Point of Rocks, Flat Lake area - BLM and State Lands

Point of Rocks in distance.

Petroglyphs

Excavation

Excavation with pack rat nest.

Point of Rocks

Excavation

Cans

Barrel cactus.

Barrel cactus

Petroglyphs

Petroglyph

I did three hikes out to this area in December and January. The first was to a petroglyph site I had read about years ago.  On kind of whim I decided to locate it on a sunny Tuesday afternoon, a few days before Christmas.I had put a pin on Google Earth and on On-X where I thought the site was located, but hadn't consulted the former and didn't use the latter in my efforts. I was just relying on memory and instinct. At first, Nessie and I tried a small hill covered with small basalt boulders that was just a half- mile north of the county road. No petroglyphs there, but we did see the first of several small man-made excavations with the appearance of low wall on the perimeter on the hilltop. I realized we were much too far east from what I could remember and so began driving out again on the good county roads. At first we went northeast, where we did spy a likely looking hill of larger basalt boulders, but they were quite close to some private property ( actually this bouldery hill is half private, half public land) and I didn't want to accidentally encounter anyone who might be nosy as to what I was doing.

 On we went eastwards through Flat Lake, a very modest depression that occasionally fills with water, and then past an old ranch that had the appearance of being abandoned, on into an area of large coppice dunes of reddish-orange sand. I kept eyeing a low hill that kept popping up to my left as we drove on the increasingly sandy, undulating, but still easily driven county road. I decided this was my hill and we found a place to park at wide spot in one of the swales. Nessie was reluctant most of the way, I'm not sure why, and the walking was entirely in loose sand, but we made it to the top pretty quickly. Shortly thereafter I began finding the petroglyphs on the black boulders submerged in the sand. I smiled at the ease of finding them, giving that oftentimes while armed with directions, apps and waypoints locating such an obscure place can prove quite difficult indeed. I circled the the little oval of a hilltop several times before I was satisfied I had seen most of what the place had to offer. We headed back. This time I let Nessie choose the route and we ended up a little west of the truck, but all was good.

 The second trip I investigated a prominent cuesta-like hill that stands some distance apart from the many pointy and rounded hills that make up Point of Rocks. There was another excavation on top and I found  a couple of petroglyph panels in the jumble of boulders against the low cliffs on the west side. I then went after a couple likely looking ridges that lie just to the west of Flat Lake, but found nothing much in the way of artifacts or rock art.

On a third trip I hiked to a trio of hills that are the southern edge of the main mass of Point of Rocks, and then also look at isolated hill very close to the county road. I found more excavations, one with a very obvious attempt at a wall around its rim, but no petroglyphs. There was the occasional chunk or flake of point making material but little else produced by humans that I could find as I wandered over rock and sand through the creosote, mesquite and stubby grass that filled the many shallow depressions scattered over the area. The desert was warm each outing, too warm really for the middle of winter, but I enjoyed being out there in an area I had only visited a few times over the 28 years I've lived here. 

Constructed ring

Agate chunk

Cairn with fallen post

Cibola National Forest - Sawtooth Mountains

Sawtooth Mountains

We did this little hike during my Thanksgiving break. There are no trails in the Sawtooths other than those made by livestock and wildlife, but there are many old, little used, unmaintained roads which can be used for hiking. We've done a few outings using them and I've scoped out several more for the future. This one began off of Forest Road 312 on the north side of Lone Mountain. The route we were walking headed north to a low pass on the north-south ridge of the mountains.

The road. Lone Mountain

 Cave? at center.

Lone Mountain

 As with almost every hike I've planned in the Sawtooths, the rock formations are a big part of the reason for getting out there. We were treated to great views off to the west with colorful cliffs, towers, and a rocky coxcomb during our modest ascent (we only gained about 130 feet).

At the pass, were two concrete foundations, probably for water storage tanks now long gone. We continued down the other side on what was now more of a path than a road, although it did show use by motorized vehicles.

 There was still snow patches on the ground on this north facing side of the ridge. The way followed the same fence line from the south side (which is not property boundary) for a ways before heading off to the northeast following a small drainage, which we crossed a couple of times.  We were getting spectacular views now of the massive snow-clad cliffs on the north side of the ridge, but most of the time they nearly impossible to photograph. We did manage a few good shots which hopefully capture the magic of this place.

Nessie

 Eventually we hit upon a road that may or may not be considered the upper most extension of FR 319. We used it to meander to the east a bit along the base of the mountain. After less than a 1/4 mile this road ended at turnaround nestled in the piñons and junipers. We used it to turn around. After heading back retracing our steps for a little awhile we found a dry enough log to enjoy a lunch in the woods. 

Andrea

This was a very pleasant, stress free walk of a little over 2 miles (round trip).  Nessie was kept motivated by all the chipmunk activity in the many downed logs on the north side.  Thin clouds made for pale blue skies and the temperature was quite pleasant for late November.