"Imagine a world without borders..." -just like the earliest settlers in the Quartzsite area!
THE LEGEND OF LIZARD MOUNTAIN:
According to local legend - the first lizards crawled into the area during a random prehistoric winter migration. Here they found large saguaro cacti, thriving plant-life, and a bounty of small insects and other wildlife. Understanding that they may be able to thrive in the area, these prehistoric pioneers began their spring mating rituals with little knowledge of the Sonoran summer. As late-spring temperatures began to swelter, these new inhabitants came together as a community to claw at the earth, gather, and distribute large amounts of white quartz to a site that lies upon the hillside visible directly West of Lizard Mountain, (the namesake of the community of Quartzsite). There, these early settlers gathered throughout the summer - during the most blistering of temperatures.
Normally cool-blooded and in tune with the summer warmth, these lizards slowly acclimated themselves to the Sonoran Desert by using the white quartz as a method of cooling themselves. As generations passed, the use of the quartz site decreased as lizards were liberated from the site and grew accustomed to the local climate.
Lizard Mountain became a burial site for the pioneering generation of lizards who had passed - as younger generations sought to symbolically liberate their ancestors from the site of quartz. Today local individuals and wildlife continues to gather, meditate, pray, and seek eternal peace upon the grounds of Lizard Mountain Memorial Monument.
Lizards which have now moved far from the original quartz site - spread across the hills and wash-basin, and further into the Sonoran Desert - they now return to the peak of Lizard Mountain in order to watch the sun set upon the quartz site built by their ancestors as a part of a continuing pilgrimage to honor all their lizard ancestors.
The installation at Lizard Mountain features towers of rock reaching toward the sky from the base of the mountain to it's peak - as if to provide the stepping stones toward eternal rest for those buried beneath the scorched earth. From two of the highest towers flows two rivers of quartz - symbolic of the Mother Earth and Father Time. These two rivers eventually merge into one full river, symbolizing the duality of creation. The quartz river at Lizard Mountain then flows around a small stone arch and into the burial grounds as if to symbolize one's journey through life and into eternal peace.
A balanced altar created out of two broken halves of the same stone lays North of the burial grounds and is both visible and accessible for offerings, prayer, and silent meditation. A colored glass shrine in memory of the many great lizards that have passed on lays beside the balanced-altar.
There are other heritage sites within a walk-able distance from the Lizard Mountain Memorial Monument, such as the spiral quartz maze located a short walk Southeast, along with the beautiful formation known as Dome Rock due South. There are also many other geocaches to find in the surrounding area as well, happy caching!
ABOUT THIS COLLABORATIVE MONUMENT:
You are invited to participate in this collaborative memorial monument project!
In respect and in order to continue honoring this site we ask that you leave a [voluntary] offering of at least a handful of white quartz gathered from the area at the base of Lizard Mountain. For those wanting to further participate in this project, we reccomend creating a small memorial of your own (such as balanced rocks, mosiacs, or otherwise non-invasive creations) in the space outside of the bordered base, in the grounds adjacent and surrounding the monument and burial grounds. You may also leave a small offering, carefully placed near the altar.
Thank you for helping to maintain the history of this site while continuing to inspire and create!