HikeArizona.COM

@RedRoxx44
Thank you for sharing. That was a great piece. A similar project here in the southwest would be fascinating.

I've gone hiking with a couple of long time SAR volunteers around Tucson and one in particular has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of many old trails. Spent an impressive morning with him around Catalina State Park while he showed off these faint trails that at one point had been popular among many of the past residents of the area. Stumbled across pottery shards on one trail.

I've been fascinated by the "ancient trails" that exist in the desert around here. Archaeologists write papers about them, stretching hundreds of miles but I've always been curious how they can be so sure. I know the early Spaniards followed some of the paths and made maps, and things like pottery, petroglyphs, and rock "assemblages" lend some credence, but I've not been able to trace continuous lines between the points they mark on the map. There certainly are a lot of visible trails in the middle of nowhere (many around the lower Gila River) and there's not much casual traffic or livestock around there. I have noticed the sparse wildlife (deer, coyote) seem to follow the same routes and I'm sure most of the candidates aren't really ancient. But some are...passing right by pottery, petros, rock "shrines", etc.

I've hiked abandoned trails in quite a few places, from Shenandoah to Yosemite. Not so many in AZ, but I suspect there are quite a few old and very old routes that are still visible enough to follow.

It is amazing to me that the gentleman was able to so accurately recreate those trails. That is perseverance plain and simple. At the risk of sounding like the "Get off my Lawn" guy most kids today wouldn't bother to lift their heads up from the cell phone to know that the outside exists. I know there are plenty of exceptions to the rule but the rule is sad. Just sad.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programs....Thanks for sharing @redroxx44!