11.27.2023 Al's Arizona Hikes, Besh-Ba-Gowah Archaeological Park and Museum, Tonto National Monument--Cliff Dwellings, Roosevelt Lake Bridge and Roosevelt Lake Damn

DEER TANKS TRAIL

This was one of our Wednesday hikes, November 15th.

This is a picture of the actual tanks, they collect rain runoff to prevent erosion during the heavy rainfalls.  When the tanks are full they slowly run the water out for the wild game in the area thus the name of the trail.

The guy in front is the hike leader, Tom Wilkinson.  He is from Canada and his wife Jan is from Minnesota and guess how they met?  Hiking of course!

This was a perfect rest spot to have lunch!

I love retired life!!

SUPERSTITION WILDERNESS

On Friday November 17th we hiked the Superstition Wilderness.  This was an 8 mile hike and the whole group was pretty exhausted by the end of the day!

The views are absolutely amazing, the photos are good but nothing like seeing it live!

It's a good thing Tom knows where he's going, sometimes it seems like we're not even on a trail and then come across a trail marker seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

We come across numerous locations where there are caves.  I'll have to go back to some of these spots and do a little spelunking!

The rest of the hardy group on the long hike, Joanne, Denise and Verona.

A map of the trails in the Superstition Wilderness.  You could hike out here for weeks and not cross your own tracks!

PHON SUTTON - Wednesday November 22nd

Phon Sutton is an wilderness area along the Salt River.  The mountain in the background is part of the Indian Reservation and public hiking is not allowed in this area.

The vines you see hanging here are mistletoe.  Unfortunately the mistletoe here is much like the kudzu in the southern states and eventually chokes the life out of the trees it climbs.

The Salt River.

MERIDIAN TRAIL

This was a shorter Friday hike because everyone was a bit lethargic from the Thanksgiving festivities yesterday. 😂😁

There was over 1000 feet of elevation change from the trailhead to the saddle we hiked to.

It was worth the effort, it's absolutely beautiful up here!

Happy Thanksgiving! We baked a turkey (small) in the Foodie, Stuffing in the slow-cooker, sweet potatoes in the toaster oven, canned cranberries, deviled eggs and Costco apple pie! Happy Tummies!

We ate pie and ice cream for breakfast! Ha, just because we can.

Marley watches Hallmark and we went shopping!

11.27.2023

Besh-Ba-Gowah Archaeological Park and Museum—Globe, AZ

Partially restored ancient ruins of the Salado People who occupied the site between A.D. 1225-A.D. 1400. The museum on site displays prehistoric pottery, stone and woven artifacts excavated from the site. There is also a video interpreting the lifestyle of the people who occupied this region. There were miniature dioramas of the site showing what it looks like now and what they think it looked like while in use. I bought a turquoise ring in the gift shop that was made by a local artist. 

This is a model of the site.

Marely enjoyed the tour!

...and so did we!

We drove through "Historic Downtown Globe, AZ—They actually try to advertise this as “historic.” The historic part is that it is old. It is worse than Mazo, worse than Black Earth. I wouldn’t want to shop here.

On down the road is Lake Roosevelt.

... and the Cliff Dwellings. 

Tonto National Forest—Tonto National Monument--Cliff Dwellings (HWY 188)

Near Roosevelt Lake, half mile up the side of the mountain. Self-guided ½ mile hike up the mountain to view the cliff dwellings of ancient people. There was a volunteer guide at the top to point out and explain interesting things about the ruins.

There are two sites. One site is larger and you have to hike 3 miles with a guide. The second site is a bit smaller, has a paved path, and you can walk the mile up and back on your own. We did the smaller one but it still was 600 feet above the visitor center parking lot!

This is a zoomed in photo of the larger site,

The photo doesn't show it but this path was steep! At least it was paved... and had resting spots along the way.

See the cliff dwellings in the middle of the photo?

We are up pretty high!  The volunteer guide informed us that some of the water that the natives needed for their dwelling was carried up the mountain from the Salt River (now Roosevelt Lake) in the background.

We made it! A volunteer ranger gave us a tour and took our picture.

This roof is over 700 years old! The thin sticks running front to back are the inside parts of saguaro cactus. Amazing that it survived this long!

The trail zig zagged up the mountain-side to the dwellings.

This photo shows how high we are better.

If you look closely at the cliff dwelling you will see the roof is partially built from the saguaro cactus.  This is what they look like inside after they die.

We stopped at a park to have a late lunch. There are very nice picnic areas all over here with sheltered picnic tables. Al: "I love my family!" Colleen: "Me too!!!...LG"

Roosevelt Lake Bridge and Roosevelt Lake Dam-(HWY88) Highway 88 Apache Trail---HWY 88 is the other end of the closed road we were on during our last adventure when we ended up on the dirt road that was closed. We came in from the other direction. It turns into a dirt road that is closed on this end too but we saw some interesting things today!

Former President Theodore Roosevelt dedicated the dam named in his honor March 18, 1911. It is 357 feet high. Roosevelt Lake Bridge is the longest two-lane, single-span, steel-arch bridge in North America. The bridge, spans 1,080 feet across Roosevelt Lake providing two-way traffic. Prior to completion of the bridge in October 1990, traffic drove over the top of the dam. The bridge itself earned rare distinction when the bridge was named one of the top 12 bridges in the nation in November 1995.The original dam-top roadway was designed to allow two Model-T Fords to pass abreast, but today's recreational vehicles and full-size automobiles are too wide to permit two-way traffic.

For more information: https://www.usbr.gov/lc/phoenix/projects/rooseveltdam/rdhistory.html

The way the rocks heave here is very different from other volcanic areas we've visited. Mountains here were formed by Volcanic action and rocks and sediment were taken with it.

That's our truck, Max.

The backside of the dam.

facing away from the backside of the dam, up the canyon.

Happy dog, happy man!

Click the link to see Al's video!

While we admiring the workmanship and the feat of building the Roosevelt dam we were surprised by one of the pieces of equipment that are being used for maintenance today!

More of the strange rock upheaval.

Anchors all over the rock faces. These are to hold up mesh netting to prevent rocks from falling onto the roadways. 

The tunnel that used to allow traffic to drive on top of the dam.

If you look closely you can see the top of the dam in the background behind the hazard symbol.

On our way back to The Resort.

The sunsets are so amazing here we couldn't decide which ones to post so we posted them all!

It was a long day but we were prepared with a picnic and Marley was along. 

***I posted an address a couple posts back and it was wrong. I tried to change it but this program wouldn't let me edit that post so here is the correct address that I have received packages at. We will be here until April 30, 2024:

Al Hornung (or Colleen Roth-Hornung)

1101 S. Ellsworth Rd

LOT 217

Mesa, AZ 85208

 It was a long day of exploring, hiking, and sightseeing!