Cam was off to his last day of class in Scottsdale, so Karen headed out to explore where the pavement ended yesterday! A good 4 wheel drive pickup was the vehicle of choice for the rugged, rutted dirt roads. Northwest of Carefree, AZ lies the Great Western Trail in Arizona. This is a 3000 mile shared use backcountry route from Canada to Mexico, traveling through AZ, UT, ID,WY, MT. Many points of discovery can be found along the way. This is where Karen explored the Seven Springs Recreation area., referred to as a desert oasis. Land of ATV's, cross country motorcycles, horses and pickup trucks! Water crossings abounded so a high clearance vehicle was a must!
Just Karen, the truck and the Great Western Trail!
Trailheads in NJ have doggy bowls and trailheads in desert mountains of AZ have big horse bowls!
Along this "corridor of discovery", Karen enjoyed points of interest along the
Cave Creek Segment of the GWT.
Crossing Seven Springs Wash
The Sears-Kay Ruins is a designated point of discovery along the rugged GWT. These ruins are remains from an ancient Hohokum village overlooking the GWT north of Carefree. The 40 room village has 5 separate buildings with dramatic desert foothills views.
Occupied between AD 1050-1200 this fortified village is now on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Unusual large rock formations looming off the side of this ancient Indian ruin site. Would love to have Cam along as he would enjoy this historical hike. With the warning signs at the trailhead to watch your step for snakes I was very focused on watching the narrow trail for any surprises.
The Hohokum Indians are ancestors of today's Pima Indians. Hohokam translates as "the ancient ones".
If these rocks could talk, they would have a great story to tell us!
After traveling the GWT, Karen headed to an area north of Cave Creek called Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area. Multiple hiking trails available for hikers, moutain bikers and horseback riders. Needed more hours in the day to hike nearby Elephant Mountain.
A Solar Oasis on the Metate Trail. Water is pumped from an old ranch well using solar energy. This acts as a refugia for 3 species of endemic fish, leopard frogs and riparian flora.
So nice to see some green grass along the trail that parallels Cave Creek.
Natural fencing materials used along the trail.
A natural cairn garden noted along the Maricopa Trail. Back to civilization to see Cam and clean up after a fun day on dirt roads and dirt trails.
Karen drove 237 miles while we were in Scottsdale.
Tonto? Sounds stupid to me.
ReplyDeleteReally sounds like you're having a great trip!
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