Natural Bridge Hike

During our trip to Murphys last week we saw the sign for the Natural Bridges that were probably 4 miles from our campground. We had stopped to look at the area to see if we could walk it and see the bridges, but we weren't prepared then. Yesterday, we put on our hiking shoes, got some water and headed out to see the bridges. The hike itself is a 2 mile round trip and not so strenuous, although there were some pretty steep sections of the trail. It was an easy start as you can see below:

It rapidly became steeper until we reached the bottom. There was a river that was cut through the side of the steep hill and formed a natural bridge:

We were told that many people swim into this "cave like" area and come out the other side. The water isn't very deep so it's hard to imagine anybody swimming through it. There were unbelievable stalactites hanging down from the ceiling of this bridge, which looked more like a cave, and there was water dripping from them under the entire width of the bridge which was about 40 feet. The river was interesting in itself. There were a couple families there with their kids and dogs and they were having a grand time playing in the water. The water ran through rocks and became rapids in several spots that we could see. You can get some idea of the river flow from the picture below:

There were huge areas of smooth granite rock which is what Josie is sitting on in the picture. After about an hour at the bottom we slowly returned to the top. It was a fun trip and provided some much needed exercise.

We plan to take a trip to the Calaveras Big Trees today. That was another trip that we were going to take the day we went to Murphys but because of a threat of snow, decided against it. There is not chance of snow today. In fact, the temperatures have been warming up to the mid 60's here, and there are no clouds. So the day today will include another local attraction and probably some more Olympics. Someday, not too far off, we hope to have everyday like yesterday and today...