EHC-33

Rock Outcropping, Coconino National Forest, February 2013

While I was snowshoeing around Mormon Mountain the other day I found a line of large volcanic outcroppings hidden back in one of the side canyons. It had several interesting nooks and crannies that cried out for exploration so I carefully worked my way around below and checked it out. Like most of these things it was just a big rockface undercut with shallow alcoves only going back a few feet. One was deep enough to provide a little shelter and, sure enough, someone had already been there before me:

 

EHC-33, Coconino National Forest, February 2013

I can only assume that it's someone's initials and a date: "E.H.C. - 33". It doesn't appear to be the typical spraypaint that contemporary taggers use, so I'd guess that it's probably authentic.

I don't know a lot about what was going on with Mormon Mountain back in 1933, but I would assume it was the same story as everywhere else around here: cattle and sheep grazing and extensive logging judging by all the stumps and 2nd growth forest I've been walking through. Higher up the mountain in one of the fading aspen groves I found an arborglyph dated 1928 in script similar to what the Basque's were using over on the Peaks at the time.

 

Rock Face, Coconino National Forest, February 2013

The Peaks have a lot of these kind of outcroppings and cliffs hidden back in the trees. In some instances they can run for a long ways and your progress across the face of the mountain will be blocked. I wrote about one of them a couple of years ago when I was poking around Agassiz Peak. I've only seen a handful of these on Mormon so far, but then again I've only explored about half of this mountain. Due to winter road closures the approach hikes are starting to get very long again, so I may have to wait for the snow to melt a bit before I swing back around to the south and west sides of the mountain. The terrain over there looks a bit more convoluted so maybe there will be more rocks and such to poke around in.

If you google for "EHC-33" you'll find that, among other things, it's the brand name for a blend of bacteria used to consume sewer grease. Probably not related to the initials painted on the rocks. Heh heh.

Comments

[John N]

Dave, this is a long shot, but it could be Ernest Chilson, a rancher from the Anderson Mesa area .... The timing (1933, I guess) would or could be about right for when Chilson was a young man. He's passed now, about ten years ago, as I recall. Jim Parks in Flagstaff worked for Ernest at one time on the Bar T Bar Ranch, knows a lot of the area history, may know whether or not this may have been Ernest, if you're interested. Not sure what he would have painted that with; the standard for this type of marking initials on things back when was either black sheep marker paint or a flaming pine pitch knot. Neat stuff. Maybe ask Peter Pilles if he has this recorded as a historic site.

[del]

That would be super cool if it was Ernest's initials. But it *is* kind of odd that the marking is white, almost like it was done with a brush.

I should go back up there when the snow is gone and look around for evidence of old camps and such. It was pretty far up the mountain, well away from the campgrounds and trail. I would imagine the forest there is spooky for most hikers and campers, so the lettering was probably not left by casual visitors.

Keep the comments coming, John -- I love it when you chime in on stuff like this. Gives good perspective, opens up other avenues for thought.