Natural Bridge

A couple weeks ago we headed out to to the Mogollon Rim to do some sightseeing. You can see a long way in the desert and it sure looked like there was a storm over the area as we drove toward it, but we thought we'd keep going anyway.

As we got closer we entered the storm and figured visibility would be about zero at the Rim, we didn't have any rain gear with us (what? it was hot and sunny when we left the house!), and since we'd driven the Infiniti and weren't sure about the condition of the roads we were looking for a turnaround when we stumbled onto Tonto Natural Bridge State Park.

The rain had passed on when we arrived at the guard shack and paid our $3 per person. We descended into the canyon for the longest hike on the map (~1.5 miles) and were immediately immersed in country we are familiar with and love. The boys were in hog heaven with all the rocks to climb and jump. My concern was the flash floods they'd warned us about but that was nothing to what was ahead.

Turns out the hike is not for the faint of heart, or those who have gained 20 pounds over a long winter in Iowa, or those who haven't done any kind of hiking in over a year. Whew. It was a lot of up and down, the trail was marked but not always passable--necessitating u-turns in tight spaces and hauling old and heavy rears back up over the rocks just descended--and by the end I was sick as a dog, legs shaking, gut quaking, head pounding, and I still had to climb back out of the friggin' canyon!

Unfortunately, this meant I wasn't paying attention to the beauty of our surroundings. Luckily, Alec was and took some pictures.

Just for the record, I hadn't eaten that day and it was hot and humid with a capital "H". I'm exercising with renewed energy so I can try the hike again and make it without all the physical drama. Oh, and get a look at the sights.