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| Hiking | 4.56 Miles |
1,063 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.56 Miles | 2 Hrs | | 4.56 mph |
| 1,063 ft AEG | 1 Hour Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Thursday got off to a chilly, but bright start with only a few high clouds to interrupt the blue Arizona sky, so I got my hiking gear together and made a determination to hike a portion of the Lost Goldmine Trail.
I drove out the Peralta Road to the junction of the old Carney Springs Road (now a parking lot as the road has been torn up and is now allowed to return to desert) at coordinates 33deg 23.150 111deg 21.783. It was now 9:00 as I reset my GPS and climbed into my gear. The walk down the old road, is a short, pleasant hike and terminates at the Wilderness fenceline. Continuing straight ahead, is the Carney Spring Trail heading to the Ridgeline or Robbers Roost.
I turned left heading mostly West on the clearly visible Goldmine Trail. There must be a lot of horse traffic on the trail, as you have to frequently sidestep the horse do-do. The views of the Ridgeline are spectacular with the contrasting colors of the cliffs, hoodoos, sky and clouds. One portion of the upper ridge is the Robbers Roost area, but there aren't any distinct landmarks to give them away.
The trail passes through a Saguaro Forest making a treat for the eyes as the cactus are so thick in this area that the trail winds through the forest. Far above me, on a distant rock outcropping I noticed something white. I couldn't tell if it was a rock or something living, so I pointed my camera at it and made use of my newly acquired 35X zoom ability. Even though the camera has IS, I still should have had a tripod along to steady the camera cause way up there was a hawk taking a break and observing my hike.
I continued walking towards the "2822" hill (Fritski's description) and at coordinates 33deg 23.603 111deg 23.145, I climbed over the 4-strand barbwire fence and headed North up into the brush and rocks heading towards the base of the cliffs ahead. My Superstition Wilderness Map showed a trail around here someplace, but I was unable to find more than a couple of cairns but certainly no trail.
Fritski's 2002 trail description mentioned a large cave/alcove on the walls high above the trail and I was trying to find a trail or path that might lead up there for closer examination. I was obviously well off the mark, so at around 3,000 feet I made my turn around and headed back. The views of the valley from even this elevation, were gratifying and worth the effort, so they must be considerably better from the higher vantage points.
This minor setback only means that I'm going to have to study my maps a little closer, project a trail and try again  . No hike in the Superstitions is a failure, just the opportunity to try again (mnlumberjack) |
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| 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. |
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