| |
| Saddle Benchmark-Gila Bend Mountains, AZ | |
|
| | Saddle Benchmark-Gila Bend Mountains, AZ | | | |
|
|
Saddle Benchmark-Gila Bend Mountains, AZ
| | |
|
| Hiking | 3.33 Miles |
892 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.33 Miles | 4 Hrs 50 Mns | | 1.82 mph |
| 892 ft AEG | 3 Hrs Break | | | |
|
|
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | The Gila Bend Mountains are a new area for me, and I plan to hike in this area alot more.
Saddle Triangulation Station is on a ‘no name’, cholla infested mesa, in the Gila Bend Mountains.
(FYI - There are many benchmarks named Saddle in AZ).
The mesa is 14 miles S-SW of Saddle Mtn-Tonopah, 15 miles NW of Woolsey Pk, and 11 miles SE of Eagle Tail Mountain Range. This mesa is also 3 miles E-NE of Yellow Medicine Butte.
I used Agua Caliente Rd to get close to this ‘no-name’ mesa.
If I had a vote, I’d call this no-name mesa, “Cholla Choked Mesa”, as the entire mesa is literally wall to wall Jumping Cholla (Opuntia bigelovii). In some places, I don’t believe the plant could grow any closer to one another.
My initial plan was to get on top of the mesa, locate Saddle BM and its two reference marks, then take a leisurely six or seven mile stroll all over the edges of the sprawling mesa, and take in the distant views.
As soon as I topped out, that ‘stroll’ plan was not an option. Too many cholla & too many middens.
While on the mesa, making my way (carefully) to the high point and benchmark area, I must have hiked by two dozen pack rat middens. With all the cholla plants, the mesa must be a ‘paradise’ for pack rats. The middens were made from, and littered with, varying degrees of rotting cholla balls. In fact, I couldn’t initially locate one of the reference marks, as it was under the outer edges of a midden, covered with those brown cholla balls.
Once I moved away the cholla balls from RM #1, the disk was still partially covered with a light brown substance that looked alot like peanut brittle.
Read up on pack rat middens, and trust me - That stuff is not peanut brittle. Yuck !!
At night, that whole mesa must come alive with dancing and prancing pack rats.
Owls must think of this mesa as a fast food restaurant.
As mentioned, this mesa is in the Gila Bend Mountains, and I really like the area. There’s alot of flat desert, with clumps of mountains every few miles. If I lived closer, I’d be exploring around those mountains all the time. Many of the peaks have benchmarks on them, and that would be a bonus for me.
I just hope the mountain peaks aren't all full of cholla, like this mesa. |
| _____________________
Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
J.R.R.TOLKIEN |
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
