C 291

Our second mark for today, C 291, was a prickly cholla-challenge! At the spot where we pulled off the road to park, a steep rocky slope rose ahead of us, and it was covered in teddy bear cholla. We knew from the description that the disk was set in a large boulder, and from the coordinates the boulder seemed to be somewhere near the top of the steep, loose gravel slope. We had quite a distance to hike through the cholla to reach it!

At one point, Rich exclaimed “Oh, I got stuck!” and I looked down to see a fat cholla segment stuck firmly onto the side of his right calf. Our tweezers were in the car but he tried removing the segment with his knife. This operation was mostly successful but he was left with a few very fine spines still stuck in the skin that we would have to remove later.

After that episode, I climbed a little higher and spotted the disk on the far edge of the large boulder. But the entire base of the boulder and the entire area surrounding it was carpeted with cholla. There was no safe way to climb onto the boulder to photograph the mark, so I had to do so from a distance. It was a beautiful spot but a very precarious one! I was pleased to see that the disk appears to be in excellent condition, and the stamping was easily legible even when viewed at an angle.