The end of June I went with the Boulder Mountain Ward Young Women to hike the Tonto Natural Bridge. It was a fun hike and I couldn't wait to take some of our grandsons on the hike.
The Tonto Natural Bridge is believed to be the largest natural travertine bridge in the world. It has been inn the making for thousands of years. The bridge stands 183 feet high over a 400 foot long tunnel that measures 150 feet at its widest point.
In 1877 David Gowan discovered the bridge as he was chased by Apaches. Gowan hid for two days and three nights in one of the several caves that dot the inside of the bridge. He left the cave on the third day to explore the tunnel and green valley surrounding it. Gowan then claimed squatter's rights.
In 1898 he persuaded his nephew, David Gown Goodfellow to bring his family over from Scottland and permanently settle the land. After a week of difficult travel from Flagstaff, they arrived at the edge of the mountain and lowered their possessions down the 500 foot slopes into the valley by ropes and burros.
Steve and I set off with Crew (almost 10),Cole (8),Brexton (8),Cash (6) and Miller (5). We had a great time and everyone did better then I had expected. We saw a few small waterfalls,tadpoles in small pockets of water and javelina.
We stopped at Mackeys Grill in Payson for lunch and at scoops for ice cream!
Tadpoles in the above picture.
Waterfall off the top of the bridge.
1 comment:
Very interesting history of the Tonto Natural Bridge. Of course, I had heard of it but I had not seen pictures except the post card ones. Your pictures are absolutely beautiful. I had no idea that was all there. The boys look like they were really enjoying it. I can see that they did great.
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