Day 11 – Natural Bridges

Up at 7. After coffee and email I drive the loop road to the Kachina Bridge overlook and trail. The hike down is steep and takes 15 – 20 minutes. It is a 400’ vertical drop. Once at the stream bed I explore the canyon for an hour. This is really a neat experience. It’s one thing to see the bridge from above. Very cool. But to be directly underneath a 200’ span of rock is so different, is so awesome. And I am all alone. The only sounds are the wind, when it comes, the birds in the riparian habitat and my heavy breathing when I walk uphill. (This is 6000+ ft.)





I found a pool of water in the stream bed and got down to take some reflection shots of the bridge. Check them out.



I walked up out of the canyon. Many steps are cut into the rock. One spot needs a ladder. I count all the steps to get out, in my OCD way, at 540.





I got back to the house, drank some water, ate lunch and rested for a while. At 2 I went to the visitor center to learn what they do there. I stay until 6, greeting visitors from all over the world. Specifically this day I met people from: Russia, Germany, Holland, France, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Japan, and Australia.

There are ranger lead programs at 7 and 8. The first is the geology of the region. The second is Astronomy. I am shadowing a ranger, Dottie Hartman, who has been working 5 weeks. She is a school teacher from Baton Rouge, LA. She does a terrific job. After her talk we go outside to see the sky with the naked eye and with the telescopes.Me, Dottie Hartman and Glynna Gower



As the sky darkens the stars come out. It was a grand sight. The Milky Way was beautiful, Sagittarius was just clearing the horizon, Scorpius was great. This is why I came. It was good for about a half hour and then the moon rose, washing out everything.
But we did see the great dark skies for a while a least. We have stargazes planned for tomorrow and Saturday evening. The Moon rises later each night, so it is getting better.