Monday, September 29

Start in Bluff UT, Mule Canyon, Natural Bridges National Monument, Stay in Monticello, UT

Weather:
  Low: Bluff: 41
  Highs: Natural Bridges Nat'l Monument: 70; Monticello: 75
Hikes/Walks: 4.4 miles
1.2 mi one-way,  ~65 feet elevation: Mule Canyon
0.1 mi one-way                     : Sipapu Bridge Overlook
0.4 mi one-way,  ~70 feet elevation: Horsecollar Ruin Overlook trail
0.1 mi one-way,  ~45 feet elevation: Kachina Bridge Overlook
0.4 mi one-way, ~210 feet elevation: Owachomo Bridge

We spent the night at the Desert Rose Inn in a great motel in the very small town of Bluff.

We hiked up Mule Canyon to a formation called "House On Fire" where there are some ruins of a previous civilization (Anasazi?) under a cliff in a canyon wall. The pattern in the red sandstone rock can give an appearance of flames when indirectly lit by reflected sunlight off the nearby sandstone.

After hiking out of Mule Canyon, we drove west to Natural Bridges National Monument where there are three main natural bridges carved out of the rock. We did small walks on small paths to overlooks of the first two bridges (Sipapu Bridge and Kachina Bridge), and a hike to an overlook of some ruins in the canyon wall. We did also like the "Do not stand at view points during electrical storms" sign.

For the third primary bridge, the Owachomo Bridge, we did hike down to the bridge (I can be seen in the last photo in front of the bridge.)

On the way back east, we had a nice view of the sun setting behind Moss Back Butte from Salvation Knoll, before driving to our motel in Monticello, UT.