A short section but including two great highlights; Bryce Canyon National Park itself and ‘The Wave’, both via Hayduke alternates.
Bryce Canyon- In 2014 the park authority required a bear cannister to be taken for overnights in the park. If you are following the guidebook Hayduke then this might not pose a problem as you could probably just camp outside the park. But for us, hiking the extension via Cannonville, Tropic and the Bryce Canyon amphitheatre, this seemed a bit awkward, as not only would we have to carry the cannister but we would have to return it back to wherever we got it from.
We decided to hike the Bryce Canyon ‘Under the rim trail’ by dayhikes and used a connecting trail (Whiteman) to hike onto the park road and hitched back to Bryce campsite. It worked for us but might not suit everyone.
The ‘Under the rim trail’ provided some great hiking, like the Chinese Wall on the Continental Divide but much more scenic! The amphitheatre area of Bryce Canyon is drop dead beautiful, but is pretty crowded whereas no-one seems to go on the ‘Under the rim trail’.
Section 9|21.6 Riggs Spring had water (12th May).
Section 9|31.2 Adams Spring had good water 20m right/west of the trail piped into an old bathtub (see pic).
We hiked from Adams Spring to Highway 89 and then hitched into Kanab so didn’t check any of the other water sources.
Section 9|50.9-58.5 Upper Buckskin Gulch There was no water in the bed of Buckskin Gulch, just some quicksand.
It is dry until Larkum Tank at Section 10|3.0 and even further if you visit ‘The Wave’. Although someone kindly stopped their jeep to offer us water near the Arizona stateline campsite but we didn’t need it!
Section 9|63.2 At the junction with Coyote Wash to Wire Pass (nice petroglyphs at ground level) we left our packs and sidetracked down Buckskin Gulch for an hour or so and it was well worth it to see a little of this acclaimed slot canyon. Maybe we will return…..
Nicolas Barth did a great looking complete alternate down Buckskin and the Paria and back to the Hayduke on the Kaibab plateau in a loop and has guidance on his site.
The Wave – Coyote Buttes alternate
Why Do it?
The Hayduke passes so close to this iconic landmark set in an amazing landscape it would be a shame to miss it. Defended by a rather impenetrable BLM permit system though!
How?
Section 9|63.7 We visited ‘The Wave’ in Coyote Buttes from just before Wire Pass. It was pretty easy to find although I think the BLM staff remove any cairns.
After ‘The Wave’, we then hiked out south, cross countrying up Sand Cove over ‘The Notch’ and then onto the jeep road in Arizona which can be easily followed north to the stateline campsite. The campsite has no water but I guess there would be scope for ‘yogi-ing’ some if desperate. The route over ‘The Notch’ required some scrambling and on the descent westwards we picked up trail after a while. A point to note is that the descent trail crosses a wash and climbs its bank on the south side before heading back down westward. The wash itself terminates in a steep drop off so is best avoided.
Kelsey’s excellent ‘Hiking and Exploring the Paria river’ guidebook notes excellent petroglyphs at ‘The Notch’ but unfortunately we couldn’t locate them quickly and were pretty keen to push on for a long day.
A wee walk 
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