Almost lost, but at least it was cooler

It's been terribly hot lately. And it didn't heat up like it normally does this summer. We had unusually cool weather for a while (in the 90's), and then it suddenly jumped up to 110+. No time to adjust. I've been hiding from the heat since. It seems like it's been over 110 every day for at least a couple of weeks. I had been spending the weekend in the house, but yesterday I couldn't stand it any more. I had to get out of the house, even if it meant becoming a raisin. I headed for Superior. It was only 106 there, and maybe even cooler east of there.

It took me a while to get to Superior. I took a detour to drive the length of El Camino Viejo (the old road). I've been wanting to do that for about 3 years. It turns out that it isn't a very long road, and not extremely scenic, though it was certainly nice. Then I went through Queen Valley and marveled at how green their golf course is. I finally got around to moseying on out to Superior. It was only 102 in town by the time I got there. I continued on 60 up the canyon to the east. I stopped at a pullout where I often see cars parked and have sometimes seen people hiking along the road. I've often wondered where that trail went, so I decided to follow it for a little ways. I was amazed when I got out of the truck and didn't feel like I was getting scorched. Wow, only 98 degrees! I followed the trail to where it descended to the bottom of the canyon. It's right next to the highway, so it's very noisy. It looks like the trail doesn't leave the canyon, so I don't think I'll be hiking on it any time soon.

At the top of the canyon is the turnoff for Oak Flat Campground (which is also where I turned off to hike to Apache Leap). If you drive through the campground, the road continues on the other side. I had been out there once before and there were some interesting rock formations, so I thought I'd go out there again. The road on the other side of the campground is much rougher than I remembered. The rough parts are solid rock that is not cut very smoothly. Then there are stretches of dirt that are as smooth as glass. As I drove along, there were lots of side roads. It became difficult to tell what was side roads and what was the road I was trying to follow. Since I had taken so long to get out there, it was going to be getting dark soon. I decided I had better head back, but first I had to ... uh ... well, I had been keeping myself well hydrated, and I needed to dispose of some of the used water. Of course, I took my camera with me and of course, there was something to take a picture of.

A pile of rocks.

That's right; a pile of rocks. And nearby was another pile of rocks.

A pile of rocks with a stick in the middle.

Hmm, do they mark a trail? Why are they out here in the middle of nowhere? This warrants further investigation. So I walked in the direction they they seemed to point. I noticed another strange rock formation.

Rocks blocking a stream?

The rocks looked like they were used to build a dam. They couldn't hold water, though. Why would somebody do that? I continued exploring. I only took a few steps before I found another leaky dam-like structure.

Another leaky dam.

These things were all over the place. But why? They couldn't hold water. They did seem to have a lot of dirt piled up behind them, though. Was somebody trying to collect dirt? Was all this from some kid playing? It wasn't a kid. Some of those rocks probably weighed several hundred pounds. Well, I guess it could have been a kid with a bulldozer. Anyway, I can't figure it out.

I followed these dams for a while, taking pictures. I saw one other out-of-place item besides the dams. There were pieces of clay pigeons all over the place. I don't think there's a connection, though. I think a lot of people go out there to camp, shoot things, and drink.

Evidence of drinking.

OK, remember why I got out of the truck? Remember that I took my camera, but that's all? No water. No phone. No SPOT. Nothing else. I thought about that and suddenly felt very vulnerable. I'd been happily wandering along in pretty much random directions, snapping pictures of whatever, in unfamiliar territory. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, beyond the next dam. Where was I? Where was the truck? I had a feeling for which direction it should be, which was also the direction I had most recently come from. I headed back, going from one familiar landmark to the next. I quickly got back to the truck. Whew! Well I couldn't be lost in the desert if I'm writing this, could I? It was getting close to sunset, so I needed to get back to 60. I didn't want to be out here with all these twisty roads and side roads in the dark. So I'm not quite out of the woods, yet. There was something on my side, though. It had rained the night before, and that had erased all tracks. Only a couple of other vehicles had been out there since then. It was easy to follow my own tracks out, except for on the parts of the road that were solid rock, and those weren't long enough to be a problem. I'll have to get out there earlier in the day next time.

2009_07_19