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| Hiking | 7.20 Miles |
1,848 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.20 Miles | | | |
| 1,848 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Hiked up TR247A for about 1.7 miles from the Spur Cross parking lot then headed east following the fence that marks the boundary between the Tonto NF and Private property. A couple years ago I had spotted a small structure on the private property side of the fence. Through the hazy distance it had looked like one of the outhouses you see in parking lots at county parks. The MyTopo map on HAZ had the label "Parking" at that location. Led me to believe that maybe this was an old abandoned park site or trailhead. Today I was going to find out for sure. After following the fence line for about a half mile I could see the structure about 500 feet from the fence. The abundance of no trespassing and private property signs made it clear that it was not on public property. It appeared to be an old shack with stone walls made from the abundant nearby rock. The single door and one visible window were boarded up from the inside. So much for the public park/trailhead outhouse theory.
The remainder of the day I explored off trail along both sides of 247A checking out likely looking hill tops for possible Indian ruins. Found one possible Indian artifact that looked like a scrapping tool or ? made from slate. The only other artifact I found was a gas air spring from a Bell helicopter on top of one of the hills. I looked around for possible wreckage but found none. Back home I looked up the part number on the internet and found out it was from the crew/passenger door of a Bell A, B or L helicopter. I also found no record of a Bell helicopter crash in that area in the FAA incident records. Maybe bart01 lost it on one of his training flights? 
I turned around and headed back on 247A about 0.4 miles short of the intersection of 247 and 247A. About 2 miles from the parking lot I spotted a cairn with a stick pointing to a faint trail going north up the hill. Being curious I headed up the faint trail for a short distance before deciding I was running out of time. I suspect it is a shortcut to trail 247 and might offer a shorter route to Skull Mesa. I'll be back to investigate. Back on 247A I started seeing large numbers of TB Cholla puff balls laying in the trail in areas far from the plants. Who would do such a dastardly thing? Not sure, but I think those puff balls weren't there when I passed up the trail in the morning. Earlier I had seen a large pack rat midden piled high with those hazardous puff balls and wondered how the rats are able to move those things without getting stuck. Maybe they also like to litter the trails with them to deter predators? As usual, too much to ponder when I was exhausted from a long day of hiking. |
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Route Editor
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