Natural Bridge State Park

Since it was such a gorgeous fall weekend, we continued with the outdoor theme on Sunday, driving south and east into Kentucky, eventually finding our way to Natural Bridge State Park in Slade, Ky. I had had the crazy idea that we should drive the 2.5 hours just to hike up to the Natural Bridge, enjoy the view, hike some more, climb down, then drive back home (another 2.5 hours or so). (So much for our efforts at conserving gas these days.) So I threw together a picnic lunch, filled up our water bottles and packed our cameras and off we went. On the way I got us slightly misplaced (that is to say, we missed an exit even though I had the map in my hands...unhappy moment) and almost ran out of gas when exits became few and far between (said prayers for gas stations to appear) .... but we got there sometime shortly after noon.

We commenced hiking, or should I say walking (or plodding?) slowly up "The Original Trail" which the trail guide describes as "the shortest and easiest trail for hiking to the Natural Bridge." (Humor.) The trail is only .75 miles but feels twice as long, especially for those who are very out-of-shape. Some kind soul thought to place benches and little trail shelters periodically along the way, and I took advantage of most of them. The trail is really a series of stone steps, wooden steps and rocks to climb - and it goes uphill at a decent grade all the way. Note: going downhill on all these steps and hills is even worse. Far worse! My leg muscles were a mess by the time we got back to the bottom a couple of hours later.

Good thing I knew that the hike was worth it, from previous visits. Once at the top, you first see the underside of the arch, then climb up (yes) more steps through a natural fracture in the rock, finally getting to the top. The actual stone span is pretty narrow and completely wide open. Nothing to stop anyone from going over the edge, either by accident or on purpose. Very scary. But did I mention the view? You can see half of Kentucky from that ridge! (Well, maybe not quite that much. But what a way to see the Red River Gorge area!)

We didn't linger too long on the top of the arch since both of us get to feeling pretty nervous after just a few minutes. We took another hour or so to walk around the trails at the top of the gorge, stopping at Lovers Leap and Lookout Point, where we ate our lunch. (Oh, yes, there is a ski lift that we could have used to get to the top.) Now on that 3rd picture below, ignore the old people, but notice the Natural Bridge behind us, across the gorge. That's how it looks from afar.

We relaxed and cooled down in the lodge for a while once we finished hiking, then took a look at the map to find an alternative backroads way to drive home. No highway for us, oh no, we wanted the scenic route. That's where we always get in trouble. More on that later.