The World's Largest Travertine Bridge

Oxbow RV Park

Payson, AZ

October 12, 2022

Beeline Highway/SR 87 begins just north of Mesa to Payson and up and over the Mazatzal Mountains.  It is so named because it makes a "beeline" to the high country.  It's a beautiful  curvy drive as the saguaros give way to the ponderosa pines.

 

Yippee...when you look at the calendar and realize you have a two week window with nothing planned before appointments you don't want to reschedule.  It's a road trip !  Close to home works and a new to us adventure is awesome. Reservations were made, shorts and t-shirts packed along with other essentials, and we were out the door early Monday morning.  Our destination was Payson, AZ.  Did you know that Payson is home to the world's largest natural travertine bridge...right here in our home state of Arizona.  Sounds pretty impressive to me and since exploring our home state has been on my radar that sounded like a great place to start. 

Tonto Natural Bridge State Park opened and was dedicated an Arizona state park in 1991.  It is a beautiful, well planned little park and was a nice surprise.  There are several large parking lots with accessibility to a paved walking path to view the bridge from the top and there are several hiking trails to take to view the bridge up close.  

The hiking trails are steep and rocky as they traverse down into the valley.  We chose two trails knowing that what goes down, has to go up.  First, was Waterfall Trail to get our legs and lungs working...short and steep.  

The waterfall had a nice steady trickle (enough for us to get wet as we walked by) and the maidenhair ferns and moss were so pretty and green.  

The trail, about 0.2 mile ends at waterfall cave.

Next, we walked the paved path to the Gowan Trail.  David Gowan stumbled upon the natural bridge when hiding from the Apaches back in 1877.  He hid there for three days in one of the several caves inside the bridge's interior.  

The Gowan Trail is only a mile round trip...it's steep and rough with big rocks (to challenge those of us with short legs), with smaller rocks that think they are marbles, and in a few places developed steps.  

Can you see the bridge?

At the end of the trail is an observation deck.  It has a kazillion steps to reach the platform and Joe opted not to go.  

The rocks underneath the bridge are quite slippery and I found myself scooting across the huge boulders on the right side of the photo below.  

The pools under the bridge had a nice flow of water...

and it was "raining" !

It is hard to comprehend that this beautiful piece of nature's art was millions of years in the making and can be explored in a shady canyon known today as the Pine Creek Canyon.  Nature definitely has a way of providing us with mouth dropping pieces of art like the natural bridge with its smooth and rough textures and golden colors of honey and ivory.     

The sheer size is mouth dropping too.  The bridge stands at 183 feet high over a 400-foot long tunnel that measures 150 feet at its widest point...way to big for this photo to show.

We did finish the paved walking path to view points 3 and 4 to stand on top of the bridge and see it from above.

Looking down on the observation platform I had been on earlier...also a glimpse of the trail top right corner of photo.

Tonto Natural Bridge from the top...

Goodfellow Lodge (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) was built in the 1920s.  Back in the day, folks could stay there in one of 10 furnished bedrooms and have use of a furnished kitchen, dining room, and outdoor veranda.  Today, it serves as the park's visitor center and gift shop.

Aside from exploring the world's largest natural travertine bridge, it is worth mentioning that this little park is possibly the cleanest and most well maintained state park we have ever visited.  There is plenty of parking even on a busy day (which we were spared), several spotless,  odor free, and stocked with paper and hand sanitizer restrooms, informative signage and directions, and friendly, knowledgeable rangers...all a huge plus for us !  If you are in the area and haven't been, consider adding it to your "lets go there" list...I am glad we did !

We made one last stop before heading home.  A snickers blizzard for me and a DQ cone for Joe.

  

Up next...a national monument.  Until then,

HAPPY TRAILS!

St. Philips Plaza Market

Corona de Tucson

October 7, 2022 

The historic St. Philip's Plaza is a Tucson landmark...well known for the beauty of its Spanish-style cobblestone patios complete with fountains, rose gardens, and towering eucalyptus trees.  In addition to boutique shopping, galleries and restaurants, there is an open-air market every Saturday and Sunday year round.  The summer market is small and doesn't get much attention due to the hot temperatures.   The winter market (10:00-3:00 every Saturday and Sunday), however, has over 100 canopies filled with tables celebrating "everything Tucson"...potters, painters, photographers, silversmiths, metal art works, woodcrafters, rock, mineral and gemstones collectors, jewelry, plants, and clothing.  We are always looking for "westernie" things to use in our home and the market offers lots of choices. 

Last year, we met Scott Carlson, a local potter, at the market when we purchased a utensil caddy and spoon rest from him for the kitchen counter.  The launch for the winter market was this past Saturday and his was the first canopy we looked for.  

Scott had an all new collection with all my favorite colors and amazing textures.  We bought a couple of mugs to add to the collection and a vase we couldn't walk away from.  

Randy had never been to the plaza and Randy had never had a Sonoran Dog...oh boy, oh boy...you know what that means !  He picked us up and we all enjoyed the beautiful morning, laughs, and perusing the plaza.  Afterwards, we were off to BKs.  I'm pretty sure he liked the dog...

 Monday morning, Joe and I both had appointments at the dermatologists...Joe goes every 3 months and I am on a 6 month schedule.  Joe faired much better this visit with only 3 biopsies (and my fingers are crossed they are all negative) and to my surprise, I had 1.  We were done with our appointments around 9:15 and it was off to breakfast at Baja Cafe.  Once again, we were too late for their famous liege waffles.  So Joe settled for pancakes and I really splurged with a cinnamon roll French toast.

One of those pieces was boxed up and went home with us...

Both (pancakes and French toast) are served with two eggs cooked to order, your choice of bacon or sausage and hash browns.  We waddled to the jeep !

Back at the oasis, Tuesday was a windy/rainy/stormy day as Orlene made its way north from Mexico and brought much needed rain.  

I have had fun trying to photograph hummingbirds this week.  It seems the sun is never right to capture their shimmer...I only get a glimpse and then they are off.  It is definitely a challenge to get a decent hummingbird photo in focus...shimmer or no shimmer. 

Just look at those tiny little feet.  Did you know that hummingbirds come from an order of birds called "Apodiformes"?  The term comes from a Latin word meaning footless.  They do have legs and feet, it is just that their feet don't stand out as a visual feature of their anatomy.  Because they are such excellent fliers, they don't need to walk and hop like many other birds. They have four toes on their short, knee-less legs. Their toes are quite lengthy compared to their legs and are used for perching, scratching themselves, fighting and building nests. 

Hummingbirds are remarkable in many ways, and one of them is that they have exceptional eyesight.  They can even see colors undetectable by the human eye...

A good look-out perch is important to hummingbirds.  They also perch in safe and secure places at night.  At night they enter into a state called torpor...an inactive state in which their heart rate and breathing rate are reduced to conserve energy.  They may even find themselves upside down...their legs and feet are sufficient to allow them to stay upside down clinging without falling.

On many of our morning walks, we see a male Vermillion Flycatcher.  His brilliant orange-red color is easy to spot.  This week, this stocky, generally solitary little fellow appeared on our fence during coffee.  I was so excited as it was so unexpected.  Flycatchers feed on insects...often catching them in midair by quick flights called sallies.  

We offer a nice variety of seeds, nuts and suet...

...but the insects are scarce.  He was only there a couple of minutes or so before he flew to the bush on the other side of the fence.

 

On one of our walks this week, we rounded a curve on the cart path and there stood a huge mama javelina in the middle of the path.  We stood still...she stood still...and then she figured that perhaps we were not a threat.  She had three babies enjoying their breakfast on a large prickly pear plant a few feet away.  We could barely see the tops of their heads as she walked toward them.  I don't carry the big camera when we walk and was so surprised by the encounter (I always walk in front) that I couldn't get my phone out of my pocket to get a decent photo on the path.  She had moved on when I finally got a not so good picture.

The pups are all well.  Sally and Dover had rabies and yearly shots this week. 

 

   

And Jack held down the oasis while they were gone.

The days fly by...and another week is already in the memory bank.       

So, until next time...

HAPPY TRAILS !