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pictures and video will be posted on this page soon.
They say the
road (in this case dirt and very rough road) is paved with
good intentions and this adventure fits that perfectly. Our
mission this time was to drive up to the trailhead for
Devils Chasm then hike up to see these spectacular
pre-historic cliff dwellings that only a hand full of people
have ever seen since they were abandoned sometime around
1350 AD. Below is a picture of our goal.
The picture
above was found on Todd's Desert Hiking Guide at
www.toddshikingguide.com . Todd's site is a
wonderful resource with detailed directions and descriptions
that was invaluable to our adventure. Thanks Todd!
Below is
where we went. We left the paved road on 203 near Roosevelt
Lake which is about 70 miles east of Phoenix.
Trip: As you've probably already guessed we
didn't reach our goal... but I'm getting ahead of myself...
We left
Phoenix at 8:00am, 10.06.2007 and headed east. It was cold
(around 60 degrees and that's cold here) with no windows in
the Jeep at 65 mph. We stopped in Miami AZ, got some coffee,
put on our coats and cranked up the heat and off we went. It
had warmed up by the time we reached the dirt road plus we
were moving a lot slower. Life was good.
The road
(203) was well maintained and a very scenic drive as the
road twisted through the desert mountains, and across dry
creeks for the first 22 miles. Then things got rough and
there was water in the creeks. For the last several (maybe
5?) miles the road was not maintained, narrow, very rocky,
much harder to negotiate and one wheel off meant plummeting
to our death. However, traveling around 6 mph makes that
last option fairly remote. By the time we reached the
trailhead we were in a thick forest, higher in elevation and
in an area that gets much more rain fall.
Thanks to
Todd's directions we made it to the unmarked trailhead and
hiked a mile or so up the canyon, stopping frequently to
catch our breath, until the trail was no longer clearly
visible and large boulders in our way... so gave up and turned
around. Besides our beer and sandwiches were waiting in the
Jeep
I know, we
could have just followed the creek and eventually made it to
our destination but we didn't want to drive the rocky road
back in the dark. That's our excuse and we're sticking to
it.
Anyway, we
still had a great time and we will go back and try this one
again. We'll have to leave a few hours earlier next time. In
the mean time there are many other remote cliff dwellings in
the same area to attempt and fail to reach.
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