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| | | Chalk Canyon Ruins and Elephant Mountain, AZ | | | |
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Chalk Canyon Ruins and Elephant Mountain, AZ
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| Hiking | 14.56 Miles |
2,393 AEG |
| | Hiking | 14.56 Miles | 9 Hrs 52 Mns | | 2.06 mph |
| 2,393 ft AEG | 2 Hrs 48 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | We'd had Chalk Canyon on our list for quite a while and decided to make that our main destination today. We started at Spur Cross Ranch Trailhead, and there was a lot more water in Cave Creek than expected...water levels were a lot lower in late December when we hiked to the Skull Mesa ruins, and I don't remember any significant rainfall since then. Regardless, it was nice to see.
It was mostly fast, pleasant miles on the hike to the ruins, with comfortable temperatures and a lot of wildflowers and birds. After we left Cave Creek Trail and approached the ruins site, we started to see increasing concentrations of pottery sherds and petroglyphs. One of the first petroglyphs we saw east of the ruins was a human figure with a zigzag pattern leading toward a spiral/circle of life engraved in the rock. Always fun to guess the meaning behind the drawings...
We spent some time exploring the ruins on the west edge of the mesa. We had the site to ourselves, and it offered a different perspective looking up at the ridge with the Skull Mesa ruins to the north. A lot of the walls were deteriorated at this site, but it was a large complex, and a few rooms had taller, more intact walls with some mortar still visible. One long, narrow room had a doorway made of white rocks that stood out from the darker ones that made up the other walls and virtually all the other structures, and it looked like rocks had been stacked loosely in modern times to block off the doorway for some reason.
After exploring the ruins, we dropped down off the west edge of the mesa toward the trail and Cave Creek below. It was a steep, loose descent in places, especially near the top, but we were able to avoid the brush almost entirely and saw more pottery and a few petroglyphs on the way down the slope. The area at the bottom was the highlight of the site, with an impressive concentration of petroglyphs and metates/rock slicks.
A set of three large boulders were covered in various petroglyphs on the tops and sides, and one vertical panel had one of the largest human figures I've seen, at 2+ feet tall. Others nearby had spirals and various symbols carved all over the flat tops. As we explored the area, we counted ~10 metates, several with grinding stones, and many more petroglyphs and pot sherds...a really nice area.
[ youtube video ]
[ youtube video ]
As we hiked back toward the trailhead, we took Metate Trail and checked out the namesake metates and the pool while dodging the crowds. Other than coming down the steep side of the mesa, it was quick, easy miles, and with a lot of afternoon remaining, we headed toward Elephant Mountain to see how far we could get with our remaining time. @TboneKathy waited below the saddle while I headed for the peak. I came up a little short, about a quarter mile from the summit, before I ran out of time and decided to turn around, but getting up as far as I did provided a nice vantage point to see the Elephant Mountain ruins on the ridge below, so it was a worthwhile effort even if I'll have to come back again to reach the peak.
[ youtube video ]
On the hike out, @TboneKathy nearly stepped on a Gila monster before seeing it at her feet...I don't usually think of those as blending in very well with their orange stripes, but she somehow missed it  . About a mile from the trailhead a helicopter was circling overhead, and we could see emergency vehicles with lights flashing in the parking lot. The helicopter landed over there and took off again and circled a few more times, and it continued repeating that cycle once we back and packing up at our vehicle. There were three fire trucks (one that said "Heavy Rescue" on the side) and two ambulances, and we weren't sure if it was an active rescue or a training exercise with the way the helicopter kept coming and going.
It was a fun hike, and the area below the ruins, especially, exceeded expectations. We had comfortable weather, great scenery, and the hike up to Elephant Mountain was a nice bonus that wasn't part of the original plan...and, fortunately, no Gila monsters were injured during the hike . |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Needed trail surgery. Damn that was painful. 
As we neared summit, multiple points of contact req scrambling up & down. Hung out at the summit and created a registry. Fun outing although I doubt any of us will be attempting it again anytime soon.
Route 
Bugs were all over the place if you stopped. Not a soul on the trail today and only one trail at spur cross. The snowbirds are gone… 
