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| Hiking | 5.00 Miles |
1,000 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.00 Miles | | | |
| 1,000 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | 2024-08-28 ** UPDATE **
PCSO got back with me and SAR has determined that it was a false alarm and freely abandoned. They could not find evidence of foul play (nor did I see any). Also, there have been no missing persons reports in that area of Pinal. That's actually great news. The FS will be removing the items. I offered to pack everything out as trash, but they want to do it.
This trip was posted in a popular public hiking group last week with a small delay in getting it here. I’m adding it because the documentation could be important. Obviously if any HAZ members have information about this, please contact the authorities. Feel free to skip to paragraph 4 for the main story.
I took a hot weather trip to Carney Springs to look around. Temps were earlier in 80s and later 100s. Slightly cloudy with a promise of rain, but that didn’t happen. I actually probably would have run around like a school kid if it had rained. I love the rain in the open Superstitions. There is normal drying everywhere especially in the surface areas and of course greener in the channels and canyons in the Superstition Mountains. Since I know the area so well, I can document that at least 2 significant Saguaros recently fell.
There was one SUV at Carney Springs lot, and no other cars at the Lost Goldmine East lot where I parked. It is typical this time of year when many choose not to hike locally due to the dangers of heat. I was in no danger and no hurry working my way up to Carney Springs. I took a turn on the Shaka Cave trail and kept an eye out for invasive globe chamomile, Stinknet. I found and bagged a few dry stalks. It has not entirely invaded the upper canyon yet but, sigh, it’s just a matter of time before it takes over.
There was an abandoned tent in the cave. It was very ordinary looking and zipped up like someone had been camping. I peeked through the top and could see a clear layer of dust covering the insides. I committed a cardinal sin and checked AllTrails reviews and discovered that people had seen the tent in the cave over a month earlier, but had done nothing about it. I did look for blood. I did look for bullet casings. I did smell for decomposition. I saw nothing like that. Knowing that people sometimes disappear in the mountains, I decided to look inside. I took extra pics just in case, but there was no sign of foul play. I found various possessions notably a backpack.
Inside the tent was a cold compress and ointment, a nice tent light, tent stakes and cover, but no trash indicating that anyone had been living there more than a night. There was no water and no food, no bottles, or food wrappers. I found no identification or receipts or anything that would give clue to who had left it. My first thought was that someone had just been too lazy or tired to pack it out. I carefully examined the pack and took more photos. Inside the pack were several (looked like brand) new full size spiritual books. One was an “Ethiopian Bible” and the other book as the “Encyclopedia of Last and Rejected Scriptures.” Someone appeared to be on a spiritual journey. There were also charge cables in the side pocket. No name or writing was in either book.
I put everything back and zipped it back up and went up the canyon to see if I found anything else. Don’t judge the GPS speed or anything as I was taking my time slow visual searching. The waterfall was dry as expected without monsoon rain and there were no other sings of people on that upper trail. I took some more photos and passed two sets of people on the way down. Collected a bit more stinknet, which is easy to see dry because of the bright yellow color. I also took the short bypass trail that goes from Camp Carney back connecting over to the Wave Cave trail. There was nothing there either. It was warming up so I headed back to LGME.
Driving home I decided that I should report the tent to LE. Probably just wilderness trash, but just in case. I contacted Mesa Ranger District and Pinal County Sheriffs Office. Then I posted it to a couple hiking groups that I am in. I found out that one person had document the tent being there a full 2 months earlier. Another had reported seeing a sleeping bag about a month ago, but it was no loner there. Wow a lot of people had a lot to say about it. Mostly people were supportive, but some felt like I just rolled up on somebody’s campsite and invaded their privacy by going through their stuff. A few others felt I contaminated a crime scene. (There was no evidence of crime, but OK).
It was just an ordinary tent sealed up in a cave. It was so ordinary in fact, that people had been skipping by it for 2 months without doing anything about it. Who knows how long it would be there, had I not looked? I’m glad that I did. So the authorities have the GPS and information and will do what they need to do. I’ve not been updated by anyone, but hope it was just a person that left their stuff and went back home safe. Trash is easy to deal with, missing persons are not. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
From the summit altar you can see Four Peaks, which is hidden to much of the valley. Obviously the canyon walls are higher and much can be seen from the perimeter areas. Also the sight line from the Stone Alter to Four Peaks coincidentally passes through the alleged Stone Idol.
Bone dry throughout the entire canyon
