May 6 - Hickman Bridge Trail

The forecast for today said a chance of rain while tomorrow said rain was very likely. When we got up it looked sunny but a bit cool so we decided to do a short hike in case we got caught. It was still very windy.

We first went to the visitor’s center and got some information before heading out. The park is actually 1100 feet lower in elevation than our campground so it was very pleasant there.

When I previously said we were done with arches for a while I guess I lied. It turns out the first trail we did here was to an arch. However here they are called bridges because they are formed by water rather than by the wind.

The trail was only 3 km return and a climb of around 500 feet.

From the parking lot you have to walk next to a sheer cliff where there have been some rock falls in recent years. Signs just say to walk fast to minimize your time in the danger zone.

These picture are from on our way back.

Does she seem like she is hurrying?

The initial climb was steep but not too bad.

We saw this group of people, ahead of us, with butterfly nets. I am not sure what they were doing.

The trail levelled out for a short while.

Then we climbed down into a wash where there were all kinds of interesting shapes.

Our first view of the bridge.

The trails loops through the bridge. We sat on the other side and had lunch.

As usual, I scrambled around a different view.

Heading back.

There was a viewpoint down to the town of Fruita, which is part of the park. Naturally it is covered in fruit tree orchards. When they are in season anyone can go into the orchards to pick and eat what they want. You just cannot take any fruit outside the orchard.

On the way up the trail we somehow missed this hollowed section out of the wash so we explored it for a while.

 

The black rocks looked like lava but right next to some would be others with exactly the same texture except they had the sandy colour.

Back at the car it was only 1:30 so we decided to checkout the scenic drive down the middle of the park. We didn’t take a lot of pictures because we will be back later.

This rock had really been eroded away. It sort of looked like a chair.

The road dipped down many times to cross a wash. It must be fun driving this in or after a rain.

We think it is salt that made the interesting pattern here.

Looking back in the direction of the campground, it seemed to be raining.

And as we got closer to home, it was raining over the mountains.

But it wasn’t over us and still hasn’t.