Out of all of the sites of Indian origin that I have explored, there is one that stands out in my mind. It is the fortress in Devils Chasm. There are a few reasons this site stands out in particular; the trail to the ruin is so very challenging and the site is really well preserved due to the difficult trek up to it. Really there is not much of a path but that will change as more people learn of this site and desire to explore it. The trail is a difficult combination of obvious path, bolder hopping up a creek, rope climb, slick rock scampering and bush whacking.
To add to it all, the trip is only about 1.5 miles one way but with an elevation gain of nearly 2,000 feet. At the point where you reach the base of the cliff bellow the ruin site, you are 650 feet bellow your destination and a dirt hillside that is nearly straight up is your last push. You have to grab branches and small bushes to pull your self up. So in a paragraph I gave a brief overview of a 3 hour exhausting but intoxicating climb.
Once at the ruin, it is clear why this site is worth the effort and you will battle the desire to lay out and sleep on a nice rock as your body rests! So the fortress is nestled at the base of a 1,000 foot cliff under a overhang. The builders of this site designed some really neat architectural features that can be missed if focused heavily on the interior. The ledge that the fortress is built on has a natural bulge that the outer wall follows making this the first and only rounded walls I have encountered in a ruin at this time. Also there is a third story tower with peep holes and what I assume to be a sun deck that could have been used for social gathering or food drying. Unfortunately there was a fire that torched most of the Chasm many years ago and consumed about 75% of the organic material in the fortress. There are a few wood beams left but the ceiling/floors have all been destroyed.
I have made the trip up the this ruin now twice and after the first trip, I went through my photos and realized that I fell into most of the same shots I had seen on the internet and in my very rare copy of Echoes in the Canyon that was written by archeologists working for the University of Arizona. I could not be pleased with my work as it was the same high angle shots looking up from the trail directly bellow I had seen others capture. I did manage one that is unique shot as I stood precariously on a dead log spanning a drop-off to get a cactus to weigh the right side of the frame.
Still I was not pleased. I have been obsessed for a year with capturing the ruin like no one else has, at eye level from across the Chasm. There is a cliff across so that is out of the question as I discovered the first time, however, I found a spot on a topo map and once there I was able to pull off the shot I was looking for.
To further pique interest, the tree ring data shows this ruin was built in AD 1275 and abandon about AD 1300. So I ponder, what drove this family unit to this extreme location? The USDA Forest Service rates this location "Nearly Impossible to Get to" and "Unusually high concentration of rattle snakes". Even with modern ropes, hiking gear, and a canteen of cold water to quench your thirst, this ruin is reached at the maximum of some people's abilities. What about the folks that lived there. They carried each of the stones, batches of mortar mud as well as the timbers up to the site. One of the timbers is 15 foot long and 7-9.5 inch in diameter and had to take 4 plus strong workers to get it up there. A neat feature is the hand prints that remain in the mud walls.
Also, where did these folks maintain a food supply? There aren't any level spots larger than a family bathroom let alone any clear of large rocks to grow crops in the area.This leads me to think they could have traveled down the Chasm to some areas bellow the major obsticals and likely had to daily. Little is known about the Salado Indians even with years of archeologists combing and collecting bits to fit into the puzzle.
I have to force myself to remember that there are many more sites in the Sierra Ancha Wilderness that beg to be explored and with the fact that it is a 12 hour trip just to visit one, I need to let this one rest while I discover the next obsession...
Out of all of the sites of Indian origin that I have explored, there is one that stands out in my mind. It is the fortress in Devils Chasm. There are a few reasons this site stands out in particular; the trail to the ruin is so very challenging and the site is really well preserved due to the difficult trek up to it. Really there is not much of a path but that will change as more people learn of this site and desire to explore it. The trail is a difficult combination of obvious path, bolder hopping up a creek, rope climb, slick rock scampering and bush whacking.
To add to it all, the trip is only about 1.5 miles one way but with an elevation gain of nearly 2,000 feet. At the point where you reach the base of the cliff bellow the ruin site, you are 650 feet bellow your destination and a dirt hillside that is nearly straight up is your last push. You have to grab branches and small bushes to pull your self up. So in a paragraph I gave a brief overview of a 3 hour exhausting but intoxicating climb.
Once at the ruin, it is clear why this site is worth the effort and you will battle the desire to lay out and sleep on a nice rock as your body rests! So the fortress is nestled at the base of a 1,000 foot cliff under a overhang. The builders of this site designed some really neat architectural features that can be missed if focused heavily on the interior. The ledge that the fortress is built on has a natural bulge that the outer wall follows making this the first and only rounded walls I have encountered in a ruin at this time. Also there is a third story tower with peep holes and what I assume to be a sun deck that could have been used for social gathering or food drying. Unfortunately there was a fire that torched most of the Chasm many years ago and consumed about 75% of the organic material in the fortress. There are a few wood beams left but the ceiling/floors have all been destroyed.
I have made the trip up the this ruin now twice and after the first trip, I went through my photos and realized that I fell into most of the same shots I had seen on the internet and in my very rare copy of Echoes in the Canyon that was written by archeologists working for the University of Arizona. I could not be pleased with my work as it was the same high angle shots looking up from the trail directly bellow I had seen others capture. I did manage one that is unique shot as I stood precariously on a dead log spanning a drop-off to get a cactus to weigh the right side of the frame.
Still I was not pleased. I have been obsessed for a year with capturing the ruin like no one else has, at eye level from across the Chasm. There is a cliff across so that is out of the question as I discovered the first time, however, I found a spot on a topo map and once there I was able to pull off the shot I was looking for.
To further pique interest, the tree ring data shows this ruin was built in AD 1275 and abandon about AD 1300. So I ponder, what drove this family unit to this extreme location? The USDA Forest Service rates this location "Nearly Impossible to Get to" and "Unusually high concentration of rattle snakes". Even with modern ropes, hiking gear, and a canteen of cold water to quench your thirst, this ruin is reached at the maximum of some people's abilities. What about the folks that lived there. They carried each of the stones, batches of mortar mud as well as the timbers up to the site. One of the timbers is 15 foot long and 7-9.5 inch in diameter and had to take 4 plus strong workers to get it up there. A neat feature is the hand prints that remain in the mud walls.
Also, where did these folks maintain a food supply? There aren't any level spots larger than a family bathroom let alone any clear of large rocks to grow crops in the area.This leads me to think they could have traveled down the Chasm to some areas bellow the major obsticals and likely had to daily. Little is known about the Salado Indians even with years of archeologists combing and collecting bits to fit into the puzzle.
I have to force myself to remember that there are many more sites in the Sierra Ancha Wilderness that beg to be explored and with the fact that it is a 12 hour trip just to visit one, I need to let this one rest while I discover the next obsession...
