May 7--Moab, Gemini Bridges trail

Well, we were back on the trail again this morning (29 degrees at 6:30). So we waited until 8:00, took the top and windows off the Jeep and headed out. Gemini bridges are twin natural bridges (formed by water flowing under the rock) instead of arches (formed by erosion of the rock). I included this lesson for my children who have always been fascinated with the discussion of erosion.

Yesterday's trail was rated a '4' (out of 10) which I thought was a little difficult for us; so we headed out on a '5' today--go figure. About 5 miles in we decided to take a trail down a side canyon (Bull Canyon) to see the bridges from the canyon floor. The main trail views them from the rim. We didn't read the directions carefully enough and missed the turn for the bridges in Bull Canyon. The trail got steeper, rockier, and more thrilling as we went. Finally, the trail ended and we decided that we had gone too far and must have missed something (nobody can say we aren't bright)! After turning around (another joy), we backtracked down all those hills we had struggled to get up and tried to find the darn bridges. By this time I really didn't care about ever seeing them! We met a jeep (the first humans we had seen all morning) and asked them if they knew where these elusive arches were. Nope, they were looking also. While the men were talking out their respective windows, the lady in the other jeep said "what about that sign 'Gemini Bridges'". We were sitting right next to the trail to the bridges. In our defense, the sign was way off the road and half-hidden. If we hadn't stopped them (actually they stopped to let us pass on the one lane trail), we both would have missed it again. Anyway, we hiked out to it and enjoyed the great view.

While we ate our lunch there, we read our instructions again and noted that the road we had traveled was definitely NOT RECOMMENDED and was listed as likely to cause damage. Well, Gary had driven it like a pro and our little step-child Wrangler did great. We got back on the main trail; and saw the bridges from the top of the mesa. But they were not nearly as impressive as from the canyon floor! Now that we've done a NOT RECOMMENDED trail, heck, we might go for a '6' tomorrow!

Question especially for Wolfie, Warren, Marianne, Juliette, and Wilson: what does picture 4 look like?