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| Hiking | 9.50 Miles |
1,657 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.50 Miles | 4 Hrs 15 Mns | | 3.26 mph |
| 1,657 ft AEG | 1 Hour 20 Mns Break | 15 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | Hey, it's Friday the 13th. Why not hike to and explore an ancient Hohokam ruin? Hit the trail a bit later than planned. The self pay kiosk at the Spur Cross trailhead was manned by two volunteers who even had change for my $5 ($3 per person entry fee). So much for the honor system.
The plan was to follow the Cave Creek Trail (FR48) and then take the Trail 4 up to the ruins and then drop down in the creek again to visit the petroglyphs. A cool breeze made hiking up the Cave Creek trail very enjoyable. The creek was mostly dry. Made much better time than planned, so I didn't think I was at the turn off for Trail #4 and just sort of blew past it right on up Cave Creek. No problem. I can bushwhack up as well as down and I was betting the trailhead would remain at the same elevation for the entire hike.
Found the glyphs easily enough. Very nice concentration here. Love the double metate on the northern side of the glyphs. Took lots of photos even though the light was not the best.
Went farther north to make a more gradual climb up to the ruins. Not sure I helped myself much since there seems to be more growth up this way. So steep or stickers, those are the options.
Made it up top and explored the ruins. A few well defined rooms and a lot of tumbled down walls. This was a fairly large settlement by the looks of things. Not a bad place to live -- creek below, good views, no noisy neighbors close by. Found a few random glyphs and metates. Lots of pottery shards laying about. Had lunch atop the ridge and listened to the desert for a while.
Took Trail 4 down. Almost wished I'd just dropped back into the creek. The creek route is far more pleasant in my opinion, but Trail 4 is decent enough.
Ran into some tennis shoe hikers about a mile from the trailhead. Had the place to myself otherwise.
Visiting the old folks ain't the worst way to spend your time on Friday the 13th. |
| _____________________
All you have is your fire...
And the place you need to reach |
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