This is the first national monument in the state of Utah and was designated on 16 April 1908 by President Roosevelt. It has three natural bridges. In those days there was no road to get to this park. It took three days to get here on a horse from the town of Blanding. In 1976, highway 95 was built and more people started visiting this place. In 2007 solar panels were installed in this park for electricity.
For millions of years the Colorado plateau has been undergoing erosion due to heat, cold, rain, and wind. Many times the Colorado River has changed its route. The current river route was probably made 6 lakh years ago. In 1886, a man called Cass Hite was wondering through this area looking for gold when he discovered the three bridges. The National Geographic magazine published about them in 1904 and in1908 it became a National Monument.
Over the years many names were given to these three bridges. According to their heights they were called President, Senator, and Congressman or Augusta, Caroline, and Edwin. During redevelopment of this national monument they were formally given names used by the Native American Hopi people who once lived here – Owachomo, Cachina, and Sipapu.
The oldest is the Owachomo. It means Rock Mound. Even though the river does not flow under it now – wind, rain, and extreme temperatures are still eroding it. It is cracked in places and no one can tell how long it will last. The second eldest is the Sipapu, which means The Place of Emergence. Hopi people believe that it is the gateway through which soul may pass to the spirit world. This is the largest of the three bridges at 270 ft long and 220 ft high. The newest of the three is Kachina, which means Dancer Doll. The river still flows underneath it so it is still being formed. Since, it is not as eroded as the other two it looks enormous.
As such there is barely any difference between a natural arch and a natural bridge except the way the two have undergone erosion. A river meandering through mountains carves a natural bridge. The river eventually ends up flowing under the bridge. Arches on the other hand are created by erosion due to rain, wind, and extreme temperatures. Arches are formed upper regions of a plateau whereas bridges are formed in the lower regions. One can drive down to see the bridges. For a closer look, one needs to walk down 3 to 4 km per bridge. There is an option to take the trekking trail that joins the three bridges.
It was a rare treat when we ran into the guy from Google. He was there with his high tech equipment to capture the trails for Google Maps. Hardly did we know at this time that there was another rare treat waiting for us at this ancient place.
This area was designated as the first ever International Dark Sky Park in the world by the International Dark Sky Association. A bi-weekly stargazing event is held at its visitor center. People actually plan a night out with children at the campground for stargazing. We were very lucky that this event was going to happen that night. However there are no hotels or restaurants near this monument. Our initial plan was to leave the Natural Bridges and head to the Monument Valley before dark because we were concerned about the famous Moki Dugway, an unpaved section of Utah 261 consisting of steep switchbacks. We also had a casita booked at the Monument Valley campground and needed to reach there before the office closed. The young ranger girl at the visitor center assured us that the unpaved road was in good condition and drivable in the night. So we decided to stay back and take advantage of this golden opportunity and then drive to Monument Valley in the night. How could we miss a star party at the first international dark sky park in the world?
Those who had just come to see the bridges left before it got dark. Ours was the only car left in the parking lot of the visitor center. We took the folding chairs out and watched the sunset, took pictures. We then had dinner and waited for nightfall. The sky was very clear. We had an idea of the twinkling drama in the heavens awaited us with our experience three days back at Goblin Valley. We eagerly waited for the celestial show to begin. We were wondering if anyone else was going show up for this event. The rangers at the visitor center had started the preparation. They had brought a large telescope out on the sidewalk along with other equipment. At around 8 pm cars started coming in slowly. Very soon there were more than 30 participants including many children. They had brought chairs and even dogs. The sky slowly filled up with stars. The ranger first showed us the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn. Then he showed us a globular cluster, a double cluster, Andromeda galaxy and the Veil nebula. He simultaneously clarified doubts and answered questions, and he gave a lot of information while answering questions. We enjoyed the experience immensely!
It was the most wonderful experience but we had to leave because we had a long drive ahead of us through the night part of which was on a steep unpaved road through a mountain pass. We left at 9.30 pm. There was no one on this road except us. Even though the sky was full of stars there was no moon. It was probably not a good idea to drive that night, however, we could not let go of the opportunity to attend the star party. There were only two or three tiny villages on the way. Late in the night we reached the Monument Valley. We had booked a cabin in one of the campgrounds. Had we reached any later the office would have closed and we would have had to spend the night in the car. However, we were lucky to get there in time.
Meera's Travels 