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| Hiking | 5.87 Miles |
1,187 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.87 Miles | 5 Hrs 15 Mns | | 1.57 mph |
| 1,187 ft AEG | 1 Hour 30 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | Last week, Angela PM'ed me saying that her Grand Canyon adventure was cancelled and would I escort her and Ambika on a Massacre Grounds hike from First Water Trailhead. Any hike with Angela and Ambika is a good hike  so I agreed, but with a modification to the proposed route.
The First Water/Massacre Loop would be along the wash which would have an abundance of new-growth Catsclaw  so I recommended starting from the Crosscut Trailhead and heading straight up towards Praying Hands, then making a left at the face of the mountain and following that around to Massacre Falls. I did that hike last year and wanted to explore the area more so Angela agreed to try my modified Massacre Loop.
We got onto the trail that follows the West side of the wash with the Praying Hands rock formation straight ahead. As the trail gains altitude, it veers of the the East heading to another smaller series of rock formations. The tallest of these rock formations, I nicknamed Split Rock because it has multiple fissures running full length from top to bottom, splitting the rock. It was fun playing around this rock and taking pictures. The views from here are incredible with the Goldfields closest, there's Four Peaks and we were able to catch a glimpse of Camelback in the hazy distance.
We had gained almost 1,000 feet by now and had traveled just over 1.5 miles. The cloud cover prevented the sun from bearing down on us, but we could see the blue sky off to the West. Following a short break, we continued up the steep foothills stopping to explore/climb some of the other rock formations that were along the way.
The trails became scarce although cairns were everywhere. Eventually we reached the base of a 30 foot tall dry waterfall that must be spectacular when water's flowing. Last year I referred to this falls as Horseshoe Falls because of the radius at the precipice. More exploring, climbing and pictures
There is a cairned trail leading from above the falls to a canyon that looks like it leads to the top (5024). We didn't have a lot of time, so we're going to save that exploration for another day 
We crossed the draw, following cairns, up and across the high foothills until we finally reached the Massacre Falls trail and the hoards of hikers that make this trip. By now we were running close to Angela's exit time, so rather than continue on to Massacre Falls, we opted to head back to the parking lot (now Angela has another reason to return, to make it to Massacre Falls)
Once back at the parking lot, we enjoyed a post-hike tradition that my brother and I started last year by sitting on the tailgate of the pickup, enjoying a cold beer (Red Bull for Ambika) and salted-in-the-shell peanuts. Thanks very much Angela and Ambika for an enjoyable day in the Superstitions, it could only have been better, if my brother had been along too (get well soon Doug). |
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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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