A moment of silence for the Teapot........

The Teapot from Fantasy Canyon now lies in its final resting place, arm broken off, face down below the pedestal atop which it sat for as long we can imagine. This is no hoax, no April fools. I just left Fantasy merely an hour ago. As i walked around the small drainage and turned the corner that leads to the Teapot, my heart literally skipped a beat when i looked up and it wasn't there. I have no proof as of now, i only have my 4x5, although i did take a "tribute" image that i hope to post this winter. I will say nothing of how this may have happened or why, that is for everyone else to discuss. This is a sad day......

Wow, that sucks. I at least got to see it once, though didn't get much in the way of photos.

Man, that is a shame. Any thoughts on whether this was natural erosion or human induced?

Guy

I cant imagine that it was nature induced. Although i didnt see any signs of human disturbance, i dont believe it just fell over. It was very heavy, i couldnt even budge it when it was on the ground. I dont really like to make conclusions with little evidence, but i do think it was vandalism...

I dont really like to make conclusions with little evidence

Words to live by. A heavy piece of rock falls off a weaker/thinner substrate, and you don't think it's natural? Folks, this stuff is gonna happen. We live in a dynamic world, all too often thinking that things we see have always been that way, and will be forevermore. Same with that Madonna pedestal. Eventually, same with Balanced Rock in Arches (but not in Garden of the Gods, since they occasionally reinforce the base with concrete), Mexican Hat, and all those other wildly gravity-defying features. That's what makes them so interesting, after all, is how they rest in such improbable positions.

Talk to the folks in New Hampshire, who saw their famed Old Man of the Mountain featured on their state quarter crumble into history. Sir Isaac Newton was definitely on to something.

Are you serious? Balanced Rock at GotG is supported by concrete? That's pretty sad. Wonder who made that decision. Granted, it would really suck if it fell over as you were driving by, but still...

The Teopot formation was connected to a large pedestal, all made out of the same rock and didn't seem all that precariouly balanced. At the same time, these rocks do erode...that's how the formations formed in the first place. But I'm sure there's people dumb enough to want to topple it. Many years ago, someone with a pickup truck destroyed a balanced rock in Utah. And I recently saw a rock that had fallen off its pedestal in Goblin Valley. With all the people around there, I have to think it was helped along by people climbing on the rock. Natural erosion will generally create new formations as quickly as they are destroyed. But with the help of people, they'll be destroyed faster than they're created. No way of knowing with the Teapot, but to say it's definitely natural erosion would be jumping to conclusions as much as saying it was vandalism.

Yeah, Balanced Rock has been "shored up" with concrete for several years now. My understanding is that a few kids tried to lever it over and got caught. Park officials decided they'd rether be safe than sorry. There -are- angles you can shoot that don't show up the added support.

Ken

First, there was Delicate Arch...then a formation was toppled in Coyote Buttes, and then the white hoodoos near Lake Powell. Now the Teapot. These are all Fatali-photographed icons, and documented in Laurent Martres' books...We all wield a sharp, double-edged sword by photographing and publishing these places...It opens the door for those with lesser ethical restraints to vandalize or abuse, for sure. But without such publishing, the chance for abuse by special interests rises dramatically in lieu of public knowledge. Tough calls all around.

This is an unfortunate day, but not likely the last we'll hear of stuff like this.

Photos of the teapot from the Labor Day weekend (when it was still intact), and photos from ~September 16 (after its destruction - you need to scroll down a few posts to see the images).

I ran across a news release from the BLM yesterday. Unfortunately, I did not save it. This news release was unwilling to state that the toppling of the Teapot was caused by humans. However, it did state that there were a large number of human boot prints where it used to be and that there was a depression or hole or something that was filled with rocks not found at that location. Evidently, a group of German tourists came back and reported it. After several more reports, the BLM send a ranger down to investigate and found the reports to be true. They are investigating the cause, which means that we will probably not hear the results for a ong time, if ever.

Too bad that funding for the various agencies that are charged with protecting are natural forations as well and the architectural remains has been continually reduced while the cost of protection has risen.