Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, Taos, New Mexico

 

The above photo shows the Rio Grande Gorge near Taos, about 650 feet deep, with a small river running through the bottom.  Further south, the river widens and there are rafting tours down the river on a pretty swift current.

Below is a photo showing the bridge going over the gorge.  As I was driving up to the bridge, there were green fields, a little bit rolly, but mostly flat valley land.  As I got closer, I could see the deep gorge where it made a cut in the land.  I didn't look down when I crossed the bridge, since I really don't like heights.  I didn't want to see how far down it was.

 





I might have mentioned that I really don't like heights, but there's a walkway on the bridge, on both sides, with spaces to step away from traffic to view the bridge.  It was there, and it was the only way I could get a decent photo of the gorge, so I had to walk over to the viewing space, which is where I got the first photo above.  As I was standing there, taking photos and looking down at the river, a large truck drove over the bridge and I could feel the vibration as he passed.  That was while I was taking the photo below, looking directly down from the bridge.  I was glad that someone had just told me the bridge had been refurbished recently.

 

 

After getting my shots of the view, I carefully looked for traffic on the bridge and crossed over to the other side, where I got a few more shots of the gorge.  Then I walked back to the safety of land and back to my truck. 

 

That gorge is definitely dramatic.  I can imagine back years ago when the river cut it's way through the valley, it would have been a very deep river at that time.