Memorial to Norwin L. Dixon, 1925-1999
After topping out, Trail 160 enters a level area that forms a saddle between the Parker South Fork drainage and the Coon Creek drainage. The 1986 Aztec Peak Quadrangle marks this small, flat area as having an elevation of 6896 feet, and in the middle of it one finds this cross made of strap steel and rebar. It has been placed here as a memorial to Mr. Norwin L. Dixon, who became separated from his group and disappeared while hiking along the South Fork of Parker Creek on April 24, 1999. An extensive ground and air search failed to locate him.
Mr. Dixon was a longtime resident of Coolidge, Arizona, where he had been an accountant and businessman, a city councilman and vice-mayor, and a member of various civic and church groups. My thanks to Mr. Bill Pitterle, of Tonto Rim Search and Rescue, Strawberry, Arizona, for identifying Mr. Dixon for me. An obituary for Mr. Dixon appeared in the May 18, 2000 edition of the Coolidge Examiner.