The 1st Expedition: March 2003
The 1st Expedition: March 2003
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My Son Matthew at our Base Camp
My son Matthew offered to be my mule on the first exploration of the Circlestone Ruin. The only information we had as to the ruin's location was an entry in a hiking book that indicated the trail up to the ruin was marked by a cairn on the side of Forest Trail #118, the Fireline Trail.
Mystical Stone
Matt found this stone alongside the Circlestone Trail. He pointed it out to me because he thought it looked surprisingly like the area on our topographic map where the ruin was located. The peak of Mound Mountain on the right, and the bench with Circlestone in the center on the left side.
As far as I know, the stone is still in place along the trail, at least it was there on my last trip up to the ruin in 2006. If you find it, please don't disturb it. Matt and I are convinced of its mystical nature, and there is no telling what might happen to someone who didn't treat it with the respect it is due.
Fire on the Mogollon Rim
There was a large forest fire to the north up on the Mogollon Rim while Matt and I measured and sketched the interior spokes of the ruin. Smokey the Bear's propaganda campaign, Bambi's scapegoats of hunters and fire, and the Forest Service policy of fire suppression in our National Forests created a problem we did not foresee during the century of absolute suppression. The 100-year build-up of fuel in our forests created the current landscape of uncontrollable fire, especially in the Ponderosa Pine forests of the arid Southwest. Fire has always been a part of the forest ecosystem. By removing it for a century, when fires do start, the forest so cluttered with fuel burns with a rage that is all but impossible to contain. The Forest Service has tried to reintroduce fire with controlled burns for the past couple of decades, but restoring fire to full forests is problematic, to say the least. And, I will refrain from sermonizing on the lack of hunters in our forests. Fish and Game management and healthy faunas need hunters.
On the Fireline Trail, heading up to look for the Circlestone Trail junction.
On the Fireline Trail, heading up to look for the Circlestone Trail junction.
We assumed the Circlestone trail would connect to Fireline somewhere on the ridge top saddle of the bench of Mound Mountain where the ruin was above. We were wrong. The first day we did not find the site. The next day we expanded our search farther down the east side of the ridge on the Fireline Trail and found the cairn just past a fallen log across the trail quite a way down the east side from the saddle. The trail up to Circlestone from the Fireline Trail is steep and rugged. There are places you will need to walk your horse if you are riding.
The Lintel
Tom Kollenborn called this portion of the west wall "The Lintel" in his 1984 book about the ruin. Why there is hole in the bottom of the wall is unknown. The picture in Tom's book of this section is not as built up as in this picture. Someone has rebuilt a small section of the wall that is behind the top of the stick leaning against the wall here. Please remember, when visiting historic and prehistoric sites in a wilderness area, you have an obligation to preserve the site as is. Protecting our shared cultural heritage is every ones' duty.
Kollenborn's 1984 Potogragh
My attempt to add the interior spokes & structures
My attempt to add the interior spokes & structures
Our objectives on this first trip into Circlestone were to find the ruin, assess the difficulty involved in getting there, find suitable camps and water and collect enough measurements to be able to draw a more complete map. After visiting I simply wanted to add the interior walls and structures to Thomas Kollenborn's map. Tom's measurements are extremely accurate. As I added the spokes to his map from my and Matt's survey, I saw discrepancies between our idea of where the spokes intersected the outer circle, but at the time I chalked it up to our inadequacies as surveyors. Later on in the project, it became evident the discrepancies were caused by Tom's compass (unknown to him) not being set for declination and the compass Matt and I had from the Geology department of MCC was set accurately.
Horses and Mules or Hiking
Matt was not always happy about being my mule. He carried the heavier pack and did much of the physical work on the trip. At one point, on our way back out of the wilderness area on a particularly rugged and steep incline, he laid down and screamed, "Just push me off this cliff! Please, just push me off!"
Like Matt, I am no lover of backpacks. I don't mind walking my horse though. It has always been my habit to ride uphill and walk my mount downhill. I prefer mules to backpacks, always have. Nevertheless, some days are good days to ride and some days are good days to hike.
I am forever grateful to my city raised youngest son who worked so hard on this first expedition into Circlestone. It was my first inclination that taking students into wilderness areas would have a tangible value, not only for me in my research, but also a benefit to the student, especially city-bred students like my faithful son.
For another version of this story see: "Finding Circlestone" on my e-portfolio.G
This site is authorized and maintained by Bruce Peterson. It is not an official website of the Maricopa Community College District, and Maricopa is not responsible for the content of this site.
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