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| Ruins in SRC Wilderness, AZ | |
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| | Ruins in SRC Wilderness, AZ | | | |
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Ruins in SRC Wilderness, AZ
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| Hiking | 4.16 Miles |
872 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.16 Miles | 3 Hrs 23 Mns | | 2.31 mph |
| 872 ft AEG | 1 Hour 35 Mns Break | | | |
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| no linked trail guides |
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| no partners | | A couple years ago, I went up Black Mesa, northeast of Roosevelt Reservoir, and located five survey disks. Since that hike went faster than anticipated, I began to wander around the mesa, locating some things that I had noticed on Google Earth. Most items were from a bygone era of cattle grazing.
With encroaching rain, I cut my ‘mesa tour’ short, prior to hiking to something further away that, on Google Earth, puzzled me.
I devoted today’s hike to that ‘something’ on GE that I didn’t get to a couple years ago.
The hike - Plus an Extra:
I didn’t have to go back up Black Mesa, as my destination was far northeast of the main part of the mesa.
I left Cherry Creek Rd and drove down a now, ‘retired’ ranch road and parked near Chalk Creek. I hiked south, down the creek and then up a small wash. Eventually, I went up a hill to a small mesa to see what I viewed on Google Earth.
It appears to be, what I believe, is an Indian ruin. (I’m a novice at this ruins stuff).
What ever it is, It’s certainly man made, and it’s huge.
The ruin is almost a perfect rectangle, with a ‘ walked-off ’ length of about 152 feet, and a width of about 92 feet. Some of the still standing walls are over 7 feet high. The outer rock walls consist mostly of large, flat plate rock. There are remnants of inner walls constructed with natural rock outcrops, along with the aforementioned flat plate rocks. I located one small doorway in the outer wall that is about three feet high.
I left the mesa and went further south to a small butte, thinking another ruin might be there. This butte has a view of the Salt River. I concluded the little butte had no ruins, as the rocks there are very large and naturally scattered. It would make a great lookout though.
I then went back to the rectangular ruin and looked for artifacts on the ground. That was tough, because the smaller, flat plate rocks strewn on the ground look very similar to pottery sherds, in color and size. So, I’ll say I found no pottery sherds, plus no metates or artwork-on-boulders in the area.
Finally, I wandered through a valley, filled with now forgotten ranching artifacts, including many broken segments of black water hoses that lead down to some troughs and tanks.
Once back to the car, I did an extra little hike.
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My ‘Extra’ little adventure:
After the ruins hike, I had time to drive down Cherry Creek Rd and locate a benchmark, and its two RMs, plus its azimuth disk. They were ‘easy pickins' - Good for me.
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The Black Mesa area is a long drive, but it was worth the effort (and a tank of gas), to view this huge, man-made structure/ruins.
With the Salt River nearby, and the many creeks feeding the Salt, this whole area seems to be a good place for ancient human habitation. |
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Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
J.R.R.TOLKIEN |
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