Natural Bridge rock formations and waterfall
A year ago today we stopped briefly for a second look at Natural Bridge on the Kicking Horse River in British Columbia’s Yoho National Park. The picture below shows the churning river as it flows downstream (toward you) from the falls.
But where, you might ask, is the natural bridge? A fair question. Here’s the stone bridge as I photographed it on our first visit two days earlier:
© 2018 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Those are some mighty rapid and churning waters. I’d hate to take a fall anywhere in those photos! The second image almost looks as if the water is moving downstream – away from us. This feeling of water moving opposite of what I think I am seeing happens to me a lot, not just in the mountains, but even here when I hike to the river. I think it has more to do with the landscape and what my brain perceives to be the direction of water flow.
I really love the Native American names for areas and points of interest. “Kicking Horse” sounds wild and rebellious to me!
Littlesundog
September 9, 2018 at 7:34 AM
I’ll grant you, Kicking Horse sounds like an English translation of the native name for the river. In spite of the similarity to some native names, this one was actually in English from the beginning. Here’s what Wikipedia says: “The river was named in 1858, when James Hector, a member of the Palliser Expedition, reported being kicked by his packhorse while exploring the river. Hector named the river and the associated pass as a result of the incident.” So in this case it was the horse that was rebellious, not the namer of the river.
The second picture does indeed give the impression that the water is flowing away from the viewer. I wasn’t initially sure myself, so I looked at my other photographs and found one with a broader view that confirmed the direction in which the water was flowing. Then in the text of this post I added the words “toward you” to make the direction clear.
Steve Schwartzman
September 9, 2018 at 9:45 AM
That’s interesting about the name. I just made an assumption, since many names like that have Native American origins.
Littlesundog
September 9, 2018 at 10:57 AM
Can we nickname you, just for today, Dances with Assumptions?
Steve Schwartzman
September 9, 2018 at 11:27 AM
Ha ha ha! I love that! Yes, though after you read my post today you might think of an even better name! I’ll see what you come up with!
Littlesundog
September 9, 2018 at 11:33 AM
You mean like Dances with Chainsaws?
Or we could say you’ve become an honorary member of the Nez Frappé tribe.
Steve Schwartzman
September 9, 2018 at 11:58 AM
Ha ha ha! I knew you’d come up with something clever!
Littlesundog
September 9, 2018 at 12:58 PM
None of the old saws seemed sharp enough so I came up with a couple of new ones.
Steve Schwartzman
September 9, 2018 at 2:57 PM
Great pictures of churning waters! 🙂
Pit
September 9, 2018 at 10:52 AM
We deal with our occasional flash flooding down here in central Texas, as is happening in some places today, but they really know about churning water up there in the Canadian Rockies, and they have great rock formations to go with the turbulent water.
Steve Schwartzman
September 9, 2018 at 11:30 AM
They sure do up there.
Here, just now, our creek is running nicely, gurgling over the rocks. Wonderful sight and sound. I couldn’t resist and went out in the rain to take videos.
Pit
September 9, 2018 at 11:39 AM
Understandably, like you did the other day—though presumably better dressed this time.
Steve Schwartzman
September 9, 2018 at 11:59 AM
Well, somewhat better dressed. 😉
Pit
September 9, 2018 at 12:02 PM
Well, I guess we’ve covered that topic.
Steve Schwartzman
September 9, 2018 at 3:55 PM
“Covered” in a double meaning?! 😀
Pit
September 9, 2018 at 4:03 PM
Yes, I used the word intentionally.
Steve Schwartzman
September 9, 2018 at 5:51 PM
😀
Pit
September 9, 2018 at 7:12 PM
Wonderful post Steve and I was so interested in this because we have or had a natural bridge in Central Otago too – it was used in Maori pre-settler days and then by the settlers once they were shown the location by Maori. Your post prompted me to do an online search, not with much hope because years ago I tried to find out about this feature and couldn’t find much at all. But a great blog-post was done in 2014, if you’re interested its at: http://www.mikepole.com/2014/05/07/discovering-the-bridge-of-stone-the-ancient-route-over-the-kawarau-river-new-zealand/ Thanks for your lovely post and I’m excited to have found out more about our own natural bridge!
exploringcolour
September 9, 2018 at 3:05 PM
I’m glad this post prompted you to search for more information about your Otago counterpart, and even more, that you found what you were after. Let’s hope you visit the site now.
I noticed what I think is an unintentional play on words in the linked article. After noting earlier that the difficult crossing is known not only as Natural Bridge but also as Chalmers Leap, the article says: “New Zealand is making leaps and bounds in creating and advertising long-distance walk/cycle-ways.”
Steve Schwartzman
September 9, 2018 at 3:55 PM
Ha! Yes, excellent play on words and the writer certainly doesn’t own up to it being intentional but I do wonder… well spotted Steve! I would love to visit the site sometime. I’ve stopped at that location years ago and I recall a very steep gravel lane descending in the general direction of where Chalmers Leap is indicated on the map. Funny how your post prompted this discovery; how one thing leads to another. 🙂
exploringcolour
September 9, 2018 at 4:26 PM
We could say that this post was a natural bridge to Otago’s natural bridge. Let’s hope the site’s not too dangerous for you to visit.
Steve Schwartzman
September 9, 2018 at 5:53 PM
I’m so glad you did this post now as we’re in early spring – plenty of long days ahead of us in which to plan a visit. Reasonably long drive so needs a bit of forward planning. Looking forward to the trip already 🙂
exploringcolour
September 9, 2018 at 6:09 PM
And then you can do a post about your visit. Looking forward to it.
Steve Schwartzman
September 9, 2018 at 7:58 PM
Thanks so much Steve, when it happens I’ll definitely post about it 🙂
exploringcolour
September 9, 2018 at 8:00 PM
Very nice natural bridge.We have a natural dam at the Wahconah Falls not far from here.
Steve Gingold
September 10, 2018 at 4:11 AM
I looked back through your Wahconah Falls pictures and found a “cathedral” but didn’t notice a natural bridge. Did I miss it, or haven’t you shown it?
Steve Schwartzman
September 10, 2018 at 6:19 AM
It’s a natural dam but I but I did not label it as such. Here it is seen after a hurricane with the water passing over the top in a crease.
Steve Gingold
September 10, 2018 at 7:09 AM
3rd picture down.
Steve Gingold
September 10, 2018 at 7:10 AM
Ah, now I see it. It’s nice how you got two waterfalls diagonally aligned.
Steve Schwartzman
September 10, 2018 at 7:13 AM
Thanks.
Steve Gingold
September 10, 2018 at 8:50 AM
That churning stream flowing toward the viewer is wonderful! Makes me wonder where you were standing? How close to the rushing water, and what you were standing on?
Birder's Journey
September 11, 2018 at 6:21 PM
As much as it would be fun to say I was hanging from a tree branch or leaning out from the gondola of a balloon, the truth is more mundane. I don’t remember the specifics but I think it must have been a footbridge over the river. Footbridges were common at rugged sites like this one so people could continue along paths to other scenic places.
Steve Schwartzman
September 11, 2018 at 7:19 PM
The effect is fabulous!
Birder's Journey
September 11, 2018 at 7:20 PM
I hadn’t thought about the possibility that viewers might wonder where I was standing. I can see now how that implicit question would make the picture more adventuresome. Glad you enjoyed it.
Steve Schwartzman
September 11, 2018 at 7:24 PM
The rocks are beautiful, the water flow is impressive, and the combination of the two must have been memorable, to say the least. But I’m most taken with those little trees in the first and last photos. They look like bonsai, and they’re the perfect, delicate accent to all that heft and force. What a wonderful place that must have been to visit; I’m glad to see it through your photos.
shoreacres
September 12, 2018 at 10:22 PM
Those smaller trees growing out of the rocks show once again how tenacious life can be. Natural Bridge is indeed a great place to visit, which meant that hundreds of other people had the same idea. As at other sites, I had to work to get views with no tourists in them.
Steve Schwartzman
September 13, 2018 at 7:52 AM
The bridge is only bridgeable on occasion!
tanjabrittonwriter
September 19, 2018 at 5:32 PM
Does the water sometimes rise high enough to cover the bridge?
Steve Schwartzman
September 19, 2018 at 6:39 PM
Did I misinterpret your photos again? I thought they showed the same bridge, once under water, once clear.
tanjabrittonwriter
September 19, 2018 at 8:32 PM
The first picture included the waterfall and some rock formations but not the natural bridge. That’s why I added the third photograph.
Steve Schwartzman
September 19, 2018 at 9:00 PM
My bad, Steve. I thought it might show the bridge unter water!
tanjabrittonwriter
September 19, 2018 at 9:29 PM
Well, without a lot of context, multiple interpretations are possible. Psychologist Daniel Kahneman says that the mind is very good at inventing possible explanations.
Steve Schwartzman
September 19, 2018 at 10:23 PM
I think we always try to make sense of what we see or hear.
tanjabrittonwriter
September 19, 2018 at 10:53 PM
We do. That can be positive, allowing us to quickly figure out what’s likely to be happening. Formulating a quick conjecture can also be negative, as the mind is tempted to draw a conclusion based on personal preferences but not enough evidence. The latter is obvious in politics.
Steve Schwartzman
September 20, 2018 at 4:50 AM
That looks like a powerful river! I remember sketching along a river in California many years ago. Sitting on the boulders next to it, you could feel as well as hear all that water roaring past. Kinda scary, really.
melissabluefineart
October 11, 2018 at 11:27 PM
You’re right about the power of this river, which did indeed roar through the falls and under the natural bridge.
Hard to believe it’s been 13 months since we were there—and a lot longer than that for you since you sketched in California.
Steve Schwartzman
October 12, 2018 at 7:58 AM
Yes. Isn’t it interesting, though, how fresh a memory can be?
melissabluefineart
October 12, 2018 at 8:04 AM
I’ve been reading a little about memory lately. The current scientific understanding seems to be that we re-create a memory each time we call it up, as opposed to tapping something stored in an immutable state.
Steve Schwartzman
October 12, 2018 at 8:52 AM
Oh, I like that. So a favorite memory can be kept fresh by revisiting it, and less fun ones can be ignored into oblivion.
melissabluefineart
October 12, 2018 at 10:01 AM
Yes, but there’s a potential and sometimes actual downside: people have been prompted, nay manipulated, into “remembering” things that never happened. Do you recall the so-called satanic ritual abuse delusion of the 1980s?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanic_ritual_abuse#False_memories
Steve Schwartzman
October 12, 2018 at 11:46 AM
[…] If you’d like to see a natural stone bridge, Steve Schwartzman posted an excellent photo of “Natural Bridge on the Kicking Horse River in British Columbia’s Yoho National Park”. See his post Natural Bridge rock formations and waterfall […]
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