Mystery Hole

>is this for a body?
no
>is there a less retarded word for hiking off trail? I say bush-wacking.
that's bush wHacking. or cross country. or off trail is fine.

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Thanks in advance guys

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>>1014348

>is there a less retarded word for hiking off trail?
Don't get too hung up on the phrase, I usually just say 'off the beaten track' if i'm with friends or girlfriend and we are finding a spot to set up. I think saying 'hiking off trail' is perfectly fine as you are literally describing what you are doing. In bushcraft we are not pedantic about words or phrases as /k/ are about their stuff.

>>1014349
You're likely right, but what could it be for? A bit of effort went into making a hole this big

>>1014348

Looks like someone had something buried under it, and they left the tarp behind

Perhaps a solar still.

>>1014348
>>1014351
I reserve bushwhacking for actually pushing through bushes, not just walking off trail like in OP's pic.

>>1014348
You could say trail blazing for what you were doing

>>1014348

Skinwalker bathtub, so I would t worry about it.

>>1014401


Maybe a super cheap sweat lodge/sauna, considering there's a water source close by, get sweaty in the pit then cool off in the stream.

>>1014348
It is probably a tree root hole where a tree fell over long long ago. If a tree tips over and takes most of its root crown with it, it will leave a hole similar to that. Then the tree rots away, leaving mystery holes. There are lots of really old logs there, indicating that may have happened.

>>1014624
In a dry climate like that it would have had to of been so long ago that the hole would have filled itself in by now. Even in a wet climate where things rot faster there would be evidence of a tree.

>>1014624
>>1014669
It was lined with tarp guys, and there wasn't a tree nearby

>>1015226

Who knows, dig it out and see what you find. If you're lucky it's hidden treasure, if not there's nothing, and if there's a body you can either report it or add a sweet human skull to your collection of woodland finds.

Maybe it was a solar still at one point

Is dat sum Coronado??

>>1014351
>>1014400
>>1014401
>>1015527
I know it sounds silly, I'm tight with a professor to teaches forensic sciences, I'm just going to run it by her. I'll let you guys know what she says

>>1015527
human skull sounds cool

Sometimes you'll find old pits dug by scientists/foresters trying to collect soil profile data, if abandoned for a while they'll cover them with tarps. The faces on a profile pit are usually more vertical than what you found though.

>>1014348

Indian grave maybe. Pot diggers illegally searching for loot. Not joking.

Grandpa in flagstaff made some money during the depression this way. A lot of people did unfortunately.

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>>1014348

I found 2 of these similar depressions on a "bushwhacking" hike just last weekend as well. Maybe just potholes?

>>1014348
>>1017943

Sink hole or cave entrances would be my first thoughts..

Here in florida its not uncommon to find small random sinkholes in the woods or fields.

Now.. The tarp could be if it is a cave entrance someone trying to hide it.

>>1017943

That looks like an old half collapsed mine adit.

>>1014348

That looks like maybe an abandoned half assed mine pit maybe? That stuff around it doesn't look like limestone, it looks like some kind of crystalline metamorphic/igneous rock, so sinkhole is unlikely.

>>1014348
Where in AZ? Close to the border?

I had a scary incident near Chiricahua National Monument in Coronado NF a few years ago.
>backpacking solo for a few nights
>friend from Tucson supposed to pick me up near Rustler Park on the last morning
>camping near the road that runs between Barfoot and Rustler
>close to a wide spot in the road but hidden from view
>been raining (early August) so go to bed early
>sleep 3 hours
>wake up at midnight to sound of approaching engine
>unzip tent and rainfly and look down through the trees toward the road
>big lifted pickup truck with a light bar on top rolls up the road
>stops at the wide spot
>3 guys hop out, grab shovels, start digging
>they rapidly unearth a big box buried close to the surface
>they throw the box and shovels into back of truck, tie tarp over load, do a u-turn and roar off into the darkness
That was the happiest I've ever been to have made a well-hidden campsite. To this day I'm convinced that was a drug smuggling run.