Hiking the mountain

 Thursday May 25 2023

I jumped out of bed promptly at 7am, I had developed a plan for today and wanted an early start. I plan on hiking to Natural Bridge this morning and will use two trails, Balanced Rock trail for the accent and the Original Trail for the decent. Both trails are in old growth forest with stunning geological features and sweeping views when you get to the top. 

Standing under the arch

I chose the Balanced rock trail for my accent because there are 600 steps in it’s ¾ mile length. I have a much more challenging stair climb scheduled latter on this trip and wanted to test myself on this smaller climb.

Just the way I like it!

When I got to the beginning of the trail there was signage that the trail past Balanced rock was closed and you could not reach Natural Bridge. I started my assent thinking that was better than nothing. Because of the early morning and the fact that I was on a closed trail, I was the only moving presence in the forest. It was one of those rare experiences, there was no sound other than an occasion breeze rustling the leaves.

Didn't stop me

First of 600 steps.

When I got to the fire scorched part of the forest, I looked ahead past the barrier and thought, that doesn’t look so bad. I continued up the mountain. There were some challenging spots, supports burn away from wooden steps, one section where the steps were completely gone, but I enjoyed the challenge. 

step construction changed many times during the accent.

steps burnt in fire.

When I got to the crest I followed the trail and crossed the top of Natural Bridge without even realizing it. When I got to the ski lift I Knew something was wrong. It was still early, so no one to ask at the lift and no other hikers either. There was a billboard map of the area so I quickly got my bearings and hiked back to the Natural Bridge, were the Original Trail was supposed to be located.

Narrow passage

No other trail signs here but I did find a set of stone steps that lead to the underside of the Natural bridge arch. The trail squeezed through a very narrow split in the rock. Once I started I felt better about the passage through this cut. I could not walk straight, but sideways I had plenty of clearance. The rock passage is at least 50 feet long.

The Natural Bridge

Once I passed under the arch I found the sign for The Original Trail, the one that would return me to the same parking lot I started from. It was also .75 miles long on a continuous downgrade. I was sure footed enough, but can imagine this is very slippery in wet weather. Besides more of the enormous rock outcroppings and wilderness forest this trail had about three shelters. They had been built by the Civilian Conservation Corp during the great depression and are still in use today.

Shelter built by the CCC

My mission completed I return to the campground. Millie had returned from a walk around the campground and after a snack we left together and drove to the ski lift parking area. We rode the lift up the mountain, a trip of about a mile and a lift in elevation of 1000-1200 feet. 

Ski lift to the top

There were people around now but it was not crowded. We walked the trail to the arch, descended the stone steps and passed through the split rock. This is the main attraction with people converging from several trail and the ski lift. It was still not crowded, but there were more people here.

Millie and I in the narrow passage.

Millie under the arch

Before going back down the mountain we took another trail to Lookout Point, a rock outcropping on the crest with a panoramic view of forest and mountains for as far as you can see.

From outlook point, Natural Bridge in the distance.

We returned to ground level on the ski lift, stopped and got a Lil Cesar’s pizza for lunch and went back to the camper. It was a great morning.

A great day!