Day 622: Bryce and Slot Canyons

It was another chilly morning in the Dixie National Forest:

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We went back into Bryce Canyon National Park where the kids submitted their Junior Ranger books and received their badges:

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We drove east and descended off the plateau:

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We stopped in Cannonville to visit one of the Grand Staircase-Escelante National Monument visitor centers, across the street from this abandoned house:

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We got a permit at the visitor center to do dispersed camping in the Monument, and found this nice spot:

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We detached the truck from the RV and drove to Willis Creek, where we hiked the narrow canyon:

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A waterfall forced us to hike around to get back into the canyon:

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Towards the end of the hike, the canyon widened:

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Heading back:

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Another waterfall:

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The hike track is in two parts:

Driving south, we stopped at Bull Valley Gorge, a difficult to traverse and deep slot canyon.  We drove across the bridge and parked, then walked back across the bridge and walked along the edge.  Looking back, a shiny object is visible in the rubble that makes up the bridge:

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See the truck wedged in the bridge?  In 1954, a truck with three occupants missed the bridge and fell 60 feet into the canyon.  Two occupants fell out of the truck to their deaths over a hundred feet below on the canyon floor.  The third occupant died in the truck, and his body wasn’t extracted until months later.  Eventually, it was decided that the truck would make a great base for a new bridge.  Rock, trees, and stone were pored into the canyon over the truck until the debris pile was flush with the canyon rim, and that was the new bridge:

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We drove back to the RV in time for sunset:

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B and I went for a walk and found some flowers growing under a tree:

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See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 621: Bryce Canyon National Park
Day 623: Rockets, Kodachrome, Motorcyles and Nightlights

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