Tonto Monument Upper Cliff Dwelling

Saturday, March 14, 2015

After breakfast this morning with trepidation, I left Yuma at 8:15 am in the motorhome while I went to see the upper cliff dwelling at the Tonto Monument.

Except for this weekend, the only way you can go to the upper cliff dwelling, is to schedule a visit in advance, so I am glad I was in the area this weekend.

I thought the gates opened at 8:00 am, but when I got there I found they do not open the gate to go up the mountainside till 9:00 am.  Fortunately, the museum was open, so I took this opportunity to walk through the museum and read about the cliff dwellers and see some of their pottery and cooking utensils.

I was with the first group that left right at 9 am.  There were about 20 of us at the starting gate, when the ranger opened it.  I didn’t race up the mountainside to be the first there, because I wanted to stop and take photos as I went.

Thursday, I visited the lower cliff dwelling, but this one is a mile and a half trek to reach the cliff dwelling.  We first followed a shallow stream and then started climbing.   Fortunately, there are switchbacks to make the climb easier, but it was still a long climb.  Luckily, it was early morning and it was still fairly cool.  I pity the people making the climb this afternoon.  They will really feel it.

Saw this flower as I was walking up.  Looks beautiful, but I don’t know what it is.  The white flowers had bloomed in the sunlight but not the pink ones.

It took about an hour to get to the cliff dwelling and I documented what I saw in the following photos:

This first photo is of the south end of the lake.  I took it standing at the entrance to the dwelling.  However, this is a manmade lake, so during their time it was a large valley.

This one room still had much of the original roofing.  Made of trees, reeds covered in mud.

At the back against the cave wall, water would seep out, so they made a cistern to hold the water.  There was no water there now.

 

Once done with my visit, I hurried back down the mountainside.  While leaving the visitor area, there were cars and trucks parked all along the roadway leading down to hwy 188 and there were shuttles bringing the visitors up to the visitor center.  I’m glad I was there early so I didn’t have to go through that hassle.

I was back at the motorhome before noon and I had one happy dog waiting for me.  He had been just great.  The place was just as I left it, so he got two treats for being so good.

It was a very interesting visit.  I have never seen cliff dwellings until this week.

See you later.

Trip to Globe, Arizona

Friday, March 13, 2015

This morning, we woke up to a beautiful clear blue sky over The Four Peaks.

My plans after breakfast are to drive to Globe, Arizona, about 35 miles from my campground on hwy 188.  I have three objectives to achieve in Globe; so, after breakfast we headed to town to 1) get gas for the jeep, 2) stop by Walmart for groceries and 3) find a shop that will look at my RV front brakes and replace if necessary.

It was a pretty drive into Globe.  When we passed the road going up to the cliff dwellings, I stopped at a scenic view.  From there I could see the upper cliff dwellings. 

As you can see from the zoomed image, the dwellings are much more preserved than the lower ones that I went to yesterday.  It is going to be neat to be able to walk up there tomorrow morning.

Went over the mountains to the south and left Roosevelt Lake in our rearview mirror. 

Globe is an old town, so stopped in the old district and took a few photos. 

Then I stopped to fill up the jeep and noticed a car wash right next door, so stopped in and gave the jeep a good cleaning.  It sure needed a wash.

We then stopped by Walmart, but it was getting very hot and there was no shade anywhere in their parking lot.  I didn’t feel comfortable leaving the jeep running with the AC while I was gone. 

I drove up to the huge Fry’s Food Store and went around the back on the north side and there was shade from the building, so Fry’s it is.  Prices were great there too.

I didn’t accomplish my most important goal of finding someone to look at my brakes.  I went to three places and they all said they don’t do RVs.  I can’t believe a town in the middle of the mountains doesn’t do RV brakes, but that’s the way it goes.

Instead of going through Globe on hwy 60, my alternative is to drive north to Payson, Arizona on Monday.  The highway 260 route is less mountainous and ends up at hwy 60 above the mountains.

Around 4:30 pm it was so beautiful, Yuma and I drove up the mountains to the west of the lake to just walk the jeep road for awhile.  The lake looks beautiful from there.  This whole area looks beautiful at this time of year.  Wouldn’t it be neat to build a house where I am standing and have this view from your front porch.

See you later.

Tonto National Monument Cliff Dwelling

Thursday, March 12, 2015

This morning was overcast, but still a great day to go see the cliff dwellings.  When you think of cliff dwellings, the famous Pueblo cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde N.P., Colorado come to mind.

However, at about the same time, the Salado people were building cliff dwellings in the Tonto Basin of Arizona.  Today, I went to see the lower cliff dwelling at the Tonto National Monument.

The ruins overlook the Roosevelt Lake in the Tonto basin to the east.

No one is sure why they built these cliff dwellings and are not sure why they were abandoned.

Here are photos of what I saw walking around.

While walking down from the cliff dwellings, Yuma managed to meet a new friend.

Couldn’t resist these beautiful yellow flowers for all you flower lovers out there.

While in the ruins, the ranger mentioned this weekend is Heritage Days 2015.  The upper cliff dwellings that are only accessible by guided tour will be open to the public this weekend without reservations.   Also, there will be Indian native dancing and the new museum at the visitor center will open this weekend.

Unfortunately, they do not allow pets, so Yuma will be staying in the motorhome while I make this visit.  Will see how he behaves while I am gone for a couple of hours.

After lunch, Yuma and I took another walk on a jeep road into the mountains to see what we could find.  We did manage to find the biggest Gila Monster so far.  This guy was at least 18 inches, so he was nearly full grown.   He had a huge head and a mean disposition.

See you later.

Rattlesnake and Gila Monster

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Started out late today.  While Yuma and I were on our walk this morning, we walked up to the highway.  It is not far from our camp.   While standing on the roadway, I noticed a jeep road going west up toward The Four Peaks.  From where I stood, it only looks a few miles to the Peaks, but looks can be deceiving.

After breakfast, Yuma and I hopped in the jeep to take a closer look.  We drove up for about a mile and it was following a ridge.  It was so beautiful out,  decided to park the jeep and walk for awhile.  Maybe if we were quiet enough we might spot something interesting. (The jeep is in the upper left hand corner.)  Click on any photo to enlarge.

It is absolutely gorgeous up here.  No wind and no sounds except the occasional cactus wren.

We are as far as we can walk.  I can’t go any further.  And The Four Peaks still look only a few miles away.

I think we must have walked two miles and all of it up hill.  Thank goodness that means the next two miles is down hill.  Should have just driven the jeep.  Didn’t see any mountain lions or sheep or anything.

On the way down, I stopped on the side of the trail to get some rest.  And while sitting there, I saw something move on the trail below me.  Took Yuma and started walking down towards it.  At first I thought it may be a tarantula because all I could see was black and feet moving up and down coming at me.

Yuma saw it and he almost pulled my arm off trying to run towards it.  Got close, but with holding Yuma back I could not get a clear shot with the camera.  It was another Gila Monster.  About the same size as the one I saw yesterday.

Got photos of him as he went through the grass just off the trail.  He did not like me following him and turned around and hissed at me.  These guys show no fear.  His beady black eyes just starred up at me.

That made our walk worth while.  Two Gila Monsters in two days.  They didn’t name this county Gila for nothing.

We went back to camp and I laid down on the bed to rest I was so tired.  Wasn’t long before Yuma did the same.  Rested till about 3 pm and I got up and fixed some lunch and we decided to go to the Roosevelt Visitor Center and buy two more passes to carry us through the weekend.

While at the Visitor Center, I learned there is a cave dwelling at the Roosevelt Monument and it is only a mile up the road.  Drove up there and by this time it was 4:15 and the sign said it closed at 5 pm.  Took one photo as a teaser and we will be sure to stop by tomorrow.

There was still daylight since this region does not honor Daylight Savings time, so I decided to take Yuma for a walk up the Frazier Trail before calling it a night.  I saw the sign for this trail as we were heading for the cave dwellings, so pulled into the trailhead.

Nice trail with just tons of large Prickly Pear Cactus everywhere.

We had not walked very far along the trail when I saw a funny looking stick just ahead of Yuma, so I stopped real quick to take a closer look.  Holding onto Yuma, I walked a little closer and it was a rattlesnake in the trail.  It had just come out of the prickly pear cactus when we walked up and he froze when he heard us coming.

I would guess he was about four feet in length but I never did see his whole length.  Yuma never really saw him because he didn’t move, so I pulled him back and tied him to a tree, but by the time I got back to the snake, He was crawling back into the cactus. 

I saw his rattles but no photo of them.  He curled up in the cactus and that is where I left him.  He didn’t bother me and I didn’t bother him.  Checked the Internet when I got back to camp and I would guess him to be an adult western diamondback rattlesnake.

I am so thankful I was paying attention to the trail.  If not, Yuma would have walked right into him.  I think I will stay off the trails that have cactus and brush near the edges from now on and stick to the jeep trails.  And continue to keep a watchful eye out for odd looking sticks.

See you later.