Blanding Week One: Natural Bridges, Goosenecks, Hovenweep and Four Corners

Natural Bridges National Park

Our first weekend in Blanding was spent driving to all the sights south of us. And there was a lot to see! First, Natural Bridges.

The bridge is hard to spot here. It's right in the middle.
There was only one hike here and Emma refused to wear her coat.

Picnicing in the winter is not fun. Luckily, we have our awesome van. We took the back seats out and had our picnics on the floor.

Not a great view of this bridge- it's right between Dan and Emma.

I don't know why, but I loved looking at the icesickles all over. This is on a steep road after Bridges.

One second we were driving 60 on the highway, and then out of nowhere, it turned into a dirt road, and we had to climb down a really steep cliff. You can't tell in this picture, but there is a road up there- this is what we drove down.

Goosenecks

This was pretty much a pull-off on the side of the road to look at the river that formed all the cool things in this area. It's a really old river, and meanders all over the place. At this particular point I think it covers five miles in just one mile space.

Valley of the Gods

You've heard me say that I'm married to a crazy person, well, now I know I'm right. When we found the Valley of the Gods, we discovered it was an hour drive on a dirt road - on a good day! On a snowy day, I wasn't sure we would even make it. However, Dan really wanted to see these rocks, so we did it. We made it with no problems, but still - crazy!

Hovenweep

Hovenweep is a stretch of well-preserved Indian Ruins. They run up the sides of a few miles of shallow canyons. We hiked around the rim on one canyon and saw tons of cool old buildings.

This is Hovenweep Castle. Emma loved it!

And we can't forget the mermaids, who were such good hikers.

Four Corners

Emma standing in four states at once. Does she know what that means? No way. Was she excited all the same? Yes!

All four of us in different states. So close, yet so far apart.

And here's one last random hike off the side of the road to see some more ruins.