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| Hiking | 5.25 Miles |
660 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.25 Miles | 3 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.91 mph |
| 660 ft AEG | 45 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | Our daughter and family finally decided to take a break from the Minnesota-winter-that-won't-end and are visiting us for a week of warm Arizona sun. With so much to do in such a short time I opted to take Son-in-law Scott for a hike in the Superstitions.
It didn't take much to convince Minermike to join us on a quick hike through Garden Valley early on a beautiful Sunday morning. Strangely, First Water Trailhead was almost deserted so we signed the log, slipped into our hiking gear and hit the Dutchman trail down to the signpost where we swung left on the Second Water Trail heading to Garden Valley.
The First Water Creek crossing is bone dry so I couldn't show Scott how great it looks when water's flowing but we continued on the trail eventually arriving at the signpost for Black Mesa/Second Water trails. A little bit of scouting around by the rock mound produced a few pottery sherds that I showed Scott as evidence that an extinct group of Indians once called this scenic place their home.
After hitting the usual sights we departed Garden Valley heading down the trail past Hackberry Mesa. At the saddle where the trails split, we decided to cut across to the old tin covered corral and along the way, we crossed the unnamed wash and found water still in the pools. We continued on to First Water Creek where there was a small amount of water flowing between the deep pools in the bedrock.
There were overnight campers at the corral so we didn't waste much time there exploring and instead headed up the hill and connected with First Water Road. Back at the Trailhead, we talked with the FS Volunteers and were surprised to find that the parking lot was less than half full. I think it's a combination of the warmer weather, the snake warnings, a rough road and some hikers are already heading back to homes in the far, frozen North.
Mike and I treated Scott to a cold afterhike brew at the Bluebird Mine Store where, once again we bumped into Tom Kollenborn for a quick "Howdy" and conversation.  Had a fun morning and Scott thoroughly enjoyed his first outing in the Superstitions.  |
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Wildflowers Observation None
Occotillo are blooming now along with lots of clumps of small white daisy-like flowers. |
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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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