After checking out the very interesting V-V Heritage Site I made the short drive over to the the Bell Trail trailhead for a hike along Wet Beaver Creek. The hike started out on a wide trail, more like an old road actually, far from the creek.
According to a sign at the start of the trail, the Bell Trail was built in 1932 by Charles bell to move cattle up and down the Mogollon Rim.
As I hiked the trail there were plenty of distant views of the red rock canyon up ahead. Not long after the start of the hike I noticed a large basalt boulder near the side of the trail, after passing it I turned around to have a look at the other side of it, and sure enough I found some faint petroglyphs pecked into it.
After passing the petroglyph boulder I started to get closer to the creek, though the trail climbed high above it.
There were lots of great views of the surrounding Red Rock Country.
I followed the trail higher and higher up the canyon.
Eventually the trail descended to Wet Beaver Creek.
The trail crossed the creek and continued on the other side. I thought about continuing on as well, but the water was high, swift and cold. It would have been a difficult crossing. Instead of crossing I rested at a campsite for a bit and then started heading back to the car. The views on the way back were just as spectacular as on the way in.
Because the way back was downhill, the going went pretty quickly. As I got down out of the canyon section and back onto the wide section of trail near the start, I saw something intriguing that I had somehow missed on the way in. It was a jumbled pile of stone and I immediately recognized it as the site of a pueblo. Sure enough as I inspected the site I found an intact section of stone wall, some pottery sherds,
and a collapsed section of stone wall as well.
I guess the more time one spend in archeological sites in the Southwest, the easier it is to identify such sites.
From the pueblo site it was a quick walk back to the car for a drive south towards Phoenix.
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