Leaving Moonlight Canyon and heading up the narrow and steep wash of the 4th side canyon:
Moonlight Bridge Canyon has shallow narrows and walls similar to Sidewinder Canyon and Mormon Point Canyon:
In the midst of the narrows, it has several areas that open up:
Notice the sheer steepness and uncomfortable wash with large rocks and deep gravel:
This small canyon is actually very pretty and interesting to walk through:
Many times, the walls hang out over the hiking path:
There are some deep undercuts with an interesting texture:
I found a large rock nettle plant in full bloom during my mid-April hike:
Check out these fluted mud cliffs which seem to be cut up into sections:
In the wide open areas, as seen ahead, there are a confusing maze of side canyons. So good map reading and planning are essential to reach Moonlight Bridge:
Passing by interesting scenery on the hillsides:
High up above the canyon there are some cathedral cliff formations:
I have now passed the final wide open area and the canyon will stay narrow the rest of the way to the bridge:
Another large undercut that is slowing getting bigger every time flash floods sweep down the canyon:
Early morning sunlight reaching into the canyon at about 8:00am:
Passing by yet another colorful undercut:
The walls got steeper and there was no way in or out of the canyon:
The wash became much easier to walk on as I progressed farther up the canyon:
There were spots where the canyon walls would be closer together halfway up:
Most of the time, I could not see very far ahead:
Majestic scenery on display in Moonlight Bridge Canyon:
Walking through a slot-like passage:
Looking ahead in the canyon from underneath an overhang:
A side slot caught my attention, so I climbed up to check it out:
The slot was beautiful but didn't go very far:
Back in the main canyon now with great anticipation:
Spotting the opening of Moonlight Bridge on the upper left:
Zooming in for a closer look. Yep, that's definitely a natural bridge:
To reach the base, it is necessary to curve around in these tight narrows:
There is an overhang opposite of the base of the bridge. This is the first full view of Moonlight Bridge:
I stood there in awe as I looked up at the tallest natural bridge in the park:
Zooming in for a closer view. It is hard to believe that this natural bridge was discovered a mere 10 days before I hiked out to it:
Although the bridge looks thin from a distance, that is an optical illusion:
As you can see, the bridge is very thick and should stand for decades or centuries to come:
It was difficult to get the top of the bridge and the wash in the same picture, but I did it here:
Fortunately, there was a ledge nearby which allowed me to take a nice picture with Moonlight Bridge:
Taking a self-portrait before heading back down canyon:
Now it was time to access the ridge and look for a long bypass to get to the other side of the bridge:
Over 30 minutes later, I found my way onto a hillside far behind the bridge and took this picture of it:
Getting a closer view. It should be noted that it is dangerous to try to access the top of the bridge as there are extreme cliffs on each side. So don't even think about it:
A view showing the narrow canyon above Moonlight Bridge:
It took a lot of trial and error, but I finally found my way back down into the canyon:
Heading down the narrows toward the bridge:
The backside of Moonlight Bridge is finally in sight:
Getting closer but the views are still not that great through the opening without blue sky in the background:
The top of the dry fall is just around the next bend:
Three pictures showing Moonlight Bridge from the backside near the top of the dry fall:
Looking over the dry fall into the narrows below where I had been standing about an hour earlier:
My report concludes with three pictures I took trying to find a good angle with Moonlight Bridge in the background:
