Devils Bridge!! Instagram worthy, breathtakingly beautiful, and a really fun 4.5 mile hike… but be warned, results may vary!
We were welcomed to the trailhead early Monday morning with cool 30 degree temps,
and hot air balloons dancing across the cloudless blue skies!
The early morning sun sparkled in rich colors of gold!
As we made our way to the “climb”, the crowd was getting bigger and I knew we were almost to the overlook and famous Devils Bridge.
Devils Bridge is not what I was expecting! I had seen photos of it before, and it was a lot closer to the cliffs edge than I thought it would be. It is so interesting how photos can truly change your perspective of something and really emphasizes how important it is to see something in person for yourself! Photos are always so deceiving, especially in todays world where editing and “staging” is so prevalent!
Now, the culture once you get “in line” for a picture is that the person behind you takes your phone or camera and is your photographer.
Behind us, we had a very nice “older” couple… they were probably the oldest people in line and probably has no idea what the slogan “instagram worthy” means. Anyhoot, we handed them our cameras and off we went to get into position for our epic pictures!
And this is how it turned out!
Where’s the bridge, the arch?? Where is the view and epic landscape?? WTF? Like, seriously?
OMG, I’m laughing and crying all at the same time because this is epic in a way I never even imagined was possible! I’m thinking to myself… Oh please let my camera picture turn out better than this phone picture!!
Now, a little back story… The lady said, and I quote, “he is the photographer (referring to her husband). Give him the big camera and I can do the phone.” I was so excited!! I thought I won the jackpot and got someone who knows photography and DSLR Cameras to take our photo…
NO!! IT WAS A LIE!! When he handed me my camera back, he said, “this thing doesn’t zoom well.” At that moment I’m thinking to myself, “OMG, why would you want to zoom? This is a LANDSCAPE moment, you don’t zoom with landscape… the whole point is to get a photo that includes the landscape!! These people… do they not understand why we are here? I don’t need to see every dimple in my backside visible through my workout leggings, I want to document this view!
Well he did his best and turned the photo vertical and zoomed it in as far as my lens would let him… the whole vertical photos thing is also a problem for me but clearly I have bigger issues… If it weren’t for the landscape lens with limited zoom, we would have two identical photos! This photo could be touched up a little in photoshop to be made usable… but in all honesty, it wasn’t about getting a photo of us… but rather a photo of how small we are in the vast magnificent world and documenting the experience we shared together.
I asked him if we could do one more and him not touch any settings, just press the button. I was very specific and said “no zoom and please hold it horizontal to get the beautiful landscape in the shot!” Oh gosh, well… it’s fine, photoshop helped a little but this just proves that it is not about the camera, but rather the person behind the camera! Cameras DO NOT take beautiful pictures, the photographers do! LOL!!
May the odds be ever in your favor when trusting a stranger with your memory documentation apparatus. If nothing else, Chris and I will be laughing at this experience for years to come and learned a lesson… Never leave your tripod at home!! My camera is fancy enough to set up and can be operated with my phone, no strangers interpretation of a good photo needed!
The hike though was beautiful and even without the Devils Bridge photo, it was worth every mile!!
Watson is a natural born mountain goat and rocks these hikes like a professional!
After concluding our unforgettable hike, we headed to old town Cottonwood, AZ for a round of disc golf and sightseeing!
It turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day with more memories that will last a lifetime!
I have kept busy working my small business during the week. There hasn’t been a free day yet since I arrived! I am so grateful for this second chance and for being able to work and travel at the same time. RV Life truly is an amazing adventure!! Keep following along as I plan more hikes and adventures that are most likely not going to go as planned!!
