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| Cave Creek Tr247A Meander, AZ | |
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| | Cave Creek Tr247A Meander, AZ | | | |
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Cave Creek Tr247A Meander, AZ
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| Hiking | 6.30 Miles |
1,540 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.30 Miles | 5 Hrs 12 Mns | | 1.21 mph |
| 1,540 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | This hike out of the Spur Cross trail head was a re-visit to an area where I had seen pottery sherds scattered on a hill top back in 2012. I never found evidence of Indian Ruins at that location and wanted to take another look. Trail 247A is outside the Spur Cross Park and starts at the northeast corner of the park boundary near the end of the Mariposa Trail. There is no sign for the trail but it is prominently marked with a "Closed Area" sign. I'm sure the county park had no intention of marking the beginning of a Tonto Nat Forest Trail as a closed area - must be a mistake made by an over zealous park volunteer. 
I started the off-trail part of this hike about 0.1 miles along TR247A from where it crosses the park boundary. After heading roughly north across two small drainages I spotted what appeared to be rock debris from a mine on a nearby hillside. Closer inspection revealed a vertical hole about 10 feet deep hidden by bushes and a palo verde tree which had grown over the hole. It appeared to be more of a prospect hole than a mine but the prospector had obviously gone to a lot of effort to dig that hole into solid rock. A curious 10x10 inch square chunk of steel was laying on the ground a few feet from the hole. My best guess is that it was a broken piece from a stamp mill. There had been several in the area back in the late 1800s to early 1900s.
The prospect would end up being the only new find on my exploration of the area. The pottery sherds I'd seen in 2012 were still there on top of the hill but again I found no other signs of ancient habitation. This hilltop provides an excellent view south down Cave Creek towards the valley. Perhaps this hilltop had been the site of a lookout guarding the numerous habitation sites further up Cave Creek.
Edit 12/16/2018: Mystery solved. The chunk of steel found laying on the ground next to the prospect hole is a worn out stamp mill "die". Stamp mills had one or more "shoes" which stamped ore on the "die" to crush the ore into pieces. The shoes were moved up and down driven by a rotating cam. Both the shoe and die were replaceable parts made of hardened chrome steel which wore out during the crushing process and had to be replaced. The word "chrome" was cast into the bottom surface of the die I found. A common 1000 lb stamp mill would have dies 9 inches in diameter and about 6 to 10 inches tall. The die was cast at a foundry and had a square 1 inch thick base measuring 10 x 10 inches. Back in 1912 a replacement die from a foundry cost about $21. Each die would weigh about 120 lbs and weren't easily moved. The cylindrical part of the die I found had been worn down to about 2 inches tall from its original 6 to 10 inches so it weighed more like 40-60 lbs. It was probably a worn out discard that the prospector had repurposed. |
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