View Full Version : Incredible day in the Superstitions
garlic08
12-21-2008, 22:37
Siphon Draw to the Flatiron--I don't have enough superlatives for this hike.
I was looking at a map last night, and barely noticed a faint dotted line going up Siphon Draw from Lost Dutchman State Park near Apache Junction, AZ. The dotted line, according to the map legend, is an unmaintained trail. Sounded good to me.
The Flatiron overlooks the eastern side of The Valley of the Sun, a very prominent rock at the high crest of the western edge of the Superstitions. The Superstitions are the remains of a caldera, so imagine the rock formations (sorry, no camera along). I've been looking up at the crest from a rental house since I got here a few weeks ago, wondering if there was a way up from this side. I finally noticed the faint dotted line.
This trail climbs very steeply, about 3,000' in a little over a mile. There are two solid Class 3 scrambling moves near the top. A local guy I met pointed out a very old plane wreck up there, too. There's a polished bowling alley-type creek bed, too, and there was rare water flowing there after last week's rain. The trail is marked with fairly subtle dark blue/gray spray paint blazes, a few brighter ones in critical spots. Even so, I headed up dead ends a couple of times.
The unmaintained trail supposedly continues along the Superstition Crest for many miles, but I only had an hour or so to explore. I hiked over to the head of Monument Canyon. The coxcomb formations up there are out of this world. And I found another spring up there. What a day in the desert.
When I got home after hiking Jacob's Crosscut trail to the Broadway TH, then back to the house, I checked my copy of the "100 Classic Hikes in Arizona" book, and unbelievably, this hike wasn't in there. It truly is a classic. Anyone who lives or visits this area, this is a must-hike.
U fortunate @#$*. For awhile, I've wanted to go up and follow the Superstition's crest via that route to see the rock formations! I hear the crest trail is faint in some spots. If U say U liked it I'll asssume U had solid enough reasons to. Awesome.
Oh yeah, do U remember where U saw the water flowing and "another spring?"
garlic08
12-22-2008, 10:24
Dogwood;
There was a small falls and pool about half way up where there's large rock chute that looks like it's been polished by a river. The spring at the top was along the crest trail, just a few hundred yards on the way to the head of Monument Canyon. One of the locals up there said the water is seasonal and very rare. It's been raining here lately.
You'd need a good topo map to follow the crest, it's more of a route than a trail. Heavy cactus, too. I have a book about loop hikes in AZ, and the route is described there from the Peralta TH. That book, and a ranger at the Lost Dutchman State Park, both said the route is OK to follow 'once you get up there'.
We are coming to Az in march and I am really looking forward to hiking your state. It looks spectacular..:)
Superstitions are awesome. I did the G.E.T. trough there. Thinking of going back in the spring. Right Yappy? :D
fiddlehead
12-22-2008, 14:16
Was just there for a 2 nighter in November.
Great stuff.
Lots of people though as we were there on a weekend.http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg201/fiddleheadpa/1supes.jpg
November 09/2008
I agree! This was one of the first hikes my husband and I did, and we got hooked! I love the Superstitions, but don't miss hauling around gallons of water.
rusty075
12-22-2008, 22:26
Having the Supes' 20 minutes from my door is one of the great things about living out here. I've been using them as a training ground for my Thru next spring - I've been out there almost every weekend since the temperature dropped out of the triple digits. It's particularly nice now that the weather has turned and we're finally getting some rain.
I haven't done the ridgeline hike that Garlic discussed, but it's on my list to do this winter. There are probably hundreds of possible loops and transverses thru the Superstitions...you could hike there for years and not hit every trail. And if you ever did run out of trails to hike, you can always do your own cross-country routes.
For anyone who's coming out for a visit and wants to go for a hike, I'd highly recommend the "Hiker's Guide to the Superstition Mountains". Lots of trail info and routes (Garlic's ridgeline hike is #19) and all sorts of interesting historical backstory.
fiddlehead
12-22-2008, 23:47
I've been lucky and have 3 great hiking friends who i've known for 13 years living in AZ and know the "supes" like the back of their hand.
We usually try to take a different route each time i have been in there although we are dependant on which water sources are most likely to have some water.
All 3 know the area and we try to bushwhack or cross country to get away.
Saw a cowboy in there with about 7 horses packing out last time. That was cool.
I've was camping up almost to the top of Weaver's needle one time when a helicopter had to come in late at night to rescue some rock climbers off a nearby wall.
The problem i see is that Phoenix is expanding pretty fast and encroaching too close to the boundaries. Sometimes the credit crunch might do some good.
This last time in, (last month) we were surprised at the number of small frogs in most of the water sources. Anyone else notice this? (They were too small to eat.)
We drank the water anyway.
I have never been to Arizona (other than a layover in Phoenix..that does not count. :) ).
For reasons discussed here, it is why I want to hike there.
Good stuff...
rusty075
12-23-2008, 18:41
...All 3 know the area and we try to bushwhack or cross country to get away.
Saw a cowboy in there with about 7 horses packing out last time. That was cool.
This last time in, (last month) we were surprised at the number of small frogs in most of the water sources. Anyone else notice this? (They were too small to eat.)
As a transplanted east-coaster, the freedom of Southwest cross country hiking was one best new parts of the experience. For my hiking out east "bushwhacking" means just that: slow, frustrating slogging through bushes and blowdowns. But out here, just point your feet in the direction you want to head and you can make almost as good of time as you do on the trails. Hiking through a "forest" of Saguaros is still surreal to me, even after a couple of years of doing it.
My attitude towards the horse campers is cyclical: Sometimes I like them because the horse traffic keeps the cactus and catclaw back away from the trail. Sometimes I hate them because of the stinking landmines they leave all over the trail, in the middle of the good campsites, and occasionally even right in the water sources. And then sometimes I'm just plain jealous of them as I watch them mosey up a steep hill with a couple of coolers and a BBQ grill strapped to their pack mule in tow.
I was surprised by the number (and size...they get HUGE) of frogs out there too. They operate at a different life-cycle timing than they do elsewhere. The eggs hatch at the first rains of the summer monsoon season, then they race to get through the tadpole stage and out of the puddles before they dry up in august. Then they lay eggs that sit dormant in the dried mud until the winter rains come in december. I had a miserable night camped in one of the canyons during froggy mating season - the noise was deafening. I couldnt hear myself think all night!