High Oh Silver...Away....

Only the gray beards remember him...

He saved the Lone Ranger more than once in every show...

Tomahawk, fringed buckskin and a six shooter...

Plus a Bowie knife he could throw and split a match stick with...

Iconic

He's the image that first pops into your head when you hear the word "Tonto..."




But now - I see cliff dwellers...

Tonto National Monument...we had no idea what we would see when we got there. We had not done our usual homework. 

Ashamed to say, this was one of the few places where we were more focused on getting another stamp in the Passport Book, rather than a strong desire to see the attraction...we just didn't know what was there.



The journey was white knuckle for some...and a major delight for others (go figure - there were only two of us!)

And I always know when things are getting uncertain for J!

She instinctively reaches for the door handle, either to hold on tight or jump out...never certain which she might be contemplating at any moment.

(With a maiden name of "Jumper", there is sufficient awareness that she might...well...jump...at any time).

It's even more worrysome when she reaches for the door handle when she's the one driving! 






High up into the Pinal Mountains...following old mule shaped mining trails, now called roads...Globe, Tortilla Flat, Superior, the Lost Dutchman...all old historic mining towns from the days of prospector feast and famine, high in the mountains of Arizona.

Spectacular western mountain scenery with long valley vistas.

And my kind of indian tribe, building their homes with a grand view...on a Windy Hill!

Today - we turn the faucet and hot the water gets...

And the Tonto Indians - water from the closest spring was "only" a quarter mile away - as the crow flies. 

But it was over twice that to walk down the mountain and up the next to the spring to fill their jugs...and then again, to carry them back over that same half mile down and up trail to return home.

And don't you know that every 8 year old boy knew exactly how many steps it took to traverse that route, having counted every single one of them! 

Though the cliff dwelling was a ruin, there were enough walls and ceilings remaining to know they were not living in the Grand Hilton, and yet...

It was built to be communal...

for protection of the tribe and the individual...

Rooms more Judy sized than Terry sized!

Low ceilings with petite entryways...

Yet evidence of thoughtful design such as interior vented fireplaces...

And grinding pits used as pestles with their rock morters...

Storage and sleeping shelves carved into the rock.







Industrious...built to provide for the long term...and with an objective to protect those they love...

Some of the most basic, yet noble of human qualities, resonating from deep within the souls of men since time began.





Let the adventure continue...