Seligman North to Coconino Plateau - Oct '06

[ccrider]

October trip to AZ. Looking for insight on unique geology, ruins and other points of interest in the country North of Seligman.
thanks
Chris
:tent:

[crawler#976]

The area north of Seligman is mostly private property or part of the Havasupia Reservation, which as far as I know is closed to travel without a permit. Other than doing some praire dog hunting off old Route 66 many years ago (with permission of the land owner), I've not had a lot of experiance with the area. I know there are several large sand stone quaries in the foothills to the north.

Geologically speaking off Old 66 are the Grand Canyon Caverns. It's a dry cave system. Haven't been there in years...

[Scott Brady]

Chris,

Sounds like a fun trip. I will try to shed some ideas in a few days.

[crawler#976]

The area to the south of Seligman offers a lot to see. Williamson Valley Road heads to Prescott, and passes thru some neat country. Walnut Creek is the entrance to two very seldom used wilderness areas:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/prescott/recreation/wilderness/apache.shtml

http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/prescott/recreation/wilderness/juniperm.shtml

Geologically, Apache Creek is comprised of huge piles of granite boulders. Juniper Mesa is a flat top mesa with a good trail across the top.

Historicly speaking, there are lots of sites. Near Walnut Creek was an U.S. Army post, Fort Hualapia. Not much left now tho...

http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/az/camphualpai.html

Above the K4 ranch is a typical walled ruin - easy to find, it's due north of the ranch on top of the hill.

http://www.southwestexplorations.com/aztecpass.htm shows where Whipple crossed thru Walnut Creek.

Mark

[BajaTaco]

How did this trip go?

[ccrider]

The trip was excellent. The goal of a cow elk did not come to fruition. However, everything else was wonderful. I was playing " outfitter " for my 70 yr old father. So I was only able to sneak away one day to drive North upon the Coconino Plateau....which is very beautiful. I did find an old indian cave with a large pile obsidian chips and pottery fragments. Also found the distant area where they had to carry the obsidian from.
The Boquillas ranch has alot to offer. I did some large loops in my vehicle while exploring. Some of these loops would be fun on a MTB. My favorite spot to glass was an old cinder cone with really cool lava dikes.
I have always been comfortable sleeping on the ground and did not really ever see a need for a vehicle mounted tent. That is until I experienced the AZ mud. What a mess loading my truck and trying to get out after 24 hrs worth of rain. The locker did come in handy. Yeah, now I am thinking about joining the hordes of californios invading AZ.

cheers
Chris