NATURAL BRIDGES OF UTAH 
217 
at most a fair growth of cedars, but in the vicinity of Kigalia 
• the mountain is covered with a dense growth of timber, many of 
the pines being from four to six feet in diameter and in excess 
of a hundred feet in height. 
From the top of Elk Mountain looking toward the west, 
the traveller obtains his first view of the platform in which the 
bridges are situated. It lies more than a thousand feet below him 
and stretches out toward the south and south-west almost as far 
as the eye can see. When thus viewed from the distance, this 
vast, level plain appears to be practically unbroken, except by 
outliers, large and small, which rise abruptly from its surface, 
like so many flat-topped icebergs from an undisturbed sea. 
Those who have been fortunate enough to have the privilege 
of looking down upon a broad valley filled with heavy clouds, 
can readily imagine the view from a point of vantage on Elk 
Mountain. When seen from afar, the great white sandstones — 
likened to the clouds in the valley — at first appear to form an 
unbroken floor over which the traveller might pass, but wherr ex¬ 
amined more carefully, the presence of steep-sided, illuring can¬ 
yons is plainly discernible. 
This vast platform is so completely dissected by an intricate 
labyrinth of box-canyons that passage directly across it is wholly 
impossible. Not infrequently the explorer is compelled to travel 
many miles around circuitous cliffs in order to reach a desired 
point only a few rods distant from the place of beginning. Even 
though the canyons in this particular locality seldom exceed an 
average depth of 500 feet, yet their walls are so nearly vertical 
as to make them effective barriers even to a man afoot. 
Thus we have before us the home of the greatest natural 
bridges in the world. Entirely obscured from distant view, and 
far below the general surface of the surrounding country, these 
masterpieces of Nature are hidden kway in one of the most 
inaccessible countries known. Their security and isolation might 
almost be interpreted to mean that Deity had deliberately decided 
to place them in such a position that only those who were willing 
to pay the price of distant travel shall be permitted to look upon 
them. 
After leaving the top of Elk Mountain the traveller descends 
its steep, western face by a zigzag trail, and in course of time 
