Tonto National Monument
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click photo to enlarge |
Tonto National Monument consists of well preserved cliff dwellings that were
occupied from approximately 1200 to 1500 AD. There are two cliff dwellings you
can visit the lower and upper. The upper dwellings are only open from November
to April. The temperature was easily over 100 when we were there. As Karen
likes to say who cares if it is a dry heat 100 degrees is fricking hot. She
has such an eloquent way of putting things. |
click photo to enlarge |
The hike to the lower dwelling is only 1/2 mile and has a 400 foot
elevation gain, similar to the trails we hike near our house at Mt. Baldy,
but at over 100 degrees, well it was just hot. Like many Indian dwellings in
the four corners region of the US it is not really known why or what
happened to the inhabitants. But in the 15th century the Salado people left
the area. |
click photo to enlarge |
The park is located in the Sonoran Desert a few hours east of Phoenix and
the views are just stunning. Our plan was to drive the Apache trail but
due to jewelry shopping in Globe we didn't have enough time. The saguaro
cactus are heavy in the area and very pretty. The sky was starting to
build clouds from the monsoonal moisture and we hoped for a show to
photograph but it never happened. Also a bit of rain would have cooled it
off. |
click photo to enlarge |
click photo to enlarge |
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