Gold Canyon, Az

Gold Canyon, Az
New Years Day 2015, Gold Canyon, AZ

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Hieroglyphics Trail - finally

After a quiet Christmas morning we joined about 75 other Snowbirds for a potluck Christmas dinner.   On boxing day Lori did some laundry and I went to the gym with the rest of the day spent around the Park walking Charli and doing some biking.
On the 27th we decided to try to find the proper trailhead for the Hieroglyphics Trail.  This time met with more success and it turns out it is only a short drive from our Park.

The trail is only 2.9 miles round trip and only about 500' elevation.  Piece of cake.
 Still some pretty good views.  Despite the clear blue skies and bright sun, the moon was not going to give up the sky.
 Another one of those balancing rocks. One day it will topple over but not today.
Lucky for us the trail did not go up this way.  The trail had a steady climb but not too steep.  The main challenge was the loose rocks and gravel which, if your foot wasn't planted properly, it was easy to slip, especially on the way down.



The look down over the town of Gold Canyon.  
Finally we reached the Hieroglyphs which in fact aren't Hieroglyphs at all but Petroglyphs.  The basalt rock etchings were mistaken by early European settlers for Egyptian hieroglyphs, hence the erroneous name.  These petroglyphs were created by the Hohokam People, a civilization that thrived in central and southern Arizona from 500 - 1450 AD. 
 Given it was a Saturday during Christmas break this trek was not an original idea.  The trail was very busy with people and other dogs and when we got to the top it looked like a school field trip. Lori started having flashbacks.
We decided a return trip during the week and after school was back in session would leave us more time to explore.
A view from the top of the trail
That evening we were presented with this beautiful sunset reflection on Superstition Mountain.


Later

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