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| Hiking | 2.00 Miles |
100 AEG |
| | Hiking | 2.00 Miles | | | |
| 100 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | Sadly Cathy couldn't make this reservation only trip, but fortunately for me, I was her stand-in. I met at Greg's house and had the chance to visit with Cathy for a few minutes before we headed to the meet-up area. Our guide would be Bill and he and Greg lived in the same area of IL. Bill was into golf as, of course, is Greg. I learned some more new things about Greg's life as a caddie and pro so that was a fun start. Bill also fishes in Montana so we had something in common as well... the Montana part, not the fishing . We would also ride with Bill, thus why I learned more about them both.
As you drive to the private residence, you are struck about the devastation of the May 2020 fires (Ocotillo https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6728/ and https://www.azcentral.com/picture-galle ... 296160002/ and East Desert https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6712/) that literally came right next to a lot of these houses. There were many lucky homeowners.
You literally walk in this owner's yard to get down to the creek. They have interesting cairn and trail markers. Once in the creek bed, Bill pointed out what he called Go John Diorite. Neither Greg nor I have heard of such a thing. I googled it and couldn't find anything. The only dirorite I could find close to what we saw is microdiorite (intrusive, not volacanic). He said there was more of it along the Jewel of the Creek Trail. Microdiorite is around twenty million years old.
We zigged and zagged in the creek bed, noticing the burn vs non-burn areas and the long view north to Skull Mesa, Sugarloaf Mountain, Black Mesa and then New River Mesa. As we got to the west side of the creek the side walls are very tall and mostly hard dirt. We could also see some new growth coming from the burned trees and of course, some bright colored catclaw in all its new found glory. The cave, from this angle, is not really noticeable until you're almost at it.
At the cave's base is lots of beautiful conglomerate  which somewhat hides the big mouth of the cave. You are allowed to go up in the cave and walk around to take pictures of glyphs, pictographs and engravings; there are a lot. Lots of soot too from all the fire activity. Bill shared history of the cave and of a particular soldier from a Northeastern family that he had done further research on. It was quite the march they did from Camp Verde to this area. He mentioned the reason General Crook was more successful is because he used Indians as part of his regiment.
Greg was in his element searching all of the cave and ended up finding a very small piece of yucca fiber. He hid it safely in one of the cave's ceiling alcoves so hopefully that will preserve it longer. He also got some really good pictures of the engravings too. We headed back out of the cave and along the west side where Bill pointed out a bee honeycomb. He got a nice zoom picture of it [ photo ]
According to research, Cave Creek has flown in about the same channel for 2-3 million years. They say Cave Creek was 300 feet higher about 5 million years ago. For more info https://www.dflt.org/ including this two pager on the Cave of Cave Creek: https://www.dflt.org/the-cave-of-cave-creek
It was surprisingly warm as we made our way back to where we started. On the way back to Greg's we looked at the 10 stamp mill outside of the Cave Creek Museum. They are going to run it on the 11th.
Next I would head up to the group campground at Cave Creek (Seven Springs) as Arizona Backpacking Club was having a Beginner Backpacking Meetup. I didn't get there until 3 so I missed a lot of it, however, the part I did get in on was very interesting: sleeping pads, tents, stoves, navigation (including hikearizona.com). We had a huge potluck dinner and sat around the campfire finishing with the last discussion about Leave No Trace; in particular on the AZT.
Tonto 3 was my tent; it was 32 in the AM so rather than staying for morning coffee, I came home. Just to let you know, closer to the campground area Cave Creek is flowing and Tonto 3 got its tires washed. Second, it was interesting to see one of the three houses (that look like they are built just above the creek) that the green one on the east side of the road, on the north has been ruined pretty badly with a blown out wall. It's amazing to see how how that water must have been running during those rain storms we had. Third, the leaves are turning and some are that crispy brown already. And last, by the time I reached the main paved road, the temp was 50! |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Light
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For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Unfortunately Mrs. SloFolks illness precluded her from going today. 
Not wanting the spot to go to waste I asked 
. We would also ride with Bill, thus why I learned more about them both.
