Joani called about reservations for a Ranger-led hike to the Tonto National Monument Upper Cliff Dwelling (ruins). It would have normally been more than a 3 month wait but they had a cancellation for the next weekend.
The hike was short and only about a mile and a half each way with a 646-foot elevation gain. We thought it should not be too strenuous. The day was just the right temperature for a pleasant visit. The cliff dwellings you see above the visitor center in the picture below were the lower ruins and smaller than the ones we visited on our hike.
Our hike took us through a ravine and around some large hills before we could see the upper dwelling. They are at the far right of the picture below.
We were almost there in the picture below. Maybe we were not really ready for this hike - it was a bit more strenuous than expected.
With the ranger's description, one could imagine the ruins hundreds of years ago with the bustle of kids playing, women preparing food, and the men returning from the fields or from hunting.
That lake in the distance was not there but the river was and the valley would have been planted with crops. It was speculated that severe drought for several consecutive years forced the residents to leave.
As always, it was a much easier hike downhill. Still, it seemed a little warm for early April.
I love the juxtaposition of the layers of rock tilted at an angle by millions of years of geologic movement with the relatively young Saguaro standing straight up.
As is often the case, timing is everything and we were lucky to have the opportunity to join this National Park Service Ranger hike and peek into the lives of the people who lived here 700 years ago.
