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| Frustum #17 Remains and Morgan, AZ | |
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| | Frustum #17 Remains and Morgan, AZ | | | |
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Frustum #17 Remains and Morgan, AZ
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| Hiking | 3.33 Miles |
794 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.33 Miles | 4 Hrs 36 Mns | | 2.38 mph |
| 794 ft AEG | 3 Hrs 12 Mns Break | | | |
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| no linked trail guides |
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| no partners | | This hike was between Lake Pleasant and Wickenburg, about 7 miles north of Rte 74, in the Hieroglyphic Mountains.
Getting to a position to start the hike had to be modified a few times due to locked gates, and ‘No Trespassing ‘ signs. I happened upon some guys getting ready to takeoff on their dirt-bikes, who knew the area very well. They told me which washes to use as a highway (and which ones not to use). Thank-you guys.
Once I got to where I planned to ‘park-N-hike’, I noticed the wash I was going to initially hike in, was in good shape for driving. I was behind schedule now, so I drove a couple more miles in that last wash, and then hiked into the mountains in pursuit of a boundary marker and benchmark.
I hiked on a dirt bike trail the entire time, which was good and bad. The ‘good’ was, I could look off-trail and ‘mock’ all those plants-with-needles. The ‘bad’ was - Any boundary marker near any trail tends to have a short life expectancy. Sadly, I was correct on the ‘bad’.
The defenseless boundary marker #17 has been vandalized. Someone beat the $$@@## out of it, leaving ‘frustum concrete’ all over the desert and stealing all three of its brass plaques. Ironically, what’s left of the concrete base remains solid in the ground, with its pipe holding strong.
The frustum reminds me of the nursery rhyme “Humpty Dumpty”.
“All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.”
I stacked some frustum pieces atop the remaining concrete base, took photos, then dismantled the loose pieces. It would be a 3-dimensional puzzle to actually “put frustum #17 together again”.
About 250 yards north, atop a little mountain, is the home of Morgan Benchmark. It was placed on a high point, and was set specifically for the 1924 Maricopa/Yavapai boundary survey. It too is right next to the same trail, however the survey disk looks brand new. It spends its time under about 2 inches of desert, hidden from view. Out of sight - Out of mind.
The next few frustums I’ll hike to are very remote, and chances are they’ll be in good shape.
I heard the braying of wild burros the entire time, but never saw one. I do know they like trails, as I had to avoid ‘wild burro scat’ every 100 yards or so. |
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Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
J.R.R.TOLKIEN |
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