Wagoner's Lost Ledge

[cuzimloony]

I too am interested in this story. I first learned about it from Frank A. We chatted about it in his yellow vehicle while looking for some other thing he had on his mind. I was always perplexed by this part (and forgive me if I am confusing stories here....the sups are full of them): An old man with "severe respiratory illness" was able to hike in and around the superstitions, in and out, over and over, covering huge distances by superstition hiking standards, doing what modern day super-hikers plan, train for and have a hard time handling. This was always the stumbling block for me in pursuing this any further. That little detail reveals a lot.....at least I think it does. I understand the "they don't make 'em like they used to," but I don't think an old man w/ severe respiratory illness at any point in time compares to any modern day hiker, even if modern day hikers are weaker than olden day hikers. Man I hope that made sense......lol On another note: I'll be heading to hieroglyphics trail this weekend. I want to see this spiral-staircase for myself to see if it's a bunch of hog-wash.....

 

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[SPARTANOC]

I too am interested in this story. I first learned about it from Frank A. We chatted about it in his yellow vehicle while looking for some other thing he had on his mind. I was always perplexed by this part (and forgive me if I am confusing stories here....the sups are full of them): An old man with "severe respiratory illness" was able to hike in and around the superstitions, in and out, over and over, covering huge distances by superstition hiking standards, doing what modern day super-hikers plan, train for and have a hard time handling. This was always the stumbling block for me in pursuing this any further. That little detail reveals a lot.....at least I think it does. I understand the "they don't make 'em like they used to," but I don't think an old man w/ severe respiratory illness at any point in time compares to any modern day hiker, even if modern day hikers are weaker than olden day hikers. Man I hope that made sense......lol On another note: I'll be heading to hieroglyphics trail this weekend. I want to see this spiral-staircase for myself to see if it's a bunch of hog-wash.....

Cuzimloony

That Spiral-staircase pit is real. I believe Wayne Tuttle finally tried getting down in it - only to find it end at about 15 feet or so. There is no tunnel running down in it - so it has perplexed many as to WHY it was dug out in the first place. Nothing about it makes any sense. It is cool though to find, if out there just for a hike.

-SpartanOC

 

[cuzimloony]

Cuzimloony

That Spiral-staircase pit is real. I believe Wayne Tuttle finally tried getting down in it - only to find it end at about 15 feet or so. There is no tunnel running down in it - so it has perplexed many as to WHY it was dug out in the first place. Nothing about it makes any sense. It is cool though to find, if out there just for a hike.

-SpartanOC

Yeah I've seen those videos. I'm aware there is a hole there....... I just want to camp out there a night or two, to see for myself if the little people come out of it .......

 

[cuzimloony]

Here's an interesting anomaly south of Whiskey Spring and near black basalt outcroppings. GE images are shown looking north and southwest (overhead view). Could these be low, man-made walls? Did Wagoner construct a crude, rock shelter to protect himself from the wind and critters? Is his golden ledge near the spring, where he might have loitered, took a close look at his surroundings, and discovered the ledge?

Notice that black basalt outcroppings are abundant on the west side of the canyon, while the east side lacks such outcroppings.

View attachment 2054825

View attachment 2054826

I realize I am very late to this story and still have some reading to do before catching up, but... I got to this part and have a bit of insight. I very much apologize if this was covered in the parts I haven't read yet. I have spent a lot of time hiking and jeeping in and around the Hewlitt Canyon and in that area specifically there are walls galore. Man made stacked stones, no mortar or anything, just stacked stones. I've seen walls as long as 100 yards or so, in the middle of nowhere. I asked a local TH'er about it and the answer I got was "Cowboys doing cowboy things." This led me to believe that there may be land boundaries, grazing boundaries, and cowboy boundaries out there and yes, there are absolutely man made walls in the middle of nowhere. If I can find those pics, I'll post them. It is an odd sight, walls connected to nothing.

 

[cuzimloony]

Someone in good shape can walk in a hour at least 2 miles.
Spanish measurement for a legua ( one hour walk ) in their treasure maps, is at 2,7 miles. Now, for a common hiker, depends of the difficulty of the terrain but the distance remains at least 2 miles ( for the Superstitions ).

I can get to these areas. I'm a hiker and a jeeper, used to the trail and in good shape. I live near Queen Creek, AZ. Very close the trailheads I'd need to hit up. I'm down to head to these spots and get pics/vid of the area, boots on the ground. Which spot should I go to first? I can start next weekend. (This weekend is the Hieroglyphics Trail with the family...next weekend I can do the man hiking). If I don't hear from anyone, I'll just pick one and go and possibly upload some video or pics at some point.....but it would be more fun if this were a collaborative effort

 

[SPARTANOC]

I can get to these areas. I'm a hiker and a jeeper, used to the trail and in good shape. I live near Queen Creek, AZ. Very close the trailheads I'd need to hit up. I'm down to head to these spots and get pics/vid of the area, boots on the ground. Which spot should I go to first? I can start next weekend. (This weekend is the Hieroglyphics Trail with the family...next weekend I can do the man hiking). If I don't hear from anyone, I'll just pick one and go and possibly upload some video or pics at some point.....but it would be more fun if this were a collaborative effort

Since you're close, here's a good area to start: Hewitt Canyon - 33.3644325 -111.2040254

-SpartanOC

 

[cuzimloony]

Since you're close, here's a good area to start: Hewitt Canyon - 33.3644325 -111.2040254

-SpartanOC

I've been there before, albeit, jeeping so I just drove by. I did collect 2 waypoints with pictures though. So for now, I can show you what it looks like entering and leaving that stretch of Hewlitt Canyon Rd. next to Byous Butte. Looks like I took these pics 4 years ago so, it may look a bit different now... This is an easy one because you can just drive to it. The pic with more blue sky is entering the canyon, from the south looking north at the butte. The pic with more clouds is leaving it on a bend in the road. (It looks like they might be out of order below). These are from my jeep so, it is what it is, but you can get a good idea of what it's like. The bottom pic is some of what I recorded that day with the red pointers being the spots where those pics were taken w/i GPS margin of error.

 

[cuzimloony]

Since you're close, here's a good area to start: Hewitt Canyon - 33.3644325 -111.2040254

-SpartanOC

I knew/know? (Been a while since we've spoken) someone who had a claim right around there. Said he found gold too. He couldn't find the claim when we were there, it was kind-of an afterthough on our way out, but we looked for a short amount of time. I hear there is gold nearby here......so, Id say your marker is a good start!
I was kind-of hoping to hike though. Lol This one is drivable.