May 15, 2017

Left Torrey UT at 8:30am and drove to the Natural Bridges National Monument.  The bridges are natural stone bridges among the largest in the world that formed as meandering streams eroded canyon walls.

Our first hike was to the Sipapu Bridge.  It’s the largest and most spectacular of the 3 bridges.  1.2 mile roundtrip w/ an elevation drop of 500 ft.  The trail had ladders, stairs and switchbacks and sliprock along the path. 

Then we went to see the Horse Collar Ruins.  These are one of the best preserved ancestral Puebloan sights in the area. Because the doorways to the structures resemble horse collars.  These were abandoned over 700 yrs ago.

The next bridge we viewed was the Kachina Bridge.  Larger than Owachomo but smaller than Sipapu.

From there we went to Owachomo Bridge.  This is the smallest and thinnest of the 3 natural bridges.  The most fragile and elegant of the 3 spans.  Here we walked down 180 ft to the base of the bridge.