Tonto Natural Bridge

Here are some pictures from our little field trip to the natural bridge (near Payson, AZ). It's a pretty cool place to visit...such a beautiful landscape up in the mountains. The kids had a great time hiking around too. My only complaint was that the bridge was too accessible! I wish we had to hike a few miles to get to it, instead of the little quarter mile trail (although I totally appreciate that others, who might not be able to hike, can still enjoy the bridge too).

At the start of our descent (Carson was excited that we let him carry Sage):

A portion of the bridge, with the little waterfall (trickle!):

Near the bottom, looking up towards the top of the bridge:

Tonto Natural Bridge:

Mr. Nixan, our cautious/nervous hiker (always worried about heights, sliding rocks, "cliffs," rivers, etc. etc. etc.):

The cute waterfall, misting my back:

We were able to hike under the bridge to the other side. We had to cross over the water and climb over some really slick rocks. It's truly amazing what the forces of water can do....not only eroding the rock to make the bridge itself, but the water really, REALLY polishes the rocks. They were sooooo smooth (and therefore super slick, even though they weren't even wet). The rubber soles of our shoes didn't cut it at all! Hands were required to climb over the rocks....and the park had even cut hand-holds into the rock 3 years ago to make the crossing easier, but in those 3 short years, the water had already slicked them up pretty good!

Here's Trey getting ready to cross:

Looking back:

Somehow Nick scaled this huge boulder under the bridge (you can kinda see how smooth it is):

As you might have guessed, once we reached the slippery rocks, Sage got a new ride:

Both Nixan and Treyson found these teeny, tiny pinecones and thought they were so cool. (Kids love any and everything miniature!)

And, just as an aside, Sage now LOVES baths. For the longest time she hated them and I'd have to force her to sit down. No longer!