An unassuming side canyon marked the beginning of our long journey to Upper Hidden Bridge Canyon:
The first side canyon had some pretty red hills and a small wash which was like walking on a path:
The ground was solid, there were few obstacles, and we made great time through this section:
A blend of white and red colors powdered the surface of this hillside:
Soon we emerged into a spread out wide open area:
Around the next bend we had this view of the range we were heading towards:
It's kind of hard to see because it all blends together, but across the middle of this range was a ridge that we were trying to reach:
After some gentle uphill walking for an hour or so, we began descending in this small drainage:
The gentle downhill walk continued to be easy:
After a while, we came to a gorge area with some dry falls. This was the first dry fall that we had to bypass:
Next to the dry fall was this neat window in the rock:
On the bypass looking back at the rock window:
We dropped back into the canyon and hiked up to the dry fall with the rock window:
But soon we came to the edge of another dry fall that we would have to bypass. Time to head back up on the ridge:
Looking back, you can see that it was a good idea to bypass that fall instead of trying to climb down it:
Another white powder hillside that we encountered as seen from the bypass ridge:
The ridge and our final destination comes into a little bit clearer focus from this spot:
One more close-up of the white hillside we found in this area:
The 2nd rock arch or window that we spotted on the hike:
A close-up of the 2nd rock arch:
Just beyond we spotted our 3rd rock arch. Lots to see in this area:
A close-up of the 3rd rock arch:
And yet another dry fall that we encountered in this area. While taking this picture, we suddenly heard a lot of noise below and wondered if we had encountered a mountain lion:
But it wasn't a lion, it was a group of beautiful Bighorn sheep that were spooked by us and scrambled up a nearby hillside to see who we were:
Two more pictures of the five Bighorn sheep. This was the closest I have ever come to them in Death Valley:
We had no choice but to bypass that last dry fall. Now we are up above the canyon looking down into it:
On the top of this bypass trail, here is a view of Steve with our final destination ridge in the distance:
It took a while, but we followed some sheep trails down which dropped us back into the canyon:
The new side canyon we were in climbed steadily in elevation, as you can see in the next three pictures:
A couple of pictures that we took while passing through an area of colorful stripes and ridges:
The climbing got more and more steep the further we progressed up this side canyon:
Off in the distance we spotted our 4th rock arch. This was the biggest of all of them:
Looking back down the side canyon we had been hiking in:
A close-up of the 4th rock arch and the sunlight shining through the rock window:
The head of the side canyon and the ridge is near the top of this picture. We had to bypass some of the steepest parts found here. You can see Tobin working his way around to the left in this picture:
Once we reached the ridge, we crossed a wide and flat area leading to the rim of Hidden Bridge Canyon:
Our first view into Upper Hidden Bridge Canyon from the ridge:
We could see some deep narrows down below in Upper Hidden Bridge Canyon:
This was the view looking down into Middle Hidden Bridge Canyon as we searched for a way in. We kept getting cliffed out and had to abandon our efforts on this trip:
Very high and deep slot narrows of Middle Hidden Bridge Canyon and a neighboring side canyon. We couldn't get into these narrows either:
But we did find a way into Upper Hidden Bridge Canyon just above the narrows of the last two pictures. Here we are carefully dropping into the canyon:
Reaching the canyon floor in the middle of some nice narrows and heading down canyon:
Notice the canyon walls of Upper Hidden Bridge Canyon are not smooth and polished, but bulgy:
A fascinating mixture of colors in these narrows:
Small easy dry falls as we progressed through this section of narrows:
Tobin rounding a bend and getting a picture at this spot:
A quick steep drop in the canyon. We were hoping to find more of this up ahead instead of a major dry fall which would stop our hike:
The solid rock covered the floor of the wash at many times:
A picture of Steve heading down a basic dry fall:
Up ahead the narrows tightened up and we had great anticipation:
It looked like we were approaching a major bend in the canyon:
There was a major bend, but there was also a 30 foot dry fall waiting for us with no easy way down:
Just around the bend, we could see some unbelievable slot narrows in Hidden Bridge Canyon:
A wider view of these slot narrows which we couldn't get into. This is the spot where Middle Hidden Bridge and Upper Hidden Bridge are divided:
A picture of Tobin at the top of the 30 foot dry fall. With daylight hours starting to wind down, we had to turn around and head into the upper canyon. But there was still more to see:
This next picture is taken just beyond the spot where we had first dropped in:
More twisted enclosed narrows in the upper canyon:
A picture of Steve sitting near the top of a basic dry fall:
One thing that caught my attention is the extensive length of the narrows. Hidden Bridge Canyon actually has more narrow canyon than open canyon:
The consistent steep elevation gain is another key aspect of Hidden Bridge Canyon:
A panoramic taken at a junction where Hidden Bridge continues to the left:
This is the 2nd major dry fall of Upper Hidden Bridge Canyon. Too steep and challenging to climb:
We checked out the canyon to the right and it was very impressive as well:
Immense beauty on display in this side canyon of Hidden Bridge:
Gorgeous narrows and dry falls in the Upper Hidden Bridge area:
After checking out the side canyon, we bypassed the 2nd major fall of Upper Hidden Bridge Canyon and continued:
Notice the rock is once again a bit rough and bulgy but the canyon is very narrow:
Reaching a very tight section of narrows with literally only a couple of feet between canyon walls:
The afternoon sun provided nice lighting through this stretch of narrows:
Up ahead we were moving into a section of towering narrows:
The towering narrows ended in an immense enclosed grotto at the base of the 3rd major dry fall of Upper Hidden Bridge Canyon. Steve here is snapping a picture of the upper reaches of the dry fall:
Looking up at the massive dry fall, which must have been over 50 feet high:
Zooming in on the polished surface of the top of the dry fall:
Heading back out of the towering narrows in the next three pictures:
We next headed up the hillside just outside of the narrows to the right to use it as a bypass:
Continuing around the rim of the narrows as we looked for a safe place to drop back in:
Once we got back into the canyon, we hiked back to the top of the 3rd major dry fall and took this picture of the polished chute. Earlier we had been in the enclosed grotto below this fall. The grotto below looks like a dark abyss here:
There was still more to see in the upper canyon, so we kept on hiking:
Pretty red cliffs that we passed by:
The next three pictures reveal the tortured and twisted steep terrain of the upper canyon:
And then we arrived at the base of the 4th major dry fall of Upper Hidden Bridge Canyon. This was a three stage dry fall which we started to climb:
The going got too rough as we approached the top, so we turned back and found a way to bypass it. This would be my personal record 7th bypass of the day:
One final view as we neared the head of Upper Hidden Bridge Canyon. We turned off into a side canyon at this point that would lead us over a ridge and allow us to complete our loop hike back to the parking area:
This is 5 Mile Rock in the wash of the canyon which led back to the parking area. I named this spot 5 Mile Rock because it is exactly 5 miles from where you park to begin your hike towards Upper Big Fall Canyon (or in this case, Upper Hidden Bridge Canyon):
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