Trip Notes for 10/16/2014 (Sacatone Canyon)

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(Fig. 01)

(Fig. 02)

10/16/2014 Trip Notes: Because I have made several trips to Grapevine Canyon and the surrounding area, I am always looking for some place new to hike. On 01/31/2013 Harvey and I hiked up the canyon wash (route in yellow in Fig. 2). Having been told on a previous visit that there were some petroglyphs in the hills south of the wash, we hiked west, headed to the top of the visible ridgeline (just left of center in (Fig. 04) in the hopes of finding them. Though it seemed steep at times, the elevation gain from the bottom of the wash was only about 250 feet. Near the top of the ridge is a granite outcrop that looks like “snoopy” lying on his back (head to the right) as seen in (Figs. 05 & 06). After reaching this spot we turned south and hiked the top of the ridge all the way back to Grapevine Canyon where the rest of our group had been hiking. Refer to the green line in (Fig. 02). (Fig. 03) Even though we were unable to locate any petroglyphs on this hike we enjoyed some interesting geology and some beautiful views (Figs. 07 & 08). At one point we came across the remains of a barrel cactus that appeared as though someone had sliced it with a sword (Fig. 03). We also found a large, and quite healthy chola cactus (Fig. 09) near the top of one of the ridges. In total, this hike ended up being about two miles by the time we reached Grapevine Canyon Wash. It was just a perfect day for hiking, mid 80’s, sunny with a slight breeze.

(Fig. 04)

(Fig. 05)

(Fig. 06)

(Fig. 07)

(Fig. 08)

(Fig. 09)