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| Hiking | 1.84 Miles |
609 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.84 Miles | 2 Hrs 17 Mns | | 1.16 mph |
| 609 ft AEG | 42 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | After exploring the Coon Creek Ruins it was time to gain some elevation along FR#203A until well above Coon Creek for our hike to the Nordhoff-Hope Cliff Dwellings. It's a steep climb but the road was in pretty good shape so the Pathfinder took it with ease. From the trail head it was just a matter of following the fenceline until the reaching the cliff dwellings. Ok, so it wasn't just a walk in the park... the closer we got the steeper the angle and the less sure we were of our footing.
When we arrived we found the most interesting part of the dwellings was out of our reach and/or past our climbing abilities so we had to be satisfied with exploring the ruins along the base of the cliffs. After checking out the various walls nearest the main cliff dwelling we continued farther to make sure we didn't miss anything. We looked up a ravine to see if there may have been an easy way up to the dwellings but no joy there. On the return we stayed as close to the cliff base as possible until we hit the last of the stacked rock walls. Just before the last one there was another deeper ravine that may have led to a path to the top. Unfortunately it was so overgrown we didn't attempt to find out. After the taking a few photos at the last remaining wall we headed back down to reconnect with the trail. It turned out the best way to get back down was to glissade down the loose rock and gravel. With all the bits of grass and other bits that would have gotten into shoes it was nice being in Teva's.
Once back to the car we decided to find the closest place to park to the area above the dwellings and hike out to see what it looked like from above. I had set a waypoint at the dwellings so we drove along the road until we were less than .2 mile away when we got out and set out for the edge of the cliffs. The going was relatively easy with only a few detours to avoid a few thorny thickets. When we were within a few hundred feet of the waypoint we came to a point where it looked like layer after layer of terraces, dropping down 3-6 feet from one to the next. We went down a few levels until the drops were enough to prevent us from easily continuing. At that point we took some photos before headed back out. One of the ravines I could see all the way down to the spot where we were less than an hour before. With more time and cooler weather I'd be willing to venture down the ravine from the top down. But for today we had more 4x4 paths we wanted to check out for unique photo opportunities. More than a few of the paths got so tight I wished we had the Samurai. Being more than a foot wider, the Pathfinder ended the day with more scratched surface than not. Oh well, I got it for 4-wheeling not for looks and it did just fine. The only casualty I found a few days later was what appeared to be a pincushion thorn that had pierced the sidewall of a tire. Not willing to replace it that quickly, I had it patched so we'll see how it turns out. Still it was a very worthwhile day for adventure.
One of the weirdest things on the day was the temperatures. Even as late as 11 am at Coon Creek ruins (around 2000') it was only 77 degrees, but as we drove up toward Nordhoff-Hope the temp kept rising until it was 105 at the top. All I could think of was an easterly wind blowing hot air up and over the top of the summit. Then as we drove back down on Cherry Creek Road the temps dropped into the upper 90's, continuing to baffle us. By time we were back to Mesa it was the usual 103-105. While Tracey wasn't exactly enthused with the high temps when hiking, it seemed hardly noticeable to me.
Full set of photos are here:
http://www.changephoenix.com/11/2011-06-15NordhoffHope.html |
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