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| Hiking | 1.50 Miles |
16 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.50 Miles | 2 Hrs | | 0.75 mph |
| 16 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | The Monday March 13th edition of the Arizona Republic had a brief on page B5 indicating that;
"March is Arizona Archeological Awareness Month and Rangers from Casa Grande National Monument will be conducting backcountry tours to archeological sites normally closed to the public."
Intrigued, I was able to secure a reservation for Sunday March 26th at 9:00 am. I picked up Mike Mattes and we arrived at the National Monument with time to spare. We soon met our Ranger guide, Denise Schultz, along with 6 other hikers for the backcountry tour. Denise explained that Compound A, the "Grand House", is open to the public 7 days a week.
We however, are headed to Compound B, open to the public only on very special occasions. We first visit a ball court and soon discover that this is relatively small compared to the ball court located outside the National Monument near the new WalMart visible to the east.
We then visit a large trash mound. This looked insignificant at first, but upon closer examination the trash mound reveals many secrets - large pottery shards, arrowheads. Walls around two large platform mounds are visited next. We see drainage systems installed in 1907 to move rainwater off the platform mounds.
One of the last stops is an oven pit lined with congealed sugars from agave plants. The fired sugars would form a ceramic-like finish on the rocks giving the appearance of a fireplace lining. We return via the old stagecoach route back to the visitors center completing a circuit of almost 1 ½ miles.
Many thanks to Ranger Denise Schultz for a most informative tour of Compound B! |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
