It was a long 4-wheel drive to the trail head, then a fitness testing hike down into the canyon and along the creek to work our way to the homes of the ancient ones. It was worth every drop of sweat to be able to explore these cliff dwellings.

The road in is barely scratched from the desert. Forget paving, and be happy with seeing outlines to aim your tires at! Even in a 4-wheel vehicle it was a couple of hours of butt bouncing, jaw jiggling driving. Fortunately the trail head offers a place to park, an outdoor privy and water. All necessary before strapping on your gear and heading for the trail. The first several hundred yards take you across a meadow and then the decent begins. The trail wanders through a forrest that fought it's way up through boulders and keeps you twisting until you get to the canyon's edge. Then it's a long and stumbling descent down a rough trail scratched along the side of the canyon. At the bottom, it's ok to be exhausted, but you're only a third of the way to the prize. Next you follow the creek bed, which was dry for our trek. You wander up the bed, then the trail shifts you up one side for a few hundred yards, then points you back across the creek to follow the other side for a while. You stop often to lean back and take in the sights at the top of the canyon. You also want to refill your lungs and soak in some precious water.

The last few hundred yards seem to take for ever, but you finally end up in a clearing that is across the creek from the cliff dwellings. A good place to rest because you have to climb to get there. You are looking up at three caves that have been converted into cliff dwellings by the Salado Indians. They have been unused for 600 years, but many feel a presence in the ancient family compound.

The three chambers each represent three levels of access difficulty. The lower left being relatively easy to reach gets the most visitors. The upper right is a little harder assent and many are satisfied to look at it from level one. The last chamber involves some rock climbing, and gets the least visitors.

Cross the creek and take the short but steep assent to a courtyard area in front of the lower left chamber. The fully detailed walls enclose this chamber. You can peer into the chamber through a small window, but it's almost total darkness.

Scramble up the next patch of trail to sit inside the room at the second level. The adventurous have to climb up and over a boulder that forms a natural base and a barrier to the upper chamber. The view and experience are worth the effort, but the decent involves slidng over the edge of the boulder on your stomach, while your feet feel for unseen rock ledges where you can slip to firmer footing.

After exploring the caves and the surrounding area, we had a relaxing lunch in the courtyard area. The hike down and over to the dwellings took about 2 1/2 hours, but would be an hour longer going back because we had to work our way up the canyon wall this time! After the rattling ride back out of the wilderness we were all ready to stop in Apache Junction for food and drink and remembering.

I took these pictures on a Saturday hike with a group called the Heavenly Hikers, from All Saints Lutheran Church in North Phoenix.

Bill Lewis took the ones that include me.

The map is from azcentral.