More of Utah

We next visited the Natural Bridges Monument, still in southern Utah.  How bridges and arches differ you may want to know.  Natural bridges are formed by the erosive action of moving water.  Arches are formed by other erosional  forces, mainly frost action and seeping moisture.  Those same forces also work to enlarge natural bridges once stream erosion forms them.

Natural Bridge National Monument is a small park containing three of the world's largest natural stone bridges.  Sipapu Bridge, Kachina Bridge and Owachomo Bridge - all are Hopi Indian names.  The 9 mile long one way Bridge view loop road  runs right around the park and leads to overlooks and trailheads right down  to the bases of  each of the  three bridges on the canyon floor.  

The photos above are of Sipapu Bridge, firstly from the roadside and then from the canyon floor.  The walk down to Sipapu Bridge was not a long one - about 1.5km but it was VERY steep with ladders and handrails over the steep rockface to get to the canyon floor.  

Owachomo Bridge from the roadside.  This bridge no longer straddles a stream whereas it was originally cut by the action of two streams.  It is really an arch now as the water presence has disappeared. 

and at the foot of the bridge on the canyon floor.

Newspaper rock is an art panel which represents multiple cultures, some of the carvings dating back some 1500 years while others were placed there at the turn of the 20^th century;  The images on this large rock face are petroglyps.

The photo above is of the Goosenecks of the San Juan River.  The 1,000ft (305m) cliff rises above one of the most striking examples of an entrenched river meander in North America.  The river twists and turns through sinuous 'gosenecks' as it advances west on its journey to Lake Powell flowing over 6 miles (10km) while it advances to the west only 1 mile (1.5km).

We stopped for the night on the cliff top where we took the photograph.  These campers camped on the ledge below.

Our last stop in Utah this time around was at Hovenweep National Monument which preserves the dwellings of the ancestral Pueblo people.  Here are two style of houses.