Signature Rock Loop - 12/21/24

Landscape heading into the Chocolate Hills Washes

The original signature on Signature Rock (That's 1922, folks! Before the dam was built.)

Petroglyphs in Signature Rock Area (repaired from vandalism)

Excited group of Fifteen

On Saturday, a group of fifteen hikers went out to Pinto Valley for a 9 mile hike. We visited a few of the local sites of the Old Arrowhead Highway, a few petroglyphs, Signature Rock, and the Chocolate Hills. Our hike started in the wash heading east from Northshore Road MM 18. The colors of the area began almost immediately. The wash begins as a wide drainage and eventually narrows down. It is important to veer to the right when you reach a fork where Razorback Ridge rises in the front left. We saw where the Old Arrowhead Highway led through the narrow little canyons and washes and switchbacked up a small hill. At the top of the hill, the color burst wide open! From there, the wash narrowed again and the road climbed up on the bank to the left a couple of times. Just after passing Eagle Rock on the right, the interesting wash route changed.

 

Coming the first Step-Up

Following the Pinto Valley Wash

Landscape around the Old Arrowhead Hwy

Nearing the Old Arrowhead Hwy's Switchback

The Arrowhead Trail or Arrowhead Highway was the first all-weather road in the Western United States that connected Los Angeles, California with Salt Lake City, Utah by way of Las Vegas, Nevada. Built primarily during the auto trails period of the 1910s, prior to the establishment of the United States Numbered Highway System, the road was replaced in 1926 by U.S. Route 91 (US 91) and subsequently Interstate 15 (I-15). Small portions of the route in California, Nevada (Las Vegas Boulevard) and Utah are sometimes still referred to by the name, or as Arrow Highway.

     Starting in 1915, auto racing champion Charles H. Bigelow drove the entire route many times to generate publicity for the road.

The Arrowhead Trail initially took a longer route via present U.S. Route 95 and former U.S. Route 66 between Las Vegas and Needles, California, as the more direct Old Spanish Trail was in very poor condition. The "Silver Lake cutoff", which would save about 90 miles (145 km), was proposed by 1920, and completed in 1925 as an oiled road by San Bernardino County.  ~Wikipedia~ 

Top of the Switchback

Entering Pinto Valley

The wash starts a few small geologic "drops." The road side-steps this section.

The road above the wash.

As the wash and road opened out into the wide Pinto Valley, we climbed up the embankment on the right at a tiny wash where we would not damage any cryptobiotic soil. Following the next sandy wash down, we came to a small rocky "fin" where rock layers had thrust upward. Here, we visited the petroglyphs (including Kokopelli) that were vandalized a few years ago. The park service has cleaned the paint but it still leaves a terrible scar on the ancient writings. From here, we saw Signature Rock in the distance and hiked down the wash to visit. At signature rock, we took our break. This rock was marked back in 1922 before the Hoover Dam was built. Mr. Kreager was possibly a surveyor that marked where and how far Boulder Canyon was from Pinto Valley.

Eroded section of the Road

Eagle Rock

John inspects a small alcove at the Petroglyphs

The group gathers around the Kokopelli

Kokopelli (/ˌkoʊkoʊˈpɛliː/) is a fertility deity, usually depicted as a humpbacked flute player (often with feathers or antenna-like protrusions on his head), who is venerated by some Native American cultures in the Southwestern United States. Like most fertility deities, Kokopelli presides over both childbirth and agriculture. He is also a trickster god and represents the spirit of music.
     Among the Hopi, Kokopelli carries unborn children on his back and distributes them to women; for this reason, young girls often fear him. He often takes part in rituals relating to marriage, and Kokopelli himself is sometimes depicted with a consort, a woman called Kokopelmimi by the Hopi. It is said[according to whom?] that Kokopelli can be seen on the full and waning moon, much like the "man" or the "rabbit" on the moon.
     Kokopelli also presides over the reproduction of game animals, and for this reason, he is often depicted with animal companions such as rams and deer. Other common creatures associated with him include sun-bathing animals such as snakes, or water-loving animals such as lizards and insects.
     In his domain over agriculture, Kokopelli's flute-playing chases away the winter and brings about spring. Many tribes, such as the Zuni, also associate Kokopelli with the rains. He frequently appears with Paiyatamu, another flutist, in depictions of maize-grinding ceremonies. Some tribes say he carries seeds and babies on his back.  ~Wikipedia

A rare Kokopelli Petroglyph

Signature Rock with added modern Petroglyphs

Taking a break at Signature Rock

A long hidden ram's Head

After our break, we returned up the wash a little ways and forked off to the right into a small side canyon heading toward the Chocolate Hills. The small canyon climbed up a couple of waterslides and the route turned up to the right on a hill "island" between two washes with nonnegotiable high dry falls. The trail on top of this hill island leads down to the left and into the washes of the Chocolate Hills. Following the trail through the washes, which has footprints most of the time, we came to the sidehill trail up one of the mud mounds. If it has rained, try continuing up the wash a little further to still reach the ridge above to the left. The following wash on the other side took us back to the Old Arrowhead Road just below the switchback point.

Climbing up a Waterslide

Another waterslide going into the Chocolate Hills Washes

The crown of the Chocolate Hills

Up and over the small hill island between Dryfalls

Cryptobiotic soil, also known as biological soil crust, is a living layer of organisms that forms a hardened crust on top of soil in arid and semi-arid regions. These crusts are made up of tiny organisms, such as cyanobacteria, algae, fungi, lichens, and mosses, that are not visible to the naked eye.
     Cryptobiotic soil crusts are important to the health of dryland ecosystems because they:

     Prevent erosion
The crusts bind soil particles together, making them more resistant to wind and water erosion.
     Retain moisture
The crusts help to retain moisture, which benefits both the crustal organisms and vascular plants.
     Create nutrients
The crusts provide nutrients for other plants to grow.
     Fix nitrogen
Cyanobacteria in the crusts convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form that plants can use.
     Cryptobiotic soil crusts are fragile and can take decades to regenerate if damaged. To help preserve these crusts, you can:
     Hike on existing trails
     Use designated roads and paths for bikes and off-road vehicles
     Walk on rock or follow natural drainages when walking cross-country

~ Wikipedia

Heading into the Chocolate Hills

Nearing the sidehill climb Out

Climbing out on the sidehill in the Chocolate Hills Washes

Almost back to the Old Arrowhead Hwy

We joined the road and hiked back down the wash, down the Cottonwood Spring area, down the wider part of Pinto Valley Wash and back to the cars. We didn't see any bighorns until we were driving back. Five of them were standing on a wash ridge at the base of Rainbow Ridge. Beautiful! What a great day of hiking!

Stats: 9 miles; 1150' gain; 4.5 hours

An excellent example of cryptobiotic Soil

🎵 On the road again.🎵

Heading out of Pinto Valley Wash

Kokopelli phallic Figures