Warm day, aborted hike, quiet evening....

Our Location:

 Superstition Mountain BLM, Apache Junction, AZ

I think I slept the sleep of the dead. I didn't hear anything until just before the sun popped out. The back up beeper across the road must have jolted me or something because when I looked out my window the sun was almost laughing me over the edge of Superstition Mountain. So as you can guess, I missed the sun rise.

 

This was the view that greeted us as we pulled into the Lost Goldmine Trailhead parking lot.

The outside temperature read 44F/6.6C when I came downstairs. As quiet as a church mouse I started the water for our hot drinks, turned on the heater, and opened the shades. HRH Miss Kitty showed her regal self after the heater had warmed up. Riley was snorting and burping and making 'I'm awake noises' around 7:45 am.  Although she didn't make any verbal declaration until around 7:50 am. 

 

Gold Canyon is a quaint little place with almost all southwestern flavour architecture....

The sun is out and the sky looks blue, blue, blue. Today I think will be a hike down in the Gold Canyon area, but I'm not really sure. We'll have to see how that plays out. 

Looking up while starting the trail....

We had our hot drink, grabbed a little something for breakfast and around 10 am headed out to load up the Dogsled. Soon Doug & Yuma were also climbing in and off we headed. We needed to go to town first but were soon off toward Gold Canyon. It took us two tries to find the trailhead for the 'EASY' rated hike of Hieroglyphic Trail. We did find it eventually and around 11:30 am  we were starting up the path toward what was termed in the reading material as an easy rated hike with a waterfall, and petroglyphs. 

Off to the east of the trail....over there is the trail to the Lost Goldmine...

The trail was busy, very busy with lots of folks coming and going. The views were fantastic, and the mountain loomed ever  closer. Within about 25 minutes of our starting Riley pulled off the trail complaining of not feeling well. I thought perhaps a breather would help but alas it was not to be, Riley and I would be returning to the Dogsled, but Doug & Yuma carried on. 

Back at the Dogsled, having arrived safely we sat about patiently waiting for the return of our friend and his faithful side kick. The temps were warm reaching a high of 73F/22C. We noticed car plates from Alberta, Manitoba and of course many of the US states. People were constantly coming and going, all ages, sizes, with pets, without, numerous cycler's came and went as well. A very busy spot to be certain. 

A text message came in shortly before 2 pm saying Doug & Yuma were half  way back down. Right about the 2 pm mark we noticed them coming across the hardtop toward us. They both looked pretty tuckered and weary. Climbing in Doug confirmed that the trail was anything but easy and the distance was too far. He had however made it and taken some pictures to document his adventure. So I'm certain we'll all enjoy Doug's blog tonight (Miss Adventure Travels). 

The beginning of the trail was pretty easy going......

Back in the Dogsled we took or rather missed a turn and managed to tour the street to a dead end but witnessed some incredible houses and properties on the way. Back on the right track we were home within a very short period of time. It took us as long to come into the rigs on the short dirt road as it did to come to from the trail head parking lot to the end of N Hackamore Road. 

We went our separate ways upon reaching home. After a quick lunch I headed up for a nap, Riley called me at 5 pm.  I stumbled down stairs, fell into my chair, dozed off and on between pages in my book for another half hour. When I noticed Yuma looking in the screen at me. Doug & Yuma popped over for a visit and we sat outside until after the sun went down. They headed home, we came inside for the night. 

So there you have it, our attempted hike for the day, disappointing in some ways but not in others. I'm glad we didn't go further as it would have been too much for Riley and more than enough for me as well. We're happy Doug made it though and look forward to his pictures. 

Tomorrow Riley and I have plans to spend the day doing a few things by ourselves. In the next couple of days I'll start seriously looking at our route home as it's time to start heading that way soon. 

Thanks for stopping in, hope you all had a wonderful day. Feel free to leave a comment. 

Noticed this guy way over in the distance tonight....

Until next time.... take care, be safe, 

Goodnight from Superstition Mountain....

Deb

A footnote, as I write this post the full moon has climbed up from behind the mountain, showing golden yellow and as big as any I've seen. Too dark to get pictures for me but still a beautiful site to behold.

Short hike, great weather, and wow, what a moon....

Our Location: 

Superstition Mountain BLM, Apache Junction, Az

I was awake but wasn't out of bed when my phone buzzed with a text from my sister around 6:35 am. Which would be just after 8:35 am Ontario time. I should have been up anyway. I scrambled up and out the door to chat but she needed about 45 minutes before she would ready to do so. Hmmmmmm...she is special, isn't she? 

Not much of a sunrise....

 

Camera in hand I started walking hoping to make some of the low rises in the distance before the sunrise. I made the top of one but thought I could make the other which would offer a different angle and view. I was about 2 minutes too slow. Oh well, it was a nice view, and I managed to get some pictures of the general area. I was almost back home before I called my sister to chat. We caught up on the news and gossip, chatted about our upcoming summer time trip to the Canadian East Coast. About 40 minutes later we were caught up and I said my goodbyes. We miss Jan and look forward to seeing her in early May. 

This is what I caught about 2 minutes too late .....

I prepped lunch which today will be pretty much the same as the other day, salad, chicken, veggies and potatoes. I'm not very creative and it's pretty easy fare to make, we like it and add variety with different spices, herbs and sauces. 

On our morning hike we crossed this ATV/Jeep/Horse area, obviously well used and while it doesn't look it, often rutted rolling small sandy-gravel type dirt.

I was starting to read blogs I missed last night, comment, etc when Doug (Miss Adventure Travels )sent a text message asking about coming over. Yep, come on over. So the three of us sat down and chatted about yesterday's adventure for a few minutes, then about what we wanted to do today. I think we're all ready for a short hike or two. So that is the plan. We plan to head out around 11:30 am which will give us all time to have some breakfast, and get ready. 

It doesn't look like much down in that pit does it?

Breakfast for Riley was a couple of sandwiches, I didn't see her make them but I noticed her eating them. I made myself a breakfast burrito of sorts but added Miracle Whip to the outside of the wrap like I would to a grill cheese, gives it a bit of a tang and it also makes oil/butter unnecessary. 

We came walking down this road.....

Soon we were ready to go and outside Yuma came over before Doug and when Riley opened her door to do something he just hopped right in. He was ready to head out and didn't want to miss his ride. It was too funny. Soon enough all of us were loaded into the Dogsled and heading less than a mile up the way to the where the road dead ends. We thought we do a small hike today and opted to head out toward a huge rock back there that we've been looking at since we arrived. 

Looking up from down in the pit...

I figured it was about a mile each way but I think it may have been closer to 1 1/4 miles. There were a number of ATV's/Quads/jeeps either going through the gate (legally with a permit) or around the gate (illegally without a permit as they couldn't open the gate) to head off in to the trails. The permits are free and I have no idea why folks don't just get the permit to have access via the gate. This is where we've noticed a lot of work on going with some new fencing going up and I think it will block the NON legal trail that allows folks to go around the gate area. Also some horse trailers in the area. The same ones we met yesterday on our way out the Apache Trail. 

And we walked up this one....

Doug, Yuma, Riley and I walked and stumbled along over some off road areas, some on road areas and made for this big rock in as straight a line as possible. At one point we had to back track a bit as we missed the road and headed up the mountain side instead. We however corrected that mistake and were soon on the right path. Not far into our hike we came upon a large pit like area, but the bottom was flat with a few spots where campfires had been evident, some with debris only partially burned but at least still in the fire ring. The outer edges of the pit had multiple 'roads' up and out, all of course only suitable for off road vehicles. They were steep, rutted, gouged, rough pathways. Had we known what we were doing we could have gone either way not more than a few feet and found roads that were much much easier to walk down. However on the way in we weren't that smart and managed with great care to get down into and back out of this pit still standing and all in one piece. Nothing skinned, ripped, broken or otherwise damaged. We watched two Razors heading up one of the 'roads' and I'm telling you it must have been some ride, they were bouncing around and still pouring the juice to 'em. I'm sure they were having fun. 

That big rock over there is our destination....Yuma always has to lead the way...

On the top side once more we managed to find our way to the large rock. It didn't look so big from far back but it's a huge thing as you can see in the pictures. Yuma of course is always ready to go first and brave the unknown. Doug followed close behind him but Riley and I headed off a bit to try a less difficult trail. We found a horse trail with gravel that was easily mashed down and made solid footing. We managed the climb without any difficulty although a tow would have made it easier. 

That's where we're going....

Meanwhile Doug was out of sight but we did see Yuma once in a while braving the heights of the rock. We noticed 4 horses coming along behind us and the horses all managed to come up with only one appearing to have done any scrambling at all. They all stopped on the top of the hill, assuring me that Doug was still standing and in one piece as they could see him as they came toward the trail while Riley and I couldn't see him behind the rock. After a short breather for the horses they were off once again on the trail leading farther back into the canyon. If I have time I may actually go back there and walk a bit just to see what I can see on that trail. I'll bet it's an amazing sight. 

Can you see Doug down there?

While Riley rested with Yuma (who had come around as the horses were coming up the trail), I traveled a few feet up to the rock, snapped some pictures and caught sight of Doug coming on up the trail. He also found the path onto the rock and took a few photos I think. After that it was back down the trails, easier time through the jeep pit and back to the Dogsled pretty quick. We were around the 1 1/2 hour mark. 
 

That is Superstition Mountain from about mid way up the rock...

Back home about 1 pm we all went our separate ways with an invite to Doug to come over for lunch around 3 pm. I had a short nap and finished my James Patterson book. Started a new one by Jonathan Kellerman, he's a good writer as well. 

I took pictures from level area where Doug is standing, although more around the corner on the left....

I was outside by about 2:20 pm getting lunch started on the Weber. It was about 20 minutes before 3 while I was sitting out reading that I had a visitor that really didn't have much to say just wanted me to sit there and pet him. Yuma had somehow managed to evade Doug and came for a visit all by himself. Wasn't long before Doug called him home and shortly after that they both came over. Before long lunch was ready and I think everyone had their fill. JD Hickory Smoke Chicken breasts, orange juice/zest fresh veggies (green beans, mushrooms, carrots, peppers, sweet onions), garlic potato wedges and of course a green salad. 

Some morning pictures around sunrise....see the pic on the right, that pass or notch is where we travelled yesterday....

Mountain pictures taken in the sunshine ......

We all sat around chatting about this, that and other things, made some tentative plans for tomorrow and shortly before 5:30 called it a day. Doug and Yuma headed off home, Riley and I came inside to clean up after lunch, do dishes and settle in for the night.

These guys were all heading out of the pit....

Riley made some salads for tomorrow while I was busy doing a few other things and by 7 we were all finished. I sat down to write my post, edit my pics and all that stuff. I happened to glance out and caught the most incredible moon, slipped out to take a few pictures and continue this blog. 

The horses made the top of the climb......

So there you have it, our short hiking day. The temps were warm enough to go in short sleeves on the way back from the hike but coolish enough to need a sweater on the way in. Tomorrow will be nicer still. Going to enjoy this weather while we can. 

I changed lenses to capture the moon and snapped one of Superstition Mountain as well...

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. Feel free to drop a comment. 

Various shots of the moon tonight....

Until next time.... take care, be safe, 

These two pictures were taken from the top step of the Igloo just after sunset....

The moon over the mountains tonight just after the sunset....

Deb