April 30, Bridges National Park

What a day! Breakfast at the Stone Lizard Inn was fun, shared stories, tips and weather reports with guests. The weather forecast determined a change in plans, tomorrow will be a rainy day, so we decided to take our trip to Natural Bridges National Monument today.

We discovered why the streets are so wide here, so that you can make a u-turn, even if cars are parked on both sides. Otherwise why? NO- So that the horse drawn carriages could make a U-turn!

We drove west, and found treats for the eye all day long. 142 miles of exquisite, breathtaking, magical scenery. One turn after the other and we owww, wauw, neeej, eeeee'ed all day long.

Kathi had found “Ecstasy point” (named by her), on a previous trip. We marvelled at the beauty. Red earth, sandstones, warped old trees opening their silver bark, flowers celebrating spring, views in all directions. So special. Quiet. Just us.

We drove on, trying to keep in front of the blouds, but the next vista was too tempting, only a few miles down the road. The dessert opened.

The contrasts are exciting. The red earth, the green plants.
The chalk like earth against the hard brittle rock mountains.
The sharp mesas and cliffs, tumbling broken boulders,
The grasses greem and yellow, sharp and round.
The beauty lifts us up, we fly further.

We continued to Natural Bridge National Monument - three natural bridges, formed through erosion, water sanding the stone, small cracks opening, ice and wind speeding the process,
We climbed down into Sipapu bridge, the second largest natural bridge in the world. In Hopi mythology, a “sipapu” is a gateway through which souls may pass to the spirit world.

Here is Sipapu. Huge. Impressive. Do you see the hole under the bridge? In the bottom of the canyon, there is green trees, getting nourished from the washd stone above, Easy to walk on. almost  like the landscape is inviting us to come closer. Very welcoming.

Walking down, full of textures, colours, forms and structures. Eye candy, full of inspiration. !

It is almost possible to see the waves beating the ocean sand 90 million years ago.

We kept ahead of the rain, and visited the other two natural bridges. Wonderful views in new directions. The dark clouds had left a few drops on us, but as we drove back towards the Moki Dugway, there was snow and hail on the road. 

The high country is open cattle grazing country, and at one point we met a herd of cows munching by the side of the road, and staring at us on the road. I like these earrings. 

Fortunately  the skies cleared and offered us amazing views down Moki Dugway, Utah Route 261 just north of Mexican Hat. http://bluffutah.org/mokey-dugway-muley-point/

Thanks to Kathi, I was the passenger and could enjoy every turn down the 3 mile switchback road, descending 1100 feet in 3 miles. Viewpoint at the top: 

We looked down into the Valley of the Gods, an saw amazing pinnacles ad formations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKS0veu-358   We will return with Sasha in two weeks.

We looked north towards Monument Valley in the distance. The layers upon layers of super natural beauty is breathtaking, Want to see it from a motorcykel? Click here.

After the switchbacks, we drove towards Medicine Hat and on towards the very small town of Bluff. Even the yellow stripes in the road seemed to complement the landscape. .

As we came towards the hills on the west side of the valley, we were met by even more colours and formations. 

The formation of the landscape, the erosion, and upbuilding of new micro sil, the small plants that evolve in some placed more than others, these factors work together and form these amazing chevron patterns. What can I say? Amazing? Breathtaking? Incredible? or just WOW!!!!!!!!! 

We drove to Bluff to Kathis restaurant, and had lunch about 2 pm.. A well deserved lunch - a hamburger on Indian flat bread. Such a treat that Kathi knows all the good places, we dont have to look to find the best. She KNOWS the best. This time it was Twin Rocks Cafe. 

Kathi had told me about the Trading Post at Twin Rocks, a feeling of a church met me, when I walked into this store, full of handmade crafts from the native people.  http://www.twinrocks.com/about/ 

Their home page is full of items, stories, symbols. The saleswoman was knowledgeable and did not tire at my touching and asking about all the earrings. Fortunately we will be back! 

We did not get our coffee kick, but ended up in another wonderful trading post in Bluff - The Cow Canyon Trading Post. A very well spoken young Navajo woman told us about sandpaintings, symbols, artworks, What another treat. 

We did not get to the Mueseum at Blanding, that Kathi has told me so much about. But we were full. 

Full of overwhelming landscape,  Full of colours, textures, contrasts, spring flowers, rugged cliffs, snowy mountains, nice people, Full of a day on the road with Kathi, an excellent tour guide. Thank you Kathi, for making this dream come true.