| | -
| 1 label |  |
|
|
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
| |  |
|
1 |
|
| | |
|
| Hiking | 4.00 Miles |
800 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.00 Miles | 2 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.60 mph |
| 800 ft AEG | | | | |
|
|
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | Broadway Cave
The weather prognosticators were predicting a nice day today and then all promises for the weekend were off so I thought that I had best hit the trails today and see what happens later. A year ago, I hiked to Monument Canyon and although I enjoyed the hike, I had my eye on the cave opening to my East and planned to do that hike at a later date.
Today would be the perfect day for the hike to the cave so I threw my gear in the car and headed to the Broadway TH. I arrived at the deserted parking area, got my gear on, reset the GPS and hit the trails at 8:00. The trail is still narrow and as rocky as I remembered it from a year ago. There are occasional trail signs along the way but none point the way to Monument Canyon or the Broadway Cave, I guess the Forest Service figures that if you can see it, they don't have to tell you how to get there. 
There were few cairns to mark the way so I followed trails as best I could and kept the cave opening in sight. As the trail got steeper it was harder to follow but I was close enough to the cave to bushwack the rest of the way. Once at the cave opening, I was impressed with the views back down towards Gold Canyon, Apache Junction and Mesa while off in the distance was the San Tan's and closer in was Silly Mountain.
I took off my gear, had a short break and then explored the cave. There isn't much to explore as it isn't very deep and is wider than it is deep. There's a fair amount of graffiti painted on the walls and it never ceases to amaze me why someone would pack spray paint all the way up here, just to spray some meaningless garbage on the walls. You don't believe some of the ancients had the same notion about those who left the petroglyphs???? Maybe a thousand years from now, some intelligent life form will gaze upon the graffiti and wonder about its meaning. WOW, that's getting pretty intense for a hike through the desert.
In the East end of the cave, there is a short mine where someone spent a lot of time and effort digging in search of something valuable. Now the hole is just a repository for plastic water bottles, beer bottles, beer cans and probably empty paint cans. I did my eco-friendly thing today by filling a plastic Wal-Mart bag with trash and packing it back home.
I guess I got the Broadway Cave trip out of my system, it was a good hike with a lot of scenic desert along the way but it's too bad that my lingering memories will be of graffiti, and trash.  |
| _____________________
| On every trip into the Superstitions, I find another Gold Mine. Today the mine was filled with Memories. I can not wait for the next trip. |
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
