Spur Cross Conservation Area - Part 3 - Another Full Moon Hike and a Bit More History

This was another really nice Full Moon Hike. We hiked basically the same trail, but with a bit of a modification. Kevin also showed us some interesting things on the trail and shared with us a bit of the history of the area.

I hiked mainly with two women, Wilma and, I can't remember the other woman's name, but at the end of the hike we were jokingly calling her Pebbles as she's a bit younger than Wilma. They had their dogs with them - Bo and Ginger. Bo is a larger dog who is very sweet-tempered and gentle. Ginger is a little Chihuahua who is also very sweet-tempered and likes to be held. "Pebbles" is an animal lover like I am so we had a nice chat at the beginning of the hike about how our pets had come to adopt us. Pebbles is really nice and Wilma is a riot!

Right after crossing Cave Creek, we went onto the Metate Trail for a bit so that Kevin could show us the site of the original Spur Cross Ranch. It's a fascinating story and you can read more about it by reading the blog posting for the Metate Trail hike. He also showed us a "fence" that he had made that day out of ocotillo cactus. For some reason, the cactus had to be dug up so they replanted it. They reinforced it with some wire so that the wind wouldn't blow it over. They plan to add to the fence and make it much larger. It will be interesting to see how it comes along.

Instead of hiking out and back like we did last time, we made a loop of sorts. We turned off and went through a wash for awhile. At one point, Kevin showed us where someone had erected a number of cairns. (A cairn is a non-naturally occurring pile of stones erected by a person or persons. They are built for several purposes.)  They call the area "Spurhenge". (lol) He showed us something else that was really interesting. I was going to take a picture of it, but I didn't think it would turn out. Anyway, it was a fairly large tree on the top of a large boulder. On the side and toward the bottom of the boulder was a very large hole through which the roots of the tree were coming. I had never seen anything quite like it.

Further up the trail, we went off it a bit so that Kevin could show us what remained of about five rooms in which the Hohokam Indians lived about 1,000 years ago. There are other similar sites in the Spur Cross Conservation Area, but they are larger (one has twenty-eight rooms).

I love the Full Moon Hikes out there. I can't wait for the next one!

(I took a few pictures, but they didn’t turn out very well.)