Black Mountains Backpack to Bighorn Cave

[MerMuser]

Last week Mer and I (Big John) backpacked into a remote
area of the Warm Springs Wilderness in the Black Mountains
of western AZ to try and locate a cave said to have a
3000 year human usage history. We found the cave
(eventually) and a whole lot more.
Check it out!
_________________
"Half the walk is but retracing our steps."
Henry David Thoreau

[oliverr99]

Your pictures were beautiful! Glad you had a good time!
_________________
Anne
"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened" -- Dr. Seuss

[azbackpackr]

Neat photos! Reminds me of the Kofa area, although the Black Mtns are a bit further to the north. Geology seems similar, though. I spent last winter out in Yuma, and hiked quite a bit, mostly looking for petroglyph sites to photograph. Backpacked and hiked in the Muggins Mtns. Wilderness, Kofa, etc. I did find about 7 good sites, but the best one was at Horse Tanks in the Kofa.

3,000 years puts us back into the Desert Archaic era. Here's something on that era from a UCSD website:
"6500 BC to 1200 BC = Basketmaker I (BM1 early) (= Desert Archaic Period)
Dating: The term BM1 is no longer used. It was originally proposed for all pre-agricultural human societies of the Southwest. The term "Desert Archaic" now covers the societies that existed after the end of the era of big game hunting at the end of the Paleo-Indian period. Recent dates extend the Late Desert Archaic to about 200 BC.
Traits: Small foraging bands; open sites; spear hunting.
6500 Substantial drying effectively removes large animals as a significant source of meat in the Southwest.
6000-4000 Early Archaic; pine-juniper woodlands on Colorado Plateau; distinctive notching of points; small manos & metates; some rock art may date to this period.
4000-2000 Middle Archaic; larger metates; possible abandonment of Colorado Plateau, perhaps due to Altithermal climate change; increased sites in Mogollon highalnds.

[Hikngrl]

Looks like a fun trip!
_________________
~~~Diane~~~

I want to shine!

[Nighthiker]

When I was working on the wilderness act of 1990 the BLM was not to happy about wilderness designation for that area of the state. Thought it would bring to much traffic and damage cultural resources.

[MerMuser]

Not a whole lot of people are entering this particular wilderness. Way too rocky and dry is my guess. As for the cultural resources, even the petroglyphs aren't all that great there, and they're very sparse too.
_________________
"Half the walk is but retracing our steps."
Henry David Thoreau

[azbackpackr]

We also went to see that Bouse Fisherman Intaglio. It has a fence around it. I kept wondering if there are other intaglios, besides the ones over by Blythe, but other ones in AZ. I guess you'd need an airplane to hunt for them.

[rrafert]

Wow, This looks like a really great hike! Swimming holes are always nice as well. How do you get to the cave? Is there an actual trail?
_________________
"It should not be denied... that being footloose has always exhilarated us. It is associated in our minds with escape from history and oppression and law and irksome obligations, with absolute freedom, and the road has always led West."
— Wallace Stegner

[azbackpackr]

I think you may have missed the window of opportunity for this one. It is going to be a late fall/winter/early spring hike--after there has been some rain. Western Arizona is deathly brutal when it starts to heat up.

I don't think there is a trail. This is rough terrain, requiring route-finding skills.

"Exploring Arizona's Wild Areas" by Scott Warren.

[rrafert]

I will keep it in mind for next winter. Thanks!
_________________
"It should not be denied... that being footloose has always exhilarated us. It is associated in our minds with escape from history and oppression and law and irksome obligations, with absolute freedom, and the road has always led West."
— Wallace Stegner