Menu

Tag: archeology

Exploring Saguaro National Park West – Tucson Mountain District

Saguaro National Park Arizona

I thought I’d seen a lot of saguaros in the Sonoran Desert, but Saguaro National Park is a forest of giant cactus people.

View from Gilbert Ray camp Tucson Mountain Park Arizona

Sunset from camp

I arrived in the late afternoon so stopped first at the visitor center where I watched the orientation film and picked up my Junior Ranger book. Then I went to the recommended Gilbert Ray campground in Tucson Mountain Park for the night.

Truckcamper Gilbert Ray campground Tucson Mountain Park Arizona

Great place with lots of private sites in the middle of the desert all with electricity for $20 and the only place to camp in this part of the park.

Hohokam Road Saguaro National Park Arizona

Hohokam Road

In the morning I returned to the visitor center to get my Junior Ranger badge and some information. There are many road and trail options so it’s wise to make a plan.

Ocotillo & picnic table overlooking Avra Valley from Sus Picnic area Hohokam Road Saguaro National Park Arizona

Ocotillo and Avra Valley from Sus picnic area 

President Franklin D Rosevelt first established Saguaro National Monument in 1933. Then in 1961 President Kennedy expanded the monument to include Tucson Mountain Park. In 1994 congress established Saguaro National Park.

Birds nest in saguaro Saguaro National Park Arizona

Birds nest

Saguaro National Park is composed of two distinct districts, the Ricon Mountain District east of Tucson and the Tucson Mountain District to the west.

Wash along Signal Hill trail Saguaro National Park Arizona

To many, these giants symbolize the American West yet saguaros only grown in southern Arizona and northern Mexico.

Saguaro National Park Arizona

Saguaros can grow to 50 feet tall and are the largest member of the cactus family in the US. They normally live for 150-200 years.

Young saguaro by nurse prickly pear cactus Signal Hill trail Saguaro National Park Arizona

For a saguaro seedling to survive, it needs the protection of a nurse plant which provides protection from the sun and freezing temperatures.

Fishhook barrel cactus Signal Hill trail Saguaro National Park Arizona

Fishhook barrel cactus

I saw many of the parks 25 species of cactus along the .5 mile Signal Hill Trail.

Petroglyphs Signal Hill trail Saguaro National Park Arizona

Which took me to a rock pile with various petroglyphs left behind by the Hohokam people.

Petroglyphs Signal Hill trail Saguaro National Park Arizona

Imagine pecking away at the desert varnish to leave a message behind.

Petroglyphs Signal Hill trail Saguaro National Park Arizona

Unfortunately it looks like some modern folks decided to leave their messages as well.  It is not only wrong but illegal to vandalize these archeological sites.

Saguaro National Park Arizona

There’s some very crazy cactus out there.

Bloggers Susie & Gaelyn El Molinito Resturant Tucson Arizona

After these explorations I had a Very important lunch date with fellow blogger Susie of Arabia at El Molonito in Tucson. We talked for at least three hours just like old friends. What a treat to meet this amazing woman who moved with her husband to his so culturally different homeland in Saudi Arabia.

Arizona, National Parks and Monuments, Saguaro National Park , , , , 16 Comments

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument

I’m trying to visit a few National Park sites I haven’t seen before on my way to Texas. Even though I live in Arizona there are So many parks I haven’t been to yet and one of them was Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.

Great House Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Arizona

I’ve seen a few Southwest native ruins but nothing built like the “Great House” at Casa Grande National Monument. Almost 1000 years ago the Hohokam people constructed this four story 60 foot long building using subsoil called caliche, a concrete-like mix of sand, clay and calcium carbonate.

Closeup of caliche walls Great House Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Arizona

Imagine the labor involved piling 3,000 tons of caliche mud in successive courses to form walls four feet thick at the base and tapering toward the top. Juniper, pine and fir trees used to form ceiling or floors were carried or floated 60 miles down the Gila River.

Holes in walls line up with solsice Great House Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Arizona

The walls face the four cardinal points of the compass and a circular hole in the upper west wall aligns with the setting sun at the summer solstice. Other openings also align with specific solar and lunar occurrences.  The sky was their calendar.

Ruins around Great House compound Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Arizona

And the Great House is only part of this 2-acre compound surrounded by what was once a 7 foot high wall that contained houses, work areas, courtyards and storage rooms. Plus this is only one neighborhood in a larger community of compounds that covered nearly a square mile housing possibly 30,000 to 60,000 people. The Hohokam were farmers that built the most extensive irrigation ditches lined with caliche from the Gila River and had a lot of mouths to feed.

Great House Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Arizona

When Americans began visiting the area in the late 1800s souvenir hunting threatened to destroy the site. In 1892, Casa Grande became the first archaeological reserve and declared a National Monument in 1918. The Great House has been sheltered since early excavations started in 1903.

Casa Grande Ruins NM Jr Ranger badge & hat pin

How did I learn all this? Well of course, I became a Junior Ranger.

Interpretive sign Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Arizona

Arizona, Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, National Parks and Monuments , , 6 Comments

Hiking Grand Canyon – Day 2 Staying close to camp

Snowing on South Rim from Phantom Ranch Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

Snowing on the South Rim in the morning

I’d never hiked the South Kaibab trail into Grand Canyon before. It is a steep, 7 mile (11.26 km) ridge trail with no potable water. Not a great place to be during the heat of summer. However, a winter hike on it was ideal.

Camp site Bright Angel campground Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

Bright Angel Camp

Unfortunately, my body didn’t quite agree about the idea and was extremely exhausted after 7.5 hours downhill. Plus we basically didn’t get into camp until after dark.

Cabin Phantom Ranch Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

Cabin rental through Xanterra

So the next day, after a very chilly mid 20 degree F night and sleeping in until 8am, we first explored Phantom Ranch.

Canteen Phantom Ranch Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

The Canteen offers food & beverages, full meals require reservations

In 1922, the Fred Harvey Company commissioned Mary Jane Colter to redesign the original tourist camp built by David Rust twenty years earlier.

Mike writing postcard in Canteen Phantom Ranch Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

We went inside to warm up over a cup of cocoa and write postcards.

Mule pack train coming into Phantom Ranch Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

Everything used and sold here is carried in by mule train, as is all the garbage carried out.

Bridge over Bright Angel Creek below campground and Black Bridge in background Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

After sitting in this warmth for a little while our legs started to stiffen up so we walked back to camp for water and snacks to hike a little ways back up the trail we came down after dark. The Bright Angel campground is nestled between Bright Angel Creek…

Vishnu Schist in Bright Angel campground Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

…and towering walls of 4.7 billion year old Vishnu Schist.

Closeup of quartz in Vishnu Schist in Bright Angel campground Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

Closeup of the ancient schist with quartz and granite intrusions

Ranger residence under fall trees and canyon walls Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

Ranger residence

Though a remote and rugged setting, this area has long been a destination for humans.

Ancestral Puebloan ruin along North Kaibab trail Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

Almost 1000 years ago native people called Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi) built their homes along the river.

Colorado River downstream from Black Bridge Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

Can’t say as I blame them.

Black Bridge over Colorado River from Boat Beach Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

Yet crossing the swift Colorado River had to be a hazardous undertaking before the National Park Service completed the present Kaibab Suspension Bridge in 1928.

Tunnel at South end of Black Bridge Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

The one-ton, 550-foot- long suspension cables were carried down into the canyon on the shoulders of mostly Havasupai tribesmen who walked single file down the trail while carrying the cables. And I thought carrying a 32 pound backpack was over much!

Colorado River and Bright Angel Creek confluence from South Kaibab trail Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

Confluence of Bright Angel Creek and Colorado River

But this day’s little hike was light and easy. And after seeing what was too dark to see the night before we headed back to camp.

South Rim from Phantom Ranch Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

Looking up at the snow on the South Rim

Thinking of the next day’s hike uphill. But that’s another story.

Bright Angel Campground, Grand Canyon National Park, National Parks and Monuments, Phantom Ranch , , 19 Comments

Lijit

© Copyright 2008-2024. Geogypsytraveler.com