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My life through a lens The Great Outdoors Tonto Natural Bridge, AZ - 3/24/2007
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Tonto Natural Bridge, AZ - 3/24/2007

This was a somewhat spontaneous camping trip Becky and I took to Payson, AZ on 3/24/07. Payson is about 90 miles North of Phoenix. We planned it about 5 days before... We quickly narrowed down the campsite areas to the Houston Mesa Campground due to the fact that there were no other campgrounds open before May. They must think no one would camp due to the chilly weather... Bah. :)

So we left Fri. after my work and came back Sat. night since Becky worked Sun. Even with only 1 full day, it is well worth the visit. We had found a reference to Tonto Natural Bridge before the trip and had it in the back of my mind as a destination. We were also thinking of finding a longer hiking trail and had a few ideas. We went by the Rangers office Sat. morning, however they were closed. Thankfully they have a full map outside and we found Tonto Natural Bridge (also see this link) and decided to give it a go. It was well worth the trip and is highly recommended. It was a little consumerized, however not nearly to the extent of some of the city hikes in the Phoenix area. They are fixing up the area to attract more people. This natural travertine bridge, believed to be the largest in the world, is 183 ft. high, over 400 ft. long and 150 ft. at its widest point. The scale is just mind blowing and you have to go to experience it.

I also discovered on this trip that Becky has an awesome 5 person Kelty tent. Just perfect for this type of thing!!

Well have a great time looking through these and if you are in the area, call me up... I'll go again.

Date: 04/23/2007
Owner: Jeff Wilkinson
Size: 50 items
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Becky at Houston Mesa Campground in Payson, AZ. It is a National Forest maintained campground and as such is pretty nice in it's amenities. After awhile of chilliness, I finally bought some firewood so we could make a rip, roaring fire.

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 248
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Becky and I

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 165
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Becky somehow controlling the fire. Her awesome tent is in the background

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 177
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Becky and I behind the fire. Seriously, it was raging at one point in time...

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 183
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Jeff, the strong man...

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 184
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Becky and I in front of the walkway to Tonto Natural Bridge. It was an amazing natural bridge and I'm glad we "spontaneously" found it.

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 177
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Becky on the bridge

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 180
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A high res. image conglomerate of the bridge.

Date: 03/27/2007
Views: 168
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Up, up and away...

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 184
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A random cacti shot... well we are in the desert. :)

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 167
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A multi-photo stitched photo of the bridge entrance. The walls had an amazing texture.

Date: 03/27/2007
Views: 162
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A zoomed in view of water falling off the bridge walls

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 167
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An interesting bird shot with the water from the previous photo

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 150
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A through shot of the natural bridge with Becky in the right foreground

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 146
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This was taken really close to the opening with extreme angles of up and down. Managed to "fix" it in PS...

Date: 03/27/2007
Views: 169
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Some cascading water

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 164
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Becky!!!

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 153
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Becky with a nice big smile!!

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 156
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Becky showing her true feelings for me... :)

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 157
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Becky with another good laugh/smile after I took abour 10 photos in quick succession.

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 154
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A view of the natural bridge exit. This was an awesome area with some nice little slipper, scrambling areas.

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 157
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A view of the entrance of the natural bridge with the walkway showing.

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 158
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Becky and I about halfway through

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 168
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A view within the natural bridge

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 149
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A photo of the natural bridge entrance

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 146
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Another photo of the natural bridge entrance

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 155
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A little water pool along the way

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 170
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Becky climbing over a rock. The person next to us said we could walk around... we said oh of course but it is a scrambling rock. :)

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 155
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A random plant growing out of the rock

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 177
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A view from the natural bridge exit to the entrance. The area on the right was a slightly precarious area where we had to scramble with about 25 ft. worth of exposure to get through the exit. Well worth it. Most people are stifled by this...

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 162
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Another view through the bridge.

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 181
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A random puddle...

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 166
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Some more random plants growing...

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 119
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Becky!!

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 92
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A view of the canyon. There were arrows to follow on the "trail". Not really a defined trail, just suggested which made it a fun canyon to hike in

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 92
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Becky with a nice smile.

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 95
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Becky stepping over some plants.

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 86
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Some interesting rock formations

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 83
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A neat little patch of plants

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 95
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A view of some bark... I know... very exciting :)

Date: 03/24/2007
Views: 95
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