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| Agua Fria National Monument, AZ | |
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| | Agua Fria National Monument, AZ | | | |
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Agua Fria National Monument, AZ
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| Hiking | 1.69 Miles |
159 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.69 Miles | 1 Hour 59 Mns | | 0.97 mph |
| 159 ft AEG | 14 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | I recently led a field trip for the Arizona Archaeological Society out to the Las Murejes Pueblo and the Brooklyn Basin area. The field trip reminded me that I still had some cliffs to explore and sites to check out in the area, so I made a quick trip up Sunday morning.
In the latest Craig Child’s book he mentions visiting glyph sites and viewing rock imagery during first and final light. In fact, (I am paraphrasing some), he implies some of those images may be intended to viewed during those times. He is also a proponent of visiting sites with intention, putting down the camera and really immersing oneself in the imagery. In fact, he advocates not taking any pictures at all and sketching the imagery, perhaps as a way to appreciate it more and take in some of the finer intricacies of the images and panels. As an incurable elderly millennial, I will probably never be able to put down the camera and I can't draw, however, I did head up to the monument with a little more intention Sunday morning.
I left my house at 4:15 in the morning and was able to get to the "trailhead" in exactly two hours. I was about as close to getting to my destination by first light as one could hope for, considering the bumpy two hour commute from the valley. I was also solo, no hiking partners to contend with, and no pups to carefully watch over and help pick their way along the cliffs and through the cacti.
The glyph panels I viewed did not disappoint and they represented some of the more thought-provoking ones that I have seen on the mesa. The early panels I visited in particular, really popped in the early morning lighting. I spent a considerable more time viewing the panels than usual and it took me well over an hour just to navigate less than a mile of cliff bases and adjacent boulders. At a natural point overlooking what was probably a bustling prehistoric agriculture area at one point, I turned around and walked the top of the cliffs back to my car. I refocused to looking for surface artifacts on the way back and did not spend much time looking for glyphs.
It was a productive morning on the mesa and I left wondering about what might lie ahead and eager for a return. Home by 10:15 a.m. I don't think I will ever view glyphs in bleached out afternoon light again. |
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Wildflowers Observation Substantial
A few nice blooms of poppies on the drive in and most of the usual wildflowers were represented. I think I identified globe mallow, penstemon, Dichelostemma capitatum, lupine, scorpion weed, chickory and chia. (GF is rubbing off on me) |
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