Rock in New Mexico. I thus christened this new formation Camel Rock, in honor of the one in the Land of Enchantment.

While gazing out over the canyon and observing the changing conditions of the hoodoos, I was struck by how active the mountain had been. When I last photographed this part of the canyon, much of the slopes were blanketed in scree, creating a smooth texture from afar. Now the the slopes are littered with massive boulders and exposed strata. It is obvious that things have been shaking loose in dramatic fashion.

Below is one illustration of this change in condition. Note the increase of large boulders on the slopes and the exposed strata. In particular, observe the yellow tower in the first image. In the current image the tower is gone. Just below it in the earlier image a large boulder just pokes out from the scree. In the current image much more of the boulder has been exposed. I have no idea what kind of event precipitated the collapse of the tower, the exposure of the volcanic strata and the inundation of the slopes with huge rocks. Obviously something significant has taken place.

The forces at work get even more mysterious one looking at specific rocks. Some of the boulders, which can generally be described as “car-sized”, have been blown apart by a powerful force. Despite the rocks being obliterated, their precarious situation on the loose slopes does not seem to have significantly altered. The only force I can think that would work on rocks in this fashion is frost fracturing. However, this process would likely take longer than the interval at which I captured images of the hoodoos. Here is an example:

The rock seems to have been split in half. Oddly enough the rocks around the split boulder do not exhibit evidence of an event that wrought destruction of the whole area. The damage is quite localized. The clues of what forces at work are tantalizing but the true story of what has been happening in Mud Creek Canyon remains something of a mystery.

It seems obvious now that the hoodoos of Mud Creek Canyon are part of a landscape that is in constant flux. As awesome as Camel Rock it, it will eventually collapse, probably sooner rather than later. It is humbling to think that such an amazing formation could have formed and died and no one would have ever been blessed to have marveled at its beauty and mystery. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to preserve the rock’s existence in some fashion. Even more humbling is to know how powerful the forces at work on and within Mount Shasta are. This is the revelation of something mighty, something bigger than Mount Shasta. May it be that we recognize it.

Downstream from hoodoo canyon, Mud Creek Canyon widens significantly.

Nowhere in the world are there more or finer hoodoos than Bryce Canyon in Utah.

Bizarrely twisted and thrusting prominently upward, hoodoos are among the most fascinating features found in the western United States. While these curious formations occur throughout the world, the West has an extremely high and diverse concentration of them. They are found across the High Plains, from North Dakota (from Canada, actually) all the way down to the Llano Estacado in Texas. They also appear frequently higher in the mountains, especially in the southern Rocky Mountains. The diversity of hoodoos around the west is astounding. Their varied compositions include sedimentary layers, sandstone, limestone and volcanic materials like rhyolite and tuff. The disparate formations means that hoodoos yield a remarkable visual feast to enjoy.

The hoodoos of the Chiricahua Mountains

What exactly is a hoodoo? These unusual natural structures are rocky towers, typically consisting of various strata composed of softer materials capped by a harder rock. This arrangement sometimes makes hoodoos look like balanced rocks. Other times the hoodoos appear as slender, striated and weathered pinnacles. The forces that shape these strange pillars usually involve a combination of wind erosion, rain erosion and the freezing expansion of water. The softer materials that compose many hoodoos expedite the erosion of the area beneath the dense cap stone. The resulting towers are among some of the most unusual, spectacular and beautiful landscapes.

Hoodoos in the midst of badlands in the Cathedral Gorge

Western North America has an unusually high occurrence of hoodoos, some of which are iconic sites. Though by no means the sole factor, the west’s defining trait of aridity is certainly one of the reasons for this. The most magnificent and famous is Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. More hoodoos occur here than anywhere else in the world. The vast array of orange and pink pillars is as awesome as it is unforgettable. Less well known but nearly as impressive are the rhyolite hoodoos of the Chiricahua Mountains in Arizona. Despite the perception that they are oppressively flat, the High Plains have an extensive collection of hoodoos stretching from Alberta all the way down to Texas. Areas where badlands are prominent also tend to have numerous hoodoos. The erosion of the poor soils that make up badlands is a natural environment for hoodoo formation. Volcanic areas, where layers of ash have been built up and then covered by denser rocks, also boast numerous odd hoodoos.

A Hoodoo Gallery (click to enlarge)

All of this leads to the compelling presence of hoodoos on Mount Shasta. While there are a few small occurrences of these strange formations on the mountain, none are as awesome as the giant spires that thrust upward from the hellish scree fields of upper Mud Creek Canyon. Hidden away in a rarely observed corner of Mount Shasta, these hoodoos are unnamed, unloved, and completely unappreciated. Nonetheless, they are among the most impressive hoodoos to be found anywhere. Due to their remote location, access to them is limited. It is nearly impossible to actually reach the hoodoos due to the depth of the canyon and the loose decries that forms the canyon wall. The best place to observe these dramatic towers is from the west rim of the canyon. Even from this distance, the hoodoos are impressively large.

Hoodoos line the side of Mud Creek Canyon.

There are over a dozen large hoodoos that can be seen defiantly jutting upward out of the canyon wall. However, there are three particularly noteworthy hoodoos. The most impressive are a pair of soaring towers that must be over a couple hundred feet high. These are considerably higher than most hoodoos but considering the great depth of the canyon this seems like an accurate gauging of their dimensions. Both pinnacles are composed of compressed layers of ash and tuff (this is a guess, but seems logical based on Mount Shasta’s composition and the visual similarity to other volcanic hoodoos) capped by large boulders balanced on the top. The first time I saw them, I was instantly reminded of Bryce Canyon’s most famous hoodoo, Thor’s Hammer. Based on this similarity, I dubbed them Thor’s Twins (the name obviously comes from the fictitious undersea landmarks off the coast of Iceland in The Hunt For Red October). The other particularly noteworthy hoodoo in Mud Creek Canyon is a cluster of nearly symmetrical towers located just below the lower hoodoo of Thor’s Twins. Though some of these hoodoos have balanced rocks on their summits, they are considerably smaller than the rocks on the twins. Nonetheless, the odd arrangement and immense size makes these unusual and beautiful hoodoos. In keeping with the Norse theme of Thor’s Twins, I dubbed this cluster of hoodoos the Valkyries.

Click to enlarge:

Mount Shasta has many hidden secrets and awesome places that are as anonymous as they are unappreciated. One never knows what new gem may be uncovered. This is one of the things that make exploring the mountain so exciting. With all of the glaciers, waterfalls, canyons, springs and numerous other features, it was thrilling (though it should not have been surprising given that it IS a volcano) to discover some massive hoodoos sequestered in one of the least traveled and most majestic parts of was very gratifying. I hope others are able to find their way to the rim of Mud Creek Canyon and observe the towering hoodoos.