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Avoiding the News & Before They Are Gone
It was a warm afternoon and we were on a short hike off the Arizona Trail south of Oracle, Arizona. To the west was an outcrop of granite boulders. The Lady scrambled to the top. “Whoa!” she called out and reversed direction in a hurry. “This rattler is huge. I almost stepped on him,” she continued as she scrambled back down.
“There’s another one here at the bottom,” I said and pointed. “Don’t step on it.” This rattlesnake quietly disappeared under the boulders.
I climbed up to take a look. The large snake was stretched out near the top, sunning itself in the warmth. My position was shaky with sloping footholds. I was also scanning for other snakes at this probable den site. If I fell, I’d land on the serpent. I could not get a photo.
“Don’t disturb it!” the Lady admonished. “It is so beautiful.”
The rattler began to move as I down climbed. It was over four feet long, heavy, and its classic pit viper head was the size of a large coffee mug. It was beautiful.
We had left home after clearing snow. It had finally turned cold and our first real snow storm of the season dropped 2.5 feet. The Lady wanted to return to Arizona and visit our cousins again. After a wonderful few days with them, we returned to the backcountry, our public lands, with a now more desperate effort to see it before it is gone forever. The Republican regime is intent on selling it off and dismantling our public land management agencies.
“The U.S. Senate, by a slim three-vote margin, has approved public lands being sold to reduce the federal deficit as well as the total acreage managed by federal land management agencies. During a late-night session April 4, 51 senators voted against an amendment that would have blocked the sale of public lands. All but two Republicans —Senator Daines and Senator Sheehy, both of Montana — voted against the anti-sell-off amendment, which was proposed by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and six other Senate Democrats.” Source: For Sale Our Public Lands
Even if we try to avoid the sickening news resulting from the last election, it slaps us in the face and hope spirals away. We are constantly reminded - “Three great forces rule the world: stupidity, fear, and greed.” Albert Einstein.
Additional wildlife sightings. Julie and I stayed one night at the Burro Creek Campground. There was a large population of Great Blue Herons with some pairs nesting on the cliffs to the north just above the remaining pool on Burro Creek. This was delightful to see. We spent time at the Paton Center for Hummingbirds in Patagonia. Our favorites were the Violet-crowned hummingbird and the Broad-billed hummingbird. We learned the sandhill cranes were already leaving Whitewater Draw.
North of Oracle, we found the convenient Houston Mesa Campground mostly empty, secured a site, and continued on to Tonto Natural Bridge State Park. After orienting ourselves at Tonto, the Lady announced, “I want to do every trail here!” I was not surprised. The natural bridge is a travertine deposit that Pine Creek cut its way through.
We headed down the trail to the south (outlet) end of the natural bridge.
There was a small amount of water flowing in Pine Creek.
We entered the tunnel.
And left the trail to scramble through to the north side.
Beware, the rock is polished smooth from use and, when wet, is incredibly slick. In places, the route is high above the water. I stashed the camera in the pack and pulled it back out at the inlet side.
Here’s a view of the travertine as we climbed back out of the gorge.
We hiked all the trails at the state park. We especially enjoyed the waterfall trail. Two small waterfalls drop over the edge and into the gorge.
Up the road from the campground was an ancient pueblo site. This was a very nice stop in the late afternoon.
This was the first benchmark we’ve seen that was placed by the Army Corps of Engineers.
We will have another first like this later in the trip story.
The sites at the campground were well separated and shielded by vegetation that provided privacy. The camp host warned us that weekends are busy and can be “crazy” here. I expect the campground can also be quite busy during the week in the summer. Although there is road noise, we had a pleasant night.
The next morning, we moved over to Agua Fria National Monument. Our first stop was the hike down to the Agua Fria River from the Badger Springs Trailhead.
We were here to visit the petroglyph panel.
The glyphs were predominately related to hunting with numerous antlered beasts, deer and elk.
Here are older, very faint sheep glyphs.
The panel is located on the cliff face above a bench along a bend in the Agua Fria River. We imagined this must have a habitation site. We found a large work station boulder with several grinding slicks. The backside of the boulder had old faint petroglyphs.
Across the river we found an Archeological Datum benchmark, another first.
Most all the photos I’ve seen of this area show water flowing in the Agua Fria. In some photos it looks like a warm weather swimming hole. This day there was not a hint of water anywhere. Arizona is critically dry.
After our hike, we drove north up the heavily used and crowded interstate and turned east on the dirt Bloody Basin Road. Our next stop was the ruins of Pueblo La Plata.
The mound ahead of and to the right of the Lady is the site of the Pueblo.
The ruins are impressive.
Pottery shards are abundant.
We continued out to the edge of Silver Creek’s gorge to, what the map called, Fort Silver. This was an ancient walled area with views down into the gorge.
Backcountry dispersed camping is allowed in the National Monument. We searched out a site that would provide solitude and quiet. We found a tiny spot on the edge of Silver Creek at the end of an old two track. After setting up camp, we looked for a way down into the gorge.
We explored the canyon.
We listened for whispers of voices from the ancient people who once made this place their home.
This was a great spot to be all alone. We thoroughly enjoyed the two walks we took in the dark under the stars.
Next up, more National Monuments – before they are gone. Our adventure continues. Please click here for Part Two.
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