The walk down to this bridge is the easiest of all. You can be down and back in a half hour (as usual, we recommend that you take longer). It is not strenuous, compared with the other two, and it offers some nice insights about bridges. In other words, here’s another different point of view. Owachomo is sort of a different kind of natural bridge, for it was formed differently than the others. We’ll explain that when you get down there.
10
A We haven’t said very much about wildlife here, mostly because you aren’t likely to see much of it. Here however, you can see the work of a porcupine. Porcupines like to eat pinyon bark at times, and this pinyon must be pretty tasty. The large rodents gnaw at the tree to get at the nutritious inner bark, and may in time kill the tree by girdling it. The inner bark carries needed food and water between roots and leaves (both up and down), and if all the lifelines between the top and bottom of the tree are severed, the top will die.
No, we don’t try to “protect” the tree from porcupines. We call this a natural area, and that means it is an area where we try to let natural events proceed without the interference of man. That isn’t just “protection” of things, it’s protection of a system. It just means that if the porcupine wants to eat the pinyon, let him do it. It doesn’t mean the porcupine is “worth” more than the pine, nor vice versa. Each has its own place, its own life, and its own interactions with the rest of the world. Just like you do!
10
B This is a good place to consider Owachomo’s origin and evolution.
Run-off from a large area used to flow down the little canyon (Tuwa Canyon) in front of you, along the base of a rock fin, and into Armstrong Canyon behind you to your right. Owachomo did not exist; there was no natural bridge at that time. Flood waters rushing down this side of the fin ate into the base of the fin and flood waters of Armstrong Canyon ate into the other side. A hole developed in the fin, creating the bridge and allowing Tuwa’s run-off a shorter route to Armstrong.
So, Owachomo was formed by the action of two separate streams, and that makes it different from Kachina and Sipapu (and most other natural bridges we know about).
Owachomo Bridge
Erosion is a continuing, dynamic process; however, stream channels gradually change. The run-off from Tuwa no longer flows through the little canyon in front of you because there is now a deeper canyon on the other side of the bridge fin.
10
C Passing the “Unmaintained Trail” sign isn’t like abandoning all hope, but it does mean that the trail may be harder to follow and that we don’t do as much to protect or help you. Some hikers continue from here and go all the way back to Sipapu via the canyon’s trail. Many people start at Sipapu and come out this way (which is a lot easier), but a few start here and go back. It isn’t really a terribly difficult hike, either way, and it is a lot of fun.