Arizona has some awesome hikes, and Devil's Chasm--in the Tonto National Forrest, part of Cherry Creek--I have heard is a really neat one. In addition to being a beautiful and somewhat challenging hike, it holds a sweet cave, as well as cliff-dwelling ruins from the Salado Indians that is estimated to be 700 to 800 years old. My bishop, some friends, and I planned this trip over labor day, and I have been looking forward to going ever since! I know there are a lot of pictures here...and I tried to limit myself, but I just love all these pictures!
My friend Heidi took this picture the night before, and I am amazed at the stunning shot she got of the stars. (You have to double click to really see how amazing it is.)
This is our group before we departed on our adventure: (front to back, left to right) Zack, Cimarron, Heidi, Bishop Nicholls, (on the rock) Marisa, me, Charlotte, & Justin. Yes...it was cold, mid-40's out when we started.
I love this picture of us!
So fun to hike up!
I must admit, Arizona has some really pretty scenery when you look for it.
Look closely, to the top left is 'an indian chief' with folded arms (2nd pillar rock on the left hand side), and the cliff-dwelling is nearly centered (just a little lower then the top half).
I love our faces in this one: Justin trying to explain the indian chief rock...Charlotte gets it, Zack is starting to, I'm completely lost (classic Sam face), and Heidi just doesn't care!
Pretty sweet, huh, just tucked in there.
The ruin is made out of stones and caliche, and you can still see the fingerprints in the caliche from when they pressed it in, this was a really clear shot (it might be helpful to double click it so you can see the picture bigger), SO COOL!
Another great shot of the fingerprints in the caliche, with Heidi's fingers helping illustrate.
In it's hay-day, it was 3-stories high, it's amazing it had preserved so well.
There were several rooms you could go through, and but if you're not skinny, you're not getting in! (There were several metate's, and a significant amount of broken pottery in the rooms.)
What a perfect picture of an old metate, with a breathtaking scene just out the doorway.
Who say's Arizona doesn't have fall? Look at those gorgeous colored leaves!
A doorway even I could hit my head on! I rarely have to stoop.
Look mom, no hands! Not exactly the place where I'd be thrilled to have my kids playing.
Us eating lunch on the edge of a cliff...the back patio if you will.
There were lots of fallen trees, and I was just in the mood to climb on them.
I even got Marisa into it.
Bishop, Marisa, and I all bush-whacked it a long way, till we made it to a dry river bed, and followed that to the end of the chasm, and this is it. Zack and Cimmaron eventually made their way back too.
You see Marisa...but where am I? I'm there...look closely in the dark...kinda creepy...kinda awesome, and if nothing else, totally hilarious! (You'll have to double-click to see it.)
Eyes still glowing, I submerge from the dark shadows...
Everyone likes to pick on Sam because her short little legs just don't reach most of the time! :(
Pretty colored leaf instead of a flower, working with what I've got.
As I crawled across a fallen tree a few feet, Marisa suggested I be a sloth and I immediately complied, Bishop got there just in time to capture the moment!
This is the scenery we hiked along, isn't it beautiful!
After this intense dirt hill we literally CRAWLED up, we got to the cave, and in one part we found some bones...creepy...looked like part of a femur.
Not my most brilliant of moves, I was a little nervous here since it was about a 15-foot drop, and we had no rope should I have fallen. But the thrill of cave exploration excited me to do it!
There was asbestus in the cave, and I just wanted to blow my nose before a picture was taken...Bishop wasn't honoring this request, and I was showing my displeasure of this fact on my face! (Marisa was smart enough to turn around).
See, I'm perfectly happy to smile if I could just have a moment.
Someone left a rope at this spot, which proved to be very helpful.
Yes, that is sheer panic on my face because I had lost all friction, and was sliding down a steep rock, mere feet from a 5 foot drop! (Which unfortunately you barely miss the edge of in the bottom of the photo, so you can't tell what a dramatic moment this was!)
All in a day of fun! I love our unofficial hiking club!
But let us not forget my favorite part of hikes, Bishop and Justin skipping and singing 'Skip to My Lou', this makes any day cheerful!
