Natural Bridges Monument--March 30th

We decided to leave Canyonlands and head for Natural Bridges National Monument.  Along the way, we saw a sign for some Indian ruins that weren't marked on the map, so, of course, we stopped to check them out.  There was a one-mile trail to the overlook for the ruins, so off we went!  The overlook was at a point across the canyon from the ruins on the other side, but there were several of them built into alcoves in the cliff (similar to Mesa Verde) so it was kind of neat that they were just sitting there, that close to the highway.
A few miles down the road, was another spot marked for some ruins, but these were re-constructed (cemented back together), so you could walk right up to them and even around some of them.  There was a residential building, a kiva (round ceremonial room built in the ground), and part of a tower.  They speculate that the tower was two stories originally and might have been used as either a lookout tower or to communicate with another community about a mile away.  I had never seen one of the towers before, so that was interesting to see.

We got to Natural Bridges Monument in the early afternoon.  There are 3 of the 5 largest natural bridges in the world located here along a 9-mile drive (Sipapu Bridge, Kachina Bridge, and Owachomo Bridge).  We decided to take the hike down to the canyon floor under Sipapu (the 2nd biggest bridge in the world), which went 500 feet down into the canyon.  You had to negotiate one staircase and 3 log ladders along the trail to reach the creek and stand under the arch.  The arch was impressive, but the view under it just wasn't the same as looking at it from the big viewing ledge right across the canyon.  The trail, however, was really something!  I'm glad I did it, but I'm not sure I would do it again (ladders aren't really my thing...)

We looked at Kachina Bridge from the overlook (we didn't take that hike), but when we got to Owachomo, we decided to hike down under it.  This bridge is the oldest of the 3 in the park and the hike was not nearly as long or difficult as the others.  Of course, the campground here was full, so the rangers directed us to a BLM camping area right outside of the Monument that had free camping.

We found the most awesome campsite ever (and not just because we were the only ones there).  It was in a forest area of 10-foot trees (I think they were junipers).  We had no wind, so we could build a great campfire in the big rock firepit and roast hotdogs for dinner.  It was peaceful and absolutely beautiful!  What a great end to a really nice day!