AMERICAN FORK — An 11-year-old girl was lucky to escape serious injury Wednesday after taking a 100-foot plunge off a trail near Timpanogos Cave.
The girl, taking part in a field trip from Bennion Elementary in Taylorsville, made a misstep about a third of a mile up the trail from the cave when she turned to respond to a classmate who said something to her, said Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Tom Hodgson.
She fell about 15 feet and grabbed on to a tree branch, which then snapped off, sending her hurtling down another 85 feet.
"She hit a couple rocks and kind of tumbled back and forth," Hodgson said. "She fell pretty much straight down."
The girl complained of neck and back pain and was flown to Primary Children's Medical Center with mostly minor bumps and scrapes.
— Paul Koepp