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| | | Verde River Exploration, AZ | | | |
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Verde River Exploration, AZ
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| Hiking | 11.98 Miles |
2,375 AEG |
| | Hiking | 11.98 Miles | 7 Hrs 49 Mns | | 2.01 mph |
| 2,375 ft AEG | 1 Hour 51 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | We returned to the Verde River/Chasm Creek area again this weekend to do a little more exploring before the bald eagle closure starts at the end of the month. The thermometer dropped as low as 32° on the drive in, but it was in the low 40s when we got started on FR 9709R. This time, we left the road before reaching the river and veered farther north than we explored last time, passing a water catchment near five large storage tanks and a pump and tire trough for animals.
From there, we continued farther NW to a nice overlook near a bend in the river. Great views, and more fall color in the trees than three weeks ago. The stretch of the Verde to the east has some tall cliffs, and a bunch of ducks floated on the river down below. We backtracked past the catchment and went up to a hill overlooking The Falls that I'd checked out last time. Today, I headed down to the river for a closeup view of The Falls...much more impressive with a front-row seat  .
[ youtube video ]
From there, I continued downriver to see if I could get around the bend where thick brush focused us to turn around last time when we tried to approach from the other direction. I continued until I reached a barbed wire fence and had almost reconnected with our prior route, then headed up onto the top of the mesa and looped back to rejoin TboneKathy at the top of the hill. We returned to FR 9709R and did some exploring along Chasm Creek and Dripping Spring Trail, which is hardly discernable as a trail, and found the missing bridge foundation along the creek, but there's an easy bypass to cross the chasm.
The last two stops of the day included a U-shaped ruin on a mesa overlooking the river. It had the typical native construction with thick double-walls, with bigger rocks on the outside and smaller ones filling the inside, and someone had stuck a few wooden posts in and around the walls, presumably for support. We didn't see any artifacts at the site, though the size and smoothness of one rock looked a lot like a mano...but probably a coincidence and not an artifact.
We ate lunch at the overlook, and the final stop was the Chasm benchmark up on a hill along the road. Not the most prominent or scenic spot, but the BM and two RMs were easy to find...I didn't look for the azimuth mark along the road.
[ youtube video ]
The weather was cloudy but comfortable all day, and like last time, we had complete solitude. Another fun day of exploring in a variety of areas along the Verde, with three different overlooks, the ruin site, and a trip down to The Falls and hike along the river. It may be worth coming back at some point next year after the area re-opens...I have a feeling there are still more interesting things to see. And best of all, we managed to win the I-17 lottery and make it back to the valley without any major slowdowns. |
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