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461 triplogs
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Feb 20 2023
avatar

 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Agua Fria Loop, AZ 
Agua Fria Loop, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Feb 20 2023
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking5.95 Miles 1,847 AEG
Hiking5.95 Miles   7 Hrs   4 Mns   0.89 mph
1,847 ft AEG      22 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
A friend of mine sent me a link to a drone video he posted showing a small ruin sitting on a platform above the Agua Fria River. Cool place! But, given all the virtual and physical poking around I've done in that general area, I was a little irritated I didn't know it existed. And while it's possible to fly a drone to that spot I wasn't sure at all it'd be easy to walk to.

It's easy to get to the Agua Fria chasm edge opposite the ruin and from there it should be a simple matter to go down to the river and up to the ruin and then back. Not a lot of distance but without a doubt the up and down and up parts would be hard.

I studied the map and satellite view and came up with several different routes down and up knowing that until I got there in person I wouldn't know the best way.

Here's the way it turned out: getting to the river followed a ridge and was easy enough until the last few hundred feet when the ridge ended. After that really steep, loose, over-grown, and some big rock barriers. I probably didn't pick the best way. And while I had planned 1-1.5 hrs to get to the river, in the end it took 2.5.

But all the while coming down I was looking across the river to the climb on that side. It looked quite a bit worse than I expected. I did pick a line which I thought might have a chance, but it ended in a rock wall section so I had to give up.

In the back of my mind I had been thinking I might want to take a different way back to the car. A few years ago I had hiked out from the river bottom up a different ridge that worked pretty well...and it was less than a mile upstream. A mile of travel up the river could be a problem in itself but no way was I going to go back up the nasty way I had come down. So my ruin hunt turned into a river loop.

Pretty fun going up the river but as I got nearer my exit ridge destination the walls closed and I had to wade. That was getting tedious and so I cut the corner by making a steep climb (not quite as bad as the others today) to hit the ridge part way up, then all was well. Passed a familiar petroglyph site on the way out.

Casualties today: 1) one pair hiking pants 2) little MP3player/radio I sometimes carry in my pocket, 3) maybe my boots.
_____________________
 
Jan 29 2023
avatar

 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Lower Gila Farm Edge, AZ 
Lower Gila Farm Edge, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Jan 29 2023
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking4.52 Miles 659 AEG
Hiking4.52 Miles   4 Hrs   31 Mns   1.08 mph
659 ft AEG      20 Mns Break
 
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
A HAZ buddy told me he where he found some petroglyphs along the lower Gila. I had been near there before but on top of the mesa not the bottom where he found them. So I thought it would be worthwhile to go walk between the private farmland and dark basalt edge to see what I could see.

I enjoyed the bottom edge walking - a little less bush-bashing than many of the other sections. It was chilly till the sun poked over the top edge but then the glyph-hunting got harder. I did find a few but I think this section is much less decorated than many of it's neighbors.

Took the high road back and went by a few familiar rock alignments I've seen before. Glad to have added another section to my Gila wandering.
_____________________
 
Jan 19 2023
avatar

 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Perry Mesa Mud Loop, AZ 
Perry Mesa Mud Loop, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Jan 19 2023
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking4.75 Miles 352 AEG
Hiking4.75 Miles   4 Hrs   10 Mns   1.35 mph
352 ft AEG      39 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
A college friend (Tony) recently moved to AZ and for a few months we'd talked about taking a trip up to Perry Mesa to look around. We invited Greg (@LosDosSloFolks), who also knows Tony, and he was interested in coming along. But when it got to the selected day Greg looked at the cumulative rainfall in the area and bowed out.

I was also concerned about Perry Mesa mud and so I planned 3 different "intro loops". The preferred one was furthest in but if the road mud was bad we probably still could reach one of the others. The plan included Tony's new Jeep which he wanted to break in.

Well many of the streams were running and the road was muddier than I would try in my Subaru. We confidently passed my first "mud bailout loop", but the road kept getting worse and I proposed we stop at an upcoming gate to discuss "the situation". At the gate, I could tell Tony didn't want to drive further when he parked it pointing back the way we came. But we were within a mile of the second loop so we just started walking through the dry grass to intersect it. Mud was a couple inches thick on our boots.

The walking was generally OK if grass and rocks were strategically used to minimize mud and we passed some petroglyphs, pottery pieces, metates and a ruin. Tony and his Jeep got a good, though as I told him repeatedly, worst case, introduction to Perry Mesa.
_____________________
 
Jan 11 2023
avatar

 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Gila Petroglyphs with Phil, AZ 
Gila Petroglyphs with Phil, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Jan 11 2023
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking4.99 Miles 640 AEG
Hiking4.99 Miles   4 Hrs   15 Mns   1.28 mph
640 ft AEG      21 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
My daughter's in-laws are visiting for a few weeks from England. Her father in-law (Phil) is an energetic guy and is anxious to get out and do things so I planned a trip to a favorite area on the lower Gila. I plotted some waypoints to pass interesting spots but I also figured we'd pass some new things (for me) too.

It was a good day and I think Phil enjoyed the unique landscape and ancient signs we passed. He may not be a new convert but I think he'll research where to find similar obscure stuff to entertain me when we visit them in northeast England.
_____________________
 
Dec 23 2022
avatar

 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Lower Gila Loop Dec2022, AZ 
Lower Gila Loop Dec2022, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Dec 23 2022
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking5.01 Miles 593 AEG
Hiking5.01 Miles   4 Hrs   25 Mns   1.23 mph
593 ft AEG      21 Mns Break
 no routes
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
I've been waylaid by the flu (or whatever) for quite a while and wasn't sure I had the stamina for a hike. But the Gila River offers flat walking and the amount of effort required is pretty much up to you.

So I headed to a familiar area with a plan to walk some different transects and maybe explore some edge which I'd skipped in the past. Worked out pretty well (I was certainly glad to be doing something), but between "too knackered to scramble the rocks" and "too smart to crash the thicket" I wouldn't classify today as new exploration. On the plus side, I can always go back! :)
_____________________
 
Nov 22 2022
avatar

 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Vekol Hills, AZ 
Vekol Hills, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Nov 22 2022
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking5.17 Miles 1,109 AEG
Hiking5.17 Miles   4 Hrs   22 Mns   1.28 mph
1,109 ft AEG      20 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
A few years ago a HAZ buddy took me on a tour of petroglyph sites in the vicinity of Vekol Wash. It was pretty clear that people used to live near the Wash in wetter times.

I thought I'd go back and just look around, particularly after I noticed a path and "wall" on top of a nearby hill in the satellite pictures. But I found out the rock re-arranging was more likely done by early hang-gliding enthusiasts rather than ancient natives.

I passed one of the impressive petroglyph sites I'd been to before but didn't notice any other ancient signs on this walk which included some nice open desert and some steep cactus-choked hills.
_____________________
  2 archives
Nov 16 2022
avatar

 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Lower Gila Nov22, AZ 
Lower Gila Nov22, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Nov 16 2022
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking5.57 Miles 659 AEG
Hiking5.57 Miles   5 Hrs   21 Mns   1.20 mph
659 ft AEG      42 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
When the heat dissipates the lower Gila River beckons. I'm running out of ideas there but decided an unpromising but not previously visited section of black river bank would be worth a look.

There are always 4 choices for travel along the edge when looking for petroglyphs. 1. along the top edge on the flat mesa/plain, 2. Below the edge along the cliff bottom or the middle of the slope 3. At the bottom of the slope, or 4. On the river bottom flat, away from the cliff, but also outside the thicket which grows at the slope bottom (must be wetter there). I had pretty much done #1 here before, and #2&3 were difficult/unappealing on this section so most of today consisted of hugging the passable vegetation edge, glassing the rocky slope where it looked promising, and then ploughing through the barrier and walking up the side if it seemed worthwhile.

This method did lead to a few petroglyphs finds and one nice panel. I was thinking about how much further I wanted to go when the "lay of the land" pushed me up a dirt bank onto a flat dirt platform. I don't know how these dirt flats are formed, but between the ancient river flow and side canyon run-off, there they are. This one had lots of pottery. I also found a sea shell and a (likely ancient) path from the dirt flat to the basalt pebble flat above. This must have been an ancient habitation site.

Anyway, turned out to be a good day. An unpromising area that was worth the visit.
_____________________
 
Nov 07 2022
avatar

 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Hohokam Desert, AZ 
Hohokam Desert, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Nov 07 2022
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking5.95 Miles 496 AEG
Hiking5.95 Miles   4 Hrs   5 Mns   1.54 mph
496 ft AEG      13 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
Headed out to the desert south of Florence to a place I'd been to before. I knew there was a Hohokam platform mound in the vicinity which I missed on the previous visit. And I knew there was plenty of pottery on the ground there - so worth another look.

I took a different approach this time, driving in on the gas line road. It gave me enough time to criss-cross the area looking for anything interesting. Fortunately the "pottery area" is huge (several hundred yards in both directions) but unfortunately I only saw plain pottery so not so interesting. I did find the platform mound this time (don't know how I missed it before), but at this point it's just a featureless hill with a sprinkling of plain pottery on top, just like the surrounding perimeter.

Still better than sitting at home watching political ads. ](*,)
_____________________
 
Oct 29 2022
avatar

 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Home to Alta Dena, AZ 
Home to Alta Dena, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Oct 29 2022
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking7.96 Miles 1,479 AEG
Hiking7.96 Miles   3 Hrs   33 Mns   2.32 mph
1,479 ft AEG      7 Mns Break
 
no photosets
1st trip
Linked   linked  
Desert Classic Trail
Corona de Loma Trail
National Trail - South Mountain
Telegraph Pass Trail - South Mountain
Partners none no partners
Anita sent me a text late last week saying that Vinny needed a hiking partner on Saturday. I've known them for 20+ years through work but we've never really talked about anything like that. I thought about it for a few minutes and decided that although I hardly ever do any local trail walking these days, why not? I replied send me his phone # and I'll give him a call. Before I could call I got a message from Vinny saying that Anita told him I was was looking for a hiking partner on Saturday. Clearly Anita was doing some hiking match making.

Anyway I found out that Vinny was just starting a hiking hobby (he'd done two South Mountain hikes recently) but he's younger than me and in better shape (a bicycler) so I thought of an old favorite: I told him to drive to Alta Dena Middle School Saturday morning and I'd pick him up. The Alta Dena parking lot is close to the overcrowded Telegraph Pass trail head with a lot more parking spaces.

We drove back to my house and started walking into South Mountain Park, to Desert Classic, Corona de Loma, National Trail, then down from Telegraph Pass, back to his car. Nice day, nice walk.

Our conversation along the way gravitated to politics. Turns out we have big differences! But it was a good discussion and we both ended up with a number of points we'd have to "sleuth for truth" when we got home.
_____________________
 
Oct 25 2022
avatar

 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Lacey Point Loop (PEFO), AZ 
Lacey Point Loop (PEFO), AZ
 
Hiking avatar Oct 25 2022
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking9.89 Miles 948 AEG
Hiking9.89 Miles   5 Hrs   30 Mns   1.91 mph
948 ft AEG      20 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
Lacey Point is one of the Petrified Forest road turn-offs and the sign said it's named after an Iowa congressman who championed preserving this area as a park.

I planned a loop from Lacey Point to look for petroglyphs. It's a fine place to walk and you never know what you might find. I figured I could turn it into a loop going back up the hill at Kachina Point and then cross country back to the car. There's a nice petroglyph panel below Kachina Point (seen on a previous trip) I could include as a target/waypoint and guarantee that at least I'd see something.

Worked out nicely as I stumbled onto a couple of nice petroglyph panels. As always I really enjoyed walking the nice open ground of PEFO, particularly on this sunny day in cool weather.
_____________________
 
Oct 18 2022
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 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Minor Mesa meanders, AZ 
Minor Mesa meanders, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Oct 18 2022
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking7.00 Miles
Hiking7.00 Miles
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   linked  
Badger Springs Trail
Partners none no partners
Two trips last week hardly worth mentioning, briefly mentioned here. Oct 18 I went up to Perry Mesa to see how muddy it was and to walk a couple hills I hadn't been on. Results: not too muddy, Bloody Basin Road with a few largely avoidable puddles, and I found nary a sherd on my hill walk. Granite rock not conducive for petroglyphs. GPS :: Perry Mesa NE hills

A few days later I went to Badger Springs with an old friend who just moved to town. He's an archaeology reader and wanted to have an easy intro to what's around here. I also include a couple pics of that walk.
 Flora
 Flora [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Lehmann lovegrass
_____________________
  2 archives
Aug 16 2022
avatar

 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Pefo 8162022, AZ 
Pefo 8162022, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Aug 16 2022
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking13.11 Miles 1,643 AEG
Hiking13.11 Miles   9 Hrs   55 Mns   1.42 mph
1,643 ft AEG      40 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
Another two day getaway to the Petrified Forest. First day I started at Lacey Point on the north end of the park. I've hiked there before and there are nice petroglyphs if you know where to look. But today I thought I'd just walk some "new edge" to see what I could find. Worked out fine: passed a very impressive glyph that made my day but continuing on I found some more. Nice walking, nice scenery.

Next day I planned to walk a variation of an "Off the beaten Path" walk that the Park advertises and sometimes provides guided tours (more detail in the photos). This one is called "Dead Wash Overlook". I know there are petroglyphs out there but it's a big area and I just walked the edges (high and low) hoping to find interesting things. In the end I didn't find many petroglyphs though I did find a nice point. Bad luck but a nice area (a little hot today). I'll likely be back. Photos for 2nd day [ photoset ] .

Hike stats give a total for the two days.
_____________________
  3 archives
Jul 27 2022
avatar

 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Pinta 2, AZ 
Pinta 2, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Jul 27 2022
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking5.52 Miles 666 AEG
Hiking5.52 Miles   4 Hrs   13 Mns   1.37 mph
666 ft AEG      12 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
For day 2 I had several possible plans, all involving sketchy approaches. Plan A: dirt road too muddy. Plan B: mud, trains, horses (see pic 1). Plan C: take a closer look at the Pinta cliff band(s). This is the next exit east of PEFO and I stopped by there two weeks ago to see the decorated boulders next to the road. [ photoset ] .

This turned out OK. I spotted several petroglyph panels on the upper cliff band. I took the high road (mesa top) back to the car. Then I walked over to another mesa edge (I think all these rocky edges in this area may have petroglyphs). Didn't find much until a lucky break near my turn around point.

Not bad! Enjoyed some rain and 60deg temps on the drive home. Hope to make it through the Phoenix summer.
_____________________
 
Jul 26 2022
avatar

 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
PEFO Loop, AZ 
PEFO Loop, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Jul 26 2022
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking8.90 Miles 752 AEG
Hiking8.90 Miles   5 Hrs   8 Mns   1.87 mph
752 ft AEG      22 Mns Break
 no routes
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
Returned to Holbrook for the 3rd in my "get out of the heat/get out of the house" summer series.

First day I planned a "speculative search" west of Jasper Forest to see what I could see. This amounts to walking the bottom edges of the low mesas looking for petroglyphs and whatever. It's nice walking but the light colored rocks were not conducive to writing though I enjoyed the scenery and kept looking. Eventually I found some petroglyphs in a "boulder pile".

I knew the rocks were darker in this area and wanted to spend more effort looking but ran into some National Park fences which stopped me. I know the Park boundary is complex: it has been expanded but runs into checkerboard issues with private land and State Trust that may (or may not) be resolved. Even if ownership is resolved the Park hasn't necessarily "opened" the expansion-lands to the public. Oh well.

I did find an interesting area full of pottery though. So I had that going for me.

Only mid-80s, but with monsoon humidity and bright sun I was glad to get back to the car and then Motel 6 Holbrook.
_____________________
  2 archives
Jul 13 2022
avatar

 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Woodruff and thereabouts, AZ 
Woodruff and thereabouts, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Jul 13 2022
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking2.69 Miles 768 AEG
Hiking2.69 Miles   3 Hrs   54 Mns   0.71 mph
768 ft AEG      7 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
Second day, heading back from Holbrook toward Snowflake on the Old Woodruff Road which parallels the Little Colorado River and Silver Creek. They sustained natives for thousands of years and have loads of petroglyphs.

First stop was to a location north of Woodruff which a "HAZ buddy" told me about. I visited once before but without a camera. Many nice glyphs here but the sun and shadows made seeing them difficult.

Second stop was speculative at the intersection of the LCR with Silver Creek. I figured a major junction like that would have attracted a crowd and corresponding rock art. What I found was that there was an interesting dam at Silver Creek just above the confluence and a heck of a lot of trees and bushes in the gorge. I liked the dam but didn't make much of an effort to look for petroglyphs.

Last target was another confluence. Private property signs hampered access but eventually I found a way. There were some petroglyphs here but again the bushes and relatively high water kept me from a careful search. But it was a different and enjoyable route home to Phoenix from the Petrified Forest.
_____________________
  1 archive
Jul 12 2022
avatar

 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
PEFO Loop 7/22, AZ 
PEFO Loop 7/22, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Jul 12 2022
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking7.12 Miles 582 AEG
Hiking7.12 Miles   5 Hrs   32 Mns   1.45 mph
582 ft AEG      37 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
I got two days off from assistant babysitting duties and headed up to Holbrook. First day I walked a loop I had sketched out in Petrified Forest National Park (my favorite place).

Always nice walking, flat and open, and you never know what you might find. I was just enjoying the Painted Desert scenery for the first hour or so when I noticed some flaked rock around some "arranged rocks". Almost simultaneously I noticed a bright white object I thought might be bone, but it turned out to be a stone point (tip broken off). Very cool. I looked around harder and found more flakes (possibly scraper tools) and a few pieces of pottery - an ancient gathering/working spot.

I continued along finding some more pottery and another ancient working place before reaching a nice petroglyph area I'd been to before. My plan was to look a little closer, low and high, and see if I could find some new things.

This worked out well - some new petroglyphs and some colorful pottery kept it interesting until the heat (~95deg) said to head back.

I planned to stop in at the Park Visitor Center to tell a Ranger (hopefully the arch. expert was around) about the point I found and where I left it. But the place was a zoo, so I decided to just send an email. To my surprise my generic submission got a response in less than 24hrs from the Park's Lead Archaeologist. He was happy about the find (presumably he'll collect it) and further added "This point is classified as a San Jose point. They are known to be small-medium points, and are especially noted for their short, serrated blades and concave bases. They are found throughout much of Arizona and New Mexico, south into northern Mexico. San Jose points are from the Middle Archaic cultural period which dates from approximately 5,300 to 3,800 years ago."

Good day!
_____________________
 
Jun 22 2022
avatar

 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Perry Mesa Hackberry Wash Loop, AZ 
Perry Mesa Hackberry Wash Loop, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Jun 22 2022
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking6.27 Miles 721 AEG
Hiking6.27 Miles   5 Hrs   31 Mns   1.22 mph
721 ft AEG      23 Mns Break
 
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
I thought it'd be interesting to walk the middle and lower sections of Hackberry Wash. I could walk some new ground and then check out some "mystery walls" that we've speculated about before.

Where I started, in the middle of Perry Mesa, Hackberry Wash is just a sandy streak, but continuing west it cuts deeper and has some impressive rocky walls not usually seen far from the mesa edge. I didn't see much interesting at first until I got nearer the end, not so far from New Windmill and the end at Bishop Creek.

I knew from previous visits that area has some petroglyphs but the goal for the day was to take a closer look at the stacked stone walls that line one edge of the wash and continue (?) away from the wash for quite a distance - clearly visible in satellite pictures.

There was previous speculation that these walls were either 1) ancient builds by natives wanting to channel game during hunts, or 2) more recent builds by ranchers trying to keep their animals out of the deep (and dangerous) wash.

What I saw this time (and hopefully my pictures show) is that the walls along the wash are older (more lichen) and the ones heading away from the wash are likely modern (less lichen...more barbed wire!). I can't tell if it's 100 or 700 years worth of lichen but I didn't see any embedded petroglyphs (compare to Rosalie [ photo ] ).

I'd go ahead and make my guess here (I'd probably stick with modern) but Alston would browbeat me per usual. Instead I can report a quick email answer I got from our generous local expert (the archaeologist who "wrote the book" on the area).

"As far as I know, those walls in the Hackberry/Bishop area (as well as others on the mesa) were built turn of the last century or thereabouts for handling livestock, specifically sheep.
The Great Wall of Rosalie, on the other hand is a bit of an enigma. It makes no sense for handling sheep, makes even less sense as any kind of defensive feature, and has petroglyphs and forms part of a prehistoric residential sites at one end while there is a Basque camp at the other. We treat it as if it is part of the ancient landscape, but it really needs more study to know for sure what it was - and even then we might never know...."

Filtering that through my brain I'd say the Hackberry walls were built by Basque sheepherders ca. 1900. Anyway, always a breeze up there, wasn't too hot, nice to be out.
_____________________
 
May 24 2022
avatar

 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Perry Mesa Creek Revisit, AZ 
Perry Mesa Creek Revisit, AZ
 
Hiking avatar May 24 2022
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking3.62 Miles 515 AEG
Hiking3.62 Miles   3 Hrs   46 Mns   1.05 mph
515 ft AEG      19 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
I've been suffering with the flu for the last ~10 days but figured I could handle the flats of Perry Mesa once again. I planned to look around the good area I visited two weeks ago but from a different angle and with a little more scrutiny. Additionally I particularly wanted to look at some unusual grinding features and see if I could take some better pictures at the petroglyph site - I had some fresh advice from a photography forum.

In the end I have no new insights on "square-edged bedrock metates" or "wok shaped" mortars. However I did find an area with a heck of a lot of standard bedrock metates. That's always fun. Not particularly close to any large habitation sites that I know of but people obviously spent a lot of time there.

My attempts to get better petroglyph pictures had only marginal success. A polarizer on my camera/phone shows some promise but 1) the fact that the phone automatically adjusts exposure makes the normal "darken sky" approach to polarization adjustment problematic, and 2) I can't really see the display in the bright sun anyway!

Still it was nice to be out walking around and a worthwhile day.
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May 09 2022
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 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Lousy Creek Loop, AZ 
Lousy Creek Loop, AZ
 
Hiking avatar May 09 2022
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking4.34 Miles 921 AEG
Hiking4.34 Miles   5 Hrs   52 Mns   0.83 mph
921 ft AEG      37 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
I retired a month ago but soon found I had a new job as assistant babysitter. That job is more demanding than my old one so I was looking forward to a day off and chose Monday because of the nice temperatures.

I had enjoyed walking around on Perry Mesa a few weeks ago and thought I'd return looking in some creeks I hadn't been in before. I sketched out a couple routes and didn't pick a specific one til I parked and started walking. I didn't expect much and was happy I found a few faint glyphs fairly early on. Between the rocks and thicker growth on the creek bottom the going was slow. I took a couple spills directly on to cactus and was lucky not to get any deep sticks. Still spent a lot of time pulling needles/hairs.

Toward the end I happened upon a nice looking spot and it was loaded with petroglyphs. Not the equal of the best PM sites but still very good and completely unexpected - the best kind. I'm a little disappointed in my pictures, but take my word: an impressive site.
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Apr 18 2022
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 Guides 4
 Routes 197
 Photos 8,155
 Triplogs 462

70 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Perry Mesa Upper Larry Loop, AZ 
Perry Mesa Upper Larry Loop, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Apr 18 2022
Hansenaz • Triplogs 462
Hiking6.39 Miles 879 AEG
Hiking6.39 Miles   5 Hrs   9 Mns   1.33 mph
879 ft AEG      20 Mns Break
 
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
I walked a part of the Perry Mesa edge I hadn't been to before. I didn't expect much: nothing to see in the satellite pictures and nothing indicated on archaeology maps but still worth a look before it gets too hot.

I was happy to find a few things (see pictures) though nothing very noteworthy. Still a nice walk and a decent breeze made it very comfortable on a near-100deg Phoenix day.
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average hiking speed 1.33 mph
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