[Day 20] Superstition Wilderness

After a slow pack up, I made my way for the boundary of the Superstition Wilderness. The native Apache believed the mountains were the home of the Thunder God, and early settlers found the natives to be “superstitious” of the sacred landscape. The Superstitions are infamous for the “Lost Dutchman Mine.” In the 1840’s, the Peralta family of Northern Mexico supposedly had a very productive gold mine in these mountains. On a haul of gold back to Mexico, the Peralta’s band was massacred by Apache. The Apache proceeded to bury the mine. A German man by the name of Jacob Waltz was said to have recovered the mine, but kept its location secret to his death. Today, people still search for the mine and its purported treasures in these mountains. I certainly won’t be one of those gold seekers — I’m well east of the mine’s identifying landmark of Weaver’s Needle.

The Superstitions certainly had a supernatural section of trail today. Whoever cut this path must’ve been very indecisive. The trail cut up ridge lines, descended steeply into waterless valleys, criss-crossed washes, and switchbacked up degrading hillsides. But, who am I to complain. I’m only walking it. People had to make it and people have to maintain it.

I got to my water source for the day — a spring tub filled with algae, some of the greenest water I’ve encountered. Typically, water will have surface algae and maybe a slight green hue. This water was dyed green. It confirmed the uselessness of my broken filter. The water came out only a shade lighter. Well, shit — I’ve only been lightly bleaching about half the sources I drink.

Later, the trail cruised through the remnants of Reavis Ranch — nothing more than a foundation today. I came by a couple apple trees, but they mostly had bad fruit at this point. I collected up at Reavis Creek for my climb out of the Superstition Wilderness.

At dusk, leaving the forested area of Reavis Ranch, I entered a burn area from a fire in 2020. There were a number of downed trees to hurdle — maybe five per mile. The thorny overgrowth was constant, but not overbearing. From the Mazatzal Wilderness down, trail could use 200 miles of someone swinging a machete. Guess I should have packed one.

Around 7:30pm, I tired myself of bushwhacking and losing the path in the washes. After a measly 21 miles on the day, I settled up in the sand of a wash.

Signing off,

Zeppelin

“Freak on a Leash”