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| Hiking | 1.05 Miles |
356 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.05 Miles | | | |
| 356 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | On our way south to Tucson via HW 79 and other backroads to do Mount Wrightson, we turned W at paved Hunt Highway just N of Florence and followed the railroad tracks for 1.5 miles to the TH at an underpass on the right. A group of adults and teens rested in the tunnel's shade, having just returned from an excursion to the summit on a warm afternoon.
This is a drab hill with a matching "trail," the last part covered in porous black basalt and some white rock that could be a form of quartz. Charles Poston, the so-called Father of Arizona, is entombed up there in a modest pyramid of stone and cement. It took us 13 minutes to reach the top. You can cut the walking distance by driving a bit farther, first easing through the underpass, opening a gate and coming up to a barrier where the trail becomes rough. But why drive if you can walk?
There has to be only one reason Poston, who converted to Zoroastrianism on a trip to India, contemplated building a temple up there. Though only about 240' above the desert floor, this dark pimple is by far the highest point around and provides a panorama of the city of Florence on the SE, the expansive flatlands in every direction and the distant mountains, including the Superstitions 20 miles north.
Found a triangulation disc, "Poston 1935" and a corresponding reference mark close to the pyramid. Not much else. An abandoned building of unknown purpose sets off the NW corner. There is a slab on the pyramid with the date 1907, five years after Poston's death in Phoenix. Assume that is the date it was built. The trek is probably only worth it if you tote some Arizona history. Plenty of info online about Poston and his butte. Some of it may even be factual. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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Route Editor
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