Death Valley 2022/23

[Beardilocks]

Yesterday was The Day of the Bridges.

We hit a couple of canyons in the Kit Fox Hills that Capt. Satellite had identified as having LPBs (Low Probability Bridges).  And then we were going to go back out to the Princess Bride suite of canyons to chase down the bridge formerly mistakenly identified as Humperdinck Bridge.  

I was hopeful as we made our way into the KFHs.  The sat images looked promising and it was a lovely day blowing hard again and half heartedly trying to rain on us.  



Very quickly we got to our first target.  And it was a hit!  




Judging what is or is not a bridge can get a bit... subjective.  Especially with the rule of "must be a hiking destination unto itself".  After a thorough inspection I believe this qualifies.  About 9-10ft tall inside, solid rock, impressive depth, definitely not a collapsed piece of canyon (aka false bridge).

The crack at the ceiling here is natural erosion, not a sign that it is a collapsed piece of canyon.




Pano inside shows the uninterrupted rock making it a full bridge not a false bridge:



Immediately past this first bridge was a second minor bridge.  In fact it is a minor bridge with an extra arch on top and a tunnel past it.  Very interesting formation.  The tunnel at the bottom is big enough to duck-walk through.


The next one was a false bridge or a tunnel.  Pick your poison with it.  We walked through but there was insufficient evidence to call it a bridge.


Inside


Looking back.


Next up was a pair of twin bridges.  They have been christened Gemini Bridge for the non-identical twins.  They are both also hard rock, quite large (10-15ft interior height), and I think fit the criteria (as a pair) for a major bridge.  
Pano of the pair.


Looking into the left bridge.




Right bridge.


Right bridge from the other side.


In a different canyon we were stymied by what turned out to be a tunnel, leading into a room, leading to a tunnel that was too sketchy to crawl through.  There are still some more promising bridge targets on the other side of that complex, but it will have to be attacked from a different direction on another day.

All in all a pretty successful hike to what almost has to be called Bridge Canyon.