The trail was a bit overgrown due in no small part to the aging out of the local hiking population. And young people have a hard time living here because the only jobs are in the poorly-paid service sector, and the even more pauper-producing fields of artist and busker. Couple that with greedy capitalist landlords turning their properties into Airbnb rentals and drying up the rental stock for locals and it's really difficult to make a go of it here. This greed will sort itself eventually, but in the mean time, I'm finding a lot of solitude on the overgrown trails.
Mural Hill is a Paleozoic limestone cliff, its sediment laid down when the area was a shallow sea, some several hundred million years ago (unless you're a Biblical literalist and think the earth is only 8,000 years old—well, then, never mind).
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| Jesus once again being pressed into service for a dubious cause, pointing the way to the Shrine, an abominable collection of religious, mostly Christian, graffiti, despoiling Mother Nature with commemorations to dead loved ones, an egregious crime that should be punished as such. Instead, tourists and locals alike treat it as some sort of revered destination. I hiked up there in November of 2016 and was so appalled I made a blog post about it including a collage of the crime scene [see below]. |
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| The shrine as seen from the beginning of the Mural Hill Trail. |
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| 2016 collage. |
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| First glimpse of Mural Hill. |
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| Wore long pants today in anticipation of this mess. |
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| Another pretty little Paleozoic limestone cliff. |
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| Lunch on top after a final ½-mile scramble up some rather steep talus. Possible precipitous drop to certain death made my snack even more delicious. |
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| Looking over at Juniper Flats, possibly tomorrow's destination. If I do, I'll post it here. |
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| The "lavender pit", the currently-closed Phelps Dodge Copper Queen Mine, acquired in 1885. |
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| Steep and rocky descent. |
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