March 28, 2012
6:30 AM: Woke up. 7:00 AM: Starbucks: 8:30 AM: Departed Globe, Arizona
My first destination for the day was Tonto National Monument, located in Roosevelt, Arizona, approximately 40 minutes northwest of Globe. Tonto National Monument is one of the oldest national monuments in the United States, located on the 33°38′ parallel.

Google Maps 2012
I had called the night before to make a reservation for the 10:00 AM, 3-mile, 3-hour, round trip hiking tour to the Upper Cliff Dwellings, but told that the tour had been booked solid for a couple of months.
I asked to be placed on a waiting list and was instructed to show up an hour and a half early the following morning to see if there were any cancellations.
I arrived at the park at 9:00 AM and learned there had been a cancellation. That meant I had an hour to prepare for the hike.
Quickly, I gathered my things and searched for a semi-private place on the deck overlooking Theodore Roosevelt Lake. Facing northeast, I performed the following meditation, Dumping Depression, between 9:15 and 9:35 AM.
As soon as I completed the meditation, I looked directly overhead and took the following photograph. An image of an angel seemed to appear in the top left corner.
I then prepared for the 3-hour, 3-mile round trip hiking tour. After packing several bottles of water, apples, a banana, and some walnuts and thanking the angels for getting me in on the tour, I met the group at the visitor’s center shortly before 10:00 AM.
After a brief introduction and a run-through of dos and don’ts, we began our hike at 10:00 AM sharp. I planned to place the stone I had brought from the Besh-Ba-Gowah Archaeological Park the day before somewhere close to the Upper Cliff Dwellings. I had invoked and asked for permission before the hike, so everything was in place.
I took the following photos during our ascent up the mountain:
As I took the photograph above, before we hiked into a small wooded area by a small stream, two hawks circled in the sky above. During our hike through this little patch of woods, we were visited by a lizard, a frog, and several bees.
Lizard offers the following wisdom:
- dreams,
- regeneration,
- detach from ego,
- facing fear.
Frog offers the following medicine:
- cleansing,
- rebirth,
- connecting to all life,
- understanding feelings and emotions.
After we left the small patch of woods, we began our ascent up the mountain, making several stops along the way to drink water and look at various desert flowers.
The following image from Google Earth shows all of the switchbacks we had to climb before reaching the top of the mountain.
Once we reached the cliff dwellings at an elevation of 3,535′, we took a moment to drink some water and take in our surroundings. It was breathtaking.
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Once our tour was complete, I gently placed the stone from the Besh-Ba-Gowah Archaeological Park on the ground and quickly headed back down the mountain. I stopped briefly in the small wooded area to retrieve a stone to carry to my next destination.
Once I got back in my van, I departed the Tonto National Monument and headed northwest on Highway 188.
An hour and 15 minutes later, I arrived in Phoenix and drove straight to where I had lived for over a year before leaving on December 7, 2011. When I opened the front door, I was greeted by the following message on a marker board:
I quickly said hello to my favorite 11-year-old, shy dog, Duque.
It is located on the 33°28’9.12″ parallel.
Google Maps 2012
After spending the late afternoon and evening hours catching up with Ricardo, his nephew, and a friend of Ricardo’s nephew, I went to bed around 10:30 PM.