crawler#976
Expedition Leader
Thanks to everyone that came out for a long day trip!
Attending were: Lois and Richard (my folks!), Amy and Michael (BajaExplorer), Carrie and Rex (Rexsname), Chuck (AZCPP) , and Andrew (Hltopper), and Tami and I.
Back ground info:
After spending many hours reading and researching on the Beale Road and Register Rock, Andrew and I had pretty much struck out. I'd found one website with info, and it had one photograph. The journals and biographies all said the Beale party had traveled 4 miles from the confluence of the Little Colorado and Canyon Diablo, so Id focused my scouting trip on an area about a half mile wide of that dia. I struck out on a long 320 mile round scouting trip a month ago, and had no luck pin pointing the location at the Sharlot Hall Museum.
We met at the Cosonino Exit on I-40, and departed for Turkey Tank. Andrew lead out in his amazing FJ Troop Carrier. Turkey Tank and the Cosonino Caves were one of the few reliable places where water could be found along the Beale Road. After a short walk we viewed a section of the original Beale Road and the stone/concrete dam at Turkey Tank.
After a scenic drive to the turn off into the area I knew had to be close to Register Rock, we headed down a dirt road into the maze of red sandstone formations. The rock formations extend for miles and miles, and they all look very similar. I kept an enlarged photograph of Register Rock on the dashboard, and...
We found it.
I've asked the participants in this trip to not post the route or coordinates for Register Rock to prevent further vandalism.
After inspecting the inscriptions and walking a section of the Beale Road, still plainly visible as it stretched off towards the San Fransisco Peaks, we celebrated Amy's B'Day, and departed for the Hopi Reservation. The miles between Leupp and Old Oriabi are really unique in the types of terrain covered. Beautiful mesas with wildly twisted layers of rocks. Flat alluvial planes created by the Little Colorado. Volcanic cores, and some of the Painted Desert are just a part of the stuff we saw.
Old Oriabi is a real step back in time. Parts of it are still traditional, parts are cinder block. The folks were very friendly and showed us many of there arts and crafts. We also stopped at Hoteville to see if we could meet one of the elders, but since he doesn't have a phone for us to arrange a meeting, we missed him by a few hours. He's the moccasin maker there and is perhaps over 100 years old. He was also one of the Hopi Code talkers in WII. On a side note, we all know about the Navajo Code Talkers, but indeed there were 17 other tribes that participated in communications.
At this point we split up -Rex, Carrie, and Chuck headed back to Flagstaff to go camping, Andrew headed home via Leupp, and my folks Rich and Lois, Michael and Amy, and Tami and I headed thru Second Mesa on the way to Winslow where Micheal and Amy headed south to camp, and the rest of us headed to Flagstaff for some chow.
After 415 miles we arrived back home - a long day trip!
Photo's to follow - I can't seem to upload at the moment.
Mark
Attending were: Lois and Richard (my folks!), Amy and Michael (BajaExplorer), Carrie and Rex (Rexsname), Chuck (AZCPP) , and Andrew (Hltopper), and Tami and I.
Back ground info:
After spending many hours reading and researching on the Beale Road and Register Rock, Andrew and I had pretty much struck out. I'd found one website with info, and it had one photograph. The journals and biographies all said the Beale party had traveled 4 miles from the confluence of the Little Colorado and Canyon Diablo, so Id focused my scouting trip on an area about a half mile wide of that dia. I struck out on a long 320 mile round scouting trip a month ago, and had no luck pin pointing the location at the Sharlot Hall Museum.
We met at the Cosonino Exit on I-40, and departed for Turkey Tank. Andrew lead out in his amazing FJ Troop Carrier. Turkey Tank and the Cosonino Caves were one of the few reliable places where water could be found along the Beale Road. After a short walk we viewed a section of the original Beale Road and the stone/concrete dam at Turkey Tank.
After a scenic drive to the turn off into the area I knew had to be close to Register Rock, we headed down a dirt road into the maze of red sandstone formations. The rock formations extend for miles and miles, and they all look very similar. I kept an enlarged photograph of Register Rock on the dashboard, and...
We found it.
I've asked the participants in this trip to not post the route or coordinates for Register Rock to prevent further vandalism.
After inspecting the inscriptions and walking a section of the Beale Road, still plainly visible as it stretched off towards the San Fransisco Peaks, we celebrated Amy's B'Day, and departed for the Hopi Reservation. The miles between Leupp and Old Oriabi are really unique in the types of terrain covered. Beautiful mesas with wildly twisted layers of rocks. Flat alluvial planes created by the Little Colorado. Volcanic cores, and some of the Painted Desert are just a part of the stuff we saw.
Old Oriabi is a real step back in time. Parts of it are still traditional, parts are cinder block. The folks were very friendly and showed us many of there arts and crafts. We also stopped at Hoteville to see if we could meet one of the elders, but since he doesn't have a phone for us to arrange a meeting, we missed him by a few hours. He's the moccasin maker there and is perhaps over 100 years old. He was also one of the Hopi Code talkers in WII. On a side note, we all know about the Navajo Code Talkers, but indeed there were 17 other tribes that participated in communications.
At this point we split up -Rex, Carrie, and Chuck headed back to Flagstaff to go camping, Andrew headed home via Leupp, and my folks Rich and Lois, Michael and Amy, and Tami and I headed thru Second Mesa on the way to Winslow where Micheal and Amy headed south to camp, and the rest of us headed to Flagstaff for some chow.
After 415 miles we arrived back home - a long day trip!
Photo's to follow - I can't seem to upload at the moment.
Mark
Last edited:
