What have you found on or off the trail?

[kurthzone]

I Hiked the H3 trail in Thunderbird Park yesterday morning in the rain. Lots
of washed out areas on the trail and lots of standing water and mud from
rain during the night and the day before. I found some interesting things
on the trail. There were lots of little bright red bugs that looked like tics, but
they were flat and extremely bright red with white legs. Didn't get a real
close look at them cause I had the wrong eyeware on. I wonder if the rain
brought them out? Anyone know what they are? Also found quite a few
spent rounds of ammunition: brass casing, various shaped bullets, and
copper jackets right on the trail. I'm not surprised though, I remember there was a
shooting range in the area back in the 50's and going there with my dad,
although it was on the other side of the mountain and at the bottom. I'm
sure there was a lot of shooting going on all over in the area because
back then that was a good distance out of the city. Anyway I'm sure the recent rain
exposed them.

http://www.extremezone.com/~kurth/offsi ... ullets.jpg

In October of 1990 I was southeast of Chevlon Butte and I came up on
what I thought was a gradually sloping rise. I decided to get to the top of it
to have a good look at the area around it. When I got to the to the top, a
rather wide expanse, I sat down on some rocks to survey the area. While
I'm sitting there panning the countryside, I realized what a great view it
was. Off in one direction I could see Monument Valley formations, and in
another The San Francisco Peaks, and in another I could see for miles
and miles. It was amazing; almost surreal because there weren't any
other places near there where you had such an incredible view. After
admiring the view for some time I looked down around the ground by the
rocks where I was sitting. It was covered with broken pieces of pottery.
And after looking around some more it was easy to see that the rocks I
was sitting on were at one time a structure. There were maybe 15 or so
similar sized circular foundations. Some were not as distinguishable as
others. I found what I believed to be ovens or at least where there had
been fires in the same area over and over for some time. There were
arrowheads and chips and countless pieces of pottery with various red,
white and black designs. All of this stuff was laying on the surface of the
ground in the midst of the ruins. I did absolutely no digging and I took
nothing. I hiked around the perimeter of the area just to see what else I
could find. I found a drop off the rise into a small valley where there was a
still functioning dam with a reservoir behind it just large enough to serve a
community that size. This is the first time I've ever told anyone about this. I
remember wondering if anyone else had stumbled upon it or if it's
documented anywhere. There was a barbed wire fence quite close and I
found an old Prince Albert can. So I know for sure some cowboys have
seen it. I don't know the coordinates but I know I could find it again. I won't
be any more specific than that. My brother, his wife and a friend were with
me and we all agreed it would be best if we didn't tell anyone about it. I'm
not good at secrets. This was a great thing to experience. Anyone out
there know what it is or ever seen it? If you were in a small plane and not
to high(altitude wise) it would be quite easy to see.

[joebartels]

I'm not good at secrets

644 words later... Stan, we need to chat

Great! Now everybody here is gonna have to go hike the entire area between Heber and Moab or we're all gonna go nuts trying to figure it out.

Oh, that's too far for me. Glen! we need some detailed aerial shots pronto

Seriously though, sounds interesting! Thanks for sharing

[Cakewalk]

Golf Balls


Thats the best I can do.

The thunderbird park area is right next to a Golf course

I frequently go off trail and just bushwack to the top of the hill, and have found several golf balls. I guess we have some really poor players here in Glendale.

[landsinaz]

We saw some strange little red bugs, too, hiking in the Superstitions. They were shield shaped and fuzzy...they looked like they had red legs though. Would love to know if anyone knows what they are.

[GTG_AZH]

Velvet Mites, we saw them last year after a good rain at Shaw Butte.
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/02/01/p22s3.htm
http://www2.opb.org/ofg/1201/mites_big.htm

Very big and very weird for mites. Sorry about the weak links, if you want better pictures do a Google search, theres a bunch of pictures out there. They are supposedly not that common.

Stan, we'll talk about the ruins later.

GTG

[ck_1]

While on a recent hike up at Usery we encountered a bunch of those red mites...so we looked them up in our Field Guide....sure enough...Velvet mites...the name really fits don't you think!

[joebartels]

http://www.museums.org.za/bio/images/sc ... carins.jpg

http://lancaster.unl.edu/enviro/Images/ ... tmite2.jpg

[GTG_AZH]

I'd have to say the coolest things I've found so far have been in the Superstitions.
Mining claims, rock houses, drawings and such. None of which I could find references to, except by talking to some "experts".

GTG

[BoyNhisDog]

Glen! we need some detailed aerial shots pronto

That would be cheating. I think Kurthzone has sent us all on another adverture. The exploration and anticipation will be delicious. The description of the view intrigues me. I just love exploring. After I get this mess from the carwreck cleaned up and everything rebuilt, I will be able to go on some more adventures. For now something like this will be my vicarious thrill.

[ck_1]

For now something like this will be my vicarious thrill.

I feel the same way watching Mario pull off a stage win at the Vuelta a Espagna! Hope you were able to catch the sprint finish!

[GTG_AZH]

teva wrote:
Glen! we need some detailed aerial shots pronto

BoyNhisDog wrote:
That would be cheating. I think Kurthzone has sent us all on another adverture. The exploration and anticipation will be delicious. The description of the view intrigues me.

I wasn't going to say anything at first,
The mites are big, but not big enough for aerial shots.

GTG

[BoyNhisDog]

I feel the same way watching Mario pull off a stage win at the Vuelta a Espagna! Hope you were able to catch the sprint finish!

No I missed it! I love to see Chippo wind up for the world class burst of speed in the last 500 meters. I am hoping he will not retire and ride one more Giro. If he does and he is successful, he will become the record holder for the most stage wins. Not bad for a guy who kills everyone in the first 10 days and then watches the rest of the peleton on television during the Tour.

[olesma]

Found lots of antlers - elk, mule deer, white tail. I've found random buildings WAY back in the middle of nowhere - nothing truly interesting however.

I kind of prefer just finding the great view or the random/rare critter that I can't find in the city. I also enjoy finding myself alone with nature.

[ck_1]

A passion
solitude
adventure
fear
exhileration
myself
and once I found an old 5 dollar bill.

[nealz]

A passion, solitude, adventure, fear, exhilaration, myself and once I found an old 5 dollar bill.

Ahh Colin, those are some of the most precious things to find too. Thanks. I found a couple of old 'wheatie' pennies near Young once and a very cool Victorinox swiss army knife, with wine opener, in the Supes as well.

-Nealz

[kurthzone]

Watch out for this one; the much feared Velvet Scruffy Mite:

http://www.extremezone.com/~kurth/offsi ... inmite.jpg

Actually the mighty Velvet Mite is indeed the creature that I saw on the trail Sunday morning. Thanks for the research and info. The ones I saw did appear to have white legs much like that University of Nebraska type. I think I saw some of them in a wishbone formation; must be 'old school.'

[GTG_AZH]

Watch out for this one; the much feared Velvet Scruffy Mite:

_____ scruffy, gun totin' mites, _____

Only on HAZ.

GTG

[Wiz]

Hey! I resemble that remark!