Cherry Creek adventure

 

The bones are tired. 70 miles on the cycle was a lot of motorcycle riding. This morning with Len the great cycle trip started up Cherry Creek. The Commander would take a hike while Len and Kadizzle made the 40 mile trip up the Cherry Creek road. The road is one of the longest Kadizzle has ever taken throuh such a remote area. Perhaps three ranches exist on the entire length of the road. If you drew a map carefully it is probably one of the least populated areas in the country. This was not always the case. At one time the whole valley must have been relatively well populated with Indians. The area has some of the best Indian ruin sites the Kadizzles have visited, and we have visited hundreds of sites.

Once you cross the water of Cherry Creek for the last time at Ellison's ranch, the road deteriorates quickly. On one of our earlier trips, we met the Ellisons. They look like a couple in their early 80's and each one of them carries a six shooter stuffed in the back of their pants. Just by chance this year, we met a cousin of theirs.

After crossing Cherry Creek the road climbs up onto the side of the mountains. Most of the time the road hangs on the edge of a cliff. The view is spectacular and a lot of the scenery seems out of place for Arizona. When you look up into the canyons, the scene looks like something from South American with vegetation hanging from steep cliffs. After cycling for a couple miles, Len and Kadizzle reached the dark shaded cove where one would start the hike for Devil's Chasem.  We hiked up the Chasm last year to some spectacular ruins.  From there, we went on up the valley to the trail head for the two other major Indian sites in the area. Kadizzle tried to explain to Len where our next Indian exploration would take place.

As the trip proceeded and the crew went deeper into the absolute middle of nowhere, the scenery never let up. Hundreds of potential places for Indian dwellings appeared everywhere. One could spend many years hiking these canyons and never get done exploring. As we went up, it became obvious the original occupants of the valley could have access to some sites from the plain above. The whole trip opened up Kadizzles eyes to the possibilities for food gathering. At one stop, the ground was littered with acorns. Knowing the Indians used them as a food source, Kadizzle decided to try a couple. The natives mush have had a way of drying and preparing them. A bitter and drying taste was Kadizzles result, but if you were starving they might have been fine.