Tonto Natural Bridge

Wil and I at Tonto Natural Bridge.

We took a trip to Payson yesterday - apparently our mission this summer is to be home in the heat as few weekends as humanly possible. It was SO much fun!

First, we went to Tonto Natural Bridge. It was awesome! I've never been there before, and it was SO cool! We did the loop, so we got to go all the way under the bridge and out the other side. I have NO idea how something like that forms, but it was amazing!

If you look closely, you can see the back side of the waterfall. There were parts under the bridge that it felt like it was raining!

I should mention at this point that there was one part when we were under the bridge where the rock was completely slick. They had carved small footholes in the rock so you could climb up. At which point you were on a ledge and had to put your feet in the little footholes on the side of the rock in front of you that were not large enough to hold more than your toes and the balls of your feet and then you had to walk across and not fall to your death off the edge of the ledge - at least that's what it felt like.

I had a little nervous breakdown on the ledge. Wil usually helps me or gives me a hand when it gets difficult and I get nervous, but there was only room for one at a time in the footholes and I needed both hands to hold on the rock in front of me. There was nothing he could do, I had to do it on my own. Literally - I think I stood on the ledge trying to figure out where to move my feet for at least ten minutes! I was so scared I couldn't move - it was a weird feeling! Finally, I got brave enough to move my feet. Wil pushed me against the ledge so I wouldn't lose my balance (my problem is that I'm clumsy and I know it...falling off a ledge does not seem like a far fetched thing for me to do). Happily, I made it and lived to tell you the tale on this very blog! A little embarassed that I got so scared, but I was brave and did it...and I would probably still be scared if I had to do it again!

It was at the very moment that I was having a nervous breakdown on the edge of the cliff that we ran into a family from our ward. What are the chances? They probably think I'm a complete wimp (and they quite possibly could be right).

This is way before the freaky ledge...I'm not THAT much of a wimp!

Besides going through the bridge, we had a picnic at the park, picked wild blackberries and even saw this little guy - I don't think I've ever been so close to a javelina before! It was great fun!