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| Hiking | 8.50 Miles |
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| | Hiking | 8.50 Miles | 5 Hrs | | 1.70 mph |
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| no partners | | My plan was to circle around Joes Hill staying mainly on the rim of Perry Mesa and find some seldom visited Indian ruins.
I parked at Perry Mesa Windmill, for details of this approach see the Rattlesnake - Perry Tank Canyon Ruin Loop description. I stayed near the west rim of the deepening Perry Tank Canyon keeping higher than on my previous trip. Doing this I deliberately missed a lot of petroglyphs and bedrock metates - I was anticipating a long day. When I passed the point where I'd previously descended and crossed the canyon I dropped a bit lower and found another fantastic "kitchen" area containing at least 20 worn grooves atop a rock outcrop with petroglyphs on the creek-facing side. The concentration of metates along this side of the canyon is much higher than anywhere else I've seen and the only explanation is that scores of women must have been at work at the same time. Unfortunately the large petroglyph panel is faded and so not impressive.
Continuing along I came to the two main Rattlesnake ruins. These are more impressive in the satellite pictures than when visited - mainly overgrown and few recognizable walls. Plenty of pottery on the ground though and I found one interesting circular piece with a hole in it. When leaving the 2nd ruin I slipped on a loose rock - pretty common on Perry Mesa terrain - but this time I fell awkwardly on to some rocks. Feeling dumb and bruised, I continued on...
I contoured west and then north passing two more small ruins. The ruins are almost always marked by a concentration of sherds, flaked quartz, and rockpiles (collapsed walls). I continued to a nice overlook of Perry Tank Canyon - a circle of rocks was at the overlook.
Next I cut across the flank of Joes Hill heading toward the rim above the Agua Fria River. This is seldom visited (except by cows and pronghorns) but like most of Perry Mesa bits of pottery are scattered almost everywhere. I found another small ruin at the Agua Fria rim and continued south, but the pains from my tumble were starting to get to me.
I decided I needed to head back and the shortest route was right over the top of Joes Hill. Other than being the local high point, Joes Hill is notable as the source of the volcanic rock which covers the area - but there's hardly any reason to walk up it unless its the way home. Between the top and Perry Mesa Windmill I came across another area with a lot of pottery pieces but I didn't see any walls.
I'll have to come back another day to sample the second half of my aborted circumambulation of Joes Hill. |
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