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| Hiking | 5.70 Miles |
1,879 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.70 Miles | 4 Hrs 45 Mns | | 1.20 mph |
| 1,879 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Drove the entire length of A-Cross road to park here & there and do some exploring. I have found ruins and petroglyphs in this area, and I was hoping to find more. Plus I wanted to see how the wildflowers were looking. Ended up doing a combination of one long hike up a steep hill along with a few shorter hikes, all off trail.
A-Cross Road is loaded with bumpy rocks, washboard grooves and a few rutted drainages. Starting from Hwy 288, there was a short water crossing before the longer water crossing on the concrete ford at Salome Creek. Salome Creek was flowing nicely, and the water was a couple of inches deep at the ford.
The highlight of the day was finding a very small cemetery with Hoolie Bacon's grave. I had no idea that his grave was out here in this very secluded and remote place, overlooking Salome Creek. And how ironic that I camped right next to the Hoolie Bacon Trail in the Superstitions just last month.
The cemetery has maybe a dozen headstones, some dated within the last fifteen years. I noticed that the large flat area surrounding the cemetery had several rock alignments and low rock walls, but no gravesites were near them. At first I thought it was all related to the cemetery. But then I located a thick-walled room with a sunken interior and noticed small pieces of plain pottery. That's when I realized I was walking in a large ruin.
Driving over Tonto Creek near Punkin Center was a bit exciting. I had to do three water crossings there, and I estimate the deepest spot was about a foot and a half. There has been a lot of progress on the new bridge over the creek since I was last here.
Besides a few cattle, I didn't see any animals. The wildflowers were nice. Some hills are starting to turn yellow with brittlebush.
I really like this area and have a lot more exploring to do. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
Lots of brittlebush, globemallow, lupine and owl clover. Several others as well but not too many poppies. |
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Route Editor
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