Arizona

Is there a prosaic explanation for this sacred site? Goal Hiking investigates!

Just across the border from Needles in Arizona lies the "Topock Maze", a small patch of land with a series of lines etched into the desert floor. Even though it meant yet another trip through the agricultural checkpoint, I decided to check it out.

The local Fort Mojave Tribe claims it has spiritual significance and there's a plaque to that effect. However, others offer a more prosaic explanation that the lines were created by wheelbarrows or similar that were used to collect large stones.

In Utah, just over the border from Page, Arizona, lies one of the most coveted hikes around: The Wave. This is not it.

I'd spent the night at the Motel 6 in Page and it was fairly resort-like for that brand. It also wasn't that expensive (IIRC ~ $100). And, Page is a nice, small resort town.

Then, things didn't work out as I would have hoped, but I made a form of electric lemonade...

After the Sheep Hole Mountains failure, I needed to get as far away from Joshua Tree as possible. I just kept driving; to this day I still don't remember the route I took or anything that happened along the way. I wandered inconsolably hither and yon and back to hither again.

But, then suddenly, I looked up and I saw a way to redeem myself: Picacho Peak, located near Casa Grande, Arizona, between Phoenix and Tucson.

After getting to 12,633' on Humphreys Peak, I descended about 20' below the Earth's surface in the nearby Lava River Cave. As you can see from the photos, I really planned all of this out, bringing in several Klieg lights and a laser effects machine. It took a long time to bring them down into the lava tube, but then I couldn't find the outlet. So, you get what you get.

This is the highest point in Arizona. I had tried it several years ago in May. The snow made finding the trail difficult and because of that I had to turn around at the ridge. This time there was no snow and I summited. Unfortunately there were approximately 4 million other people on the trail, including three groups playing music. It was also cold and very windy up top. On a less tempestuous weekday it would have been more of an aesthetic experience.