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| | Coin Slot in Kartchner Caverns State Park, AZ | | | |
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Coin Slot in Kartchner Caverns State Park, AZ
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| Hiking | 8.40 Miles |
600 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.40 Miles | 7 Hrs 20 Mns | | 1.15 mph |
| 600 ft AEG | | 45 LBS Pack | | |
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| no linked trail guides |
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| no partners | | I call this the Coin Slot for obvious reasons...to me, it looks like a coin slot in the cliff face. I headed west off of Hwy 90 into Kartchner Caverns State Park, and stayed westerly on Sands Ranch Road to its end. This was a rather peculiar road, due to it many wash crossings and large rock surfaces, but was able to reach its end, due SW of what I call this Coin Slot. The hike started at around 5200 feet, through some fairly heavy ground clutter. My goal was reaching the pictured cliff with this unusual, and mysterious, relief in its face. Visible from much of the surrounding area, it always appeared as a cave, so my curiosity won out and I had to investigate. I packed for an overnighter, just to be safe, and camera equipment for the sake of recording my findings along the way.
I had discovered the dry canyon along the road, a mine shaft of the vertical nature and various vistas which are not visible from well-travelled areas. Once out of the truck and actually hiking, the only real encounters were with mesquite and the odd beavertail, among other brush and cacti.
My hike took me up to the face of the cliff, only to discover the ledge on which I presumed would get me to the "Coin slot" was far too narrow and steep for a lone expedition to be wise. This did, however get me close enough to discern it was not a cave, but a peculiar notch in the cliff, that appeared as though it had been mechanically dug. There were no boulders below, signifying it had simply eroded...and no piles from a machine working the rock face...but there it is, a nearly perfect half-round indentation that looked as though a coin of gigantic proportion would fit into it. My final elevation was 5800 feet, approximately 200 feet below the height of its floor.
If anyone reading this triplog has any information (factual) about this strange dug out, I, for one, would be highly interested in knowing its origin. |
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