On day four the plan was to do the hike to the Kolb Natural Bridge. Everybody was up by 600 and we were on the way up to the bridge by 700. We started by just following the creek and hopping from side to side as needed to get around the brushy areas. There was a lot of brush along some sections of the creek and the morning's hike started out pretty much as the prior evening's had ended. It was making me very nervous as dense brush near the pour-off climb was what prevented us from getting up to the bridge during the 2012 trip.

We had not gone very far up the creek before we entered another burn area and from that point on travel was a lot easier. The burn continued to the point where canyon split, about a mile or so from camp, and we continued up along the northern branch. The burn area continued up that branch but the water did not.

It took us just about 2 hours from camp to get to the slope we needed to climb to get past the pour-off which was still about another quarter mile up the creek bed. There would not be any problem with brush on this trip as it had all been burned away by the fire that had scorched the area.

John announced that he was giving up at this point and would not be continuing on to the bridge. He was having problems with his knees and I think he took one look at the slope we had to climb and just did not want to deal with having to come back down that. There was water flowing in a few places here and there along the creek bed and as luck would have it John found one very close by. So at least he would have plenty of water while we were gone.

Max, Janice and I climbed up the slope and then along the rim of the side of the canyon to get above the pour-off and from up there we got our first view of the Kolb bridge. I think Max was somewhat daunted by the distance and the amount of climbing that still remained and he gave out at that point and said he would wait for us there. So now we were down to two. There was water flowing where Max was staying as well but he did not have a filter. At least he would be able to use it to cool off if needed.

Janice and I continued the climb up to the bridge and I was glad that she did not give up as well as I probably would not have continued on by myself leaving people scattered all over the place. It was a lot of work but we did finally make it up to the bridge. The last part, getting directly below the bridge, was the hardest part and it took Janice some time to get up there.

It was nice to be back up there but with all of the burned trees and brush it was a lot greener and a lot prettier back in 2006. The bridge itself could not be damaged by fire though and it was just as massive as I had remembered. There were even a couple of small waterfalls behind it and water flowing beneath which was a nice touch. I had seen it from a distance with water behind on a previous trip and was happy to be up there under those conditions. Janice and I took lots of photos and rested up there for probably a half of an hour or more before starting the hike back to Max, and then John.

The hike back was a little easier as it was downhill at least. The hardest part was that slope back down to where John was waiting after we reconnected with Max. We did not start down at the exact same spot where we had come up and where we did start was a little more steep and tricky.

John was going to resupply us with water before starting back to camp but when he went to do so he discovered that his water source had dried up. We headed down the creek bed thinking we might find some more but all of the spots that had had water earlier in the day were now dry. There still had to be water running as there was water flowing under the bridge and also at both of the pour-offs we passed. It must just all have been underground at that point. I wasn't short on water myself and Janice was able to resupply John with a little from her own store.

We moved a lot quicker on the way back and the burn areas really help to accelerate our progress. Things slowed down somewhat when we got back into the brushy areas. There was also water available at that point but we did not bother to stop to filter as we were already getting pretty close to camp. It was getting dark already by the time we arrived at camp and we ended up cooking and eating by headlamp again.