Sara goes Backpacking to try out some $30 Amazon Camping Gear.
For this early spring backpacking trip, Sara and I headed to an upper elevation section of Arizona’s Coconino National Forest, about 30 miles southwest of Sedona. Despite it’s close proximity to the much hotter and drier desert like climate of Sedona, the 7,500 foot elevation and abundant snow melt provided an environment surprisingly similar to hiking back on our native east coast. Yes, you can actually find snow, pine trees and abundant streams in Arizona!
To get our dose of 20 degree cooler temps, along with some pockets of remaining snow, we chose to hike a section of the larger Cabin Loop Trail system. This loop utilizes several different local trails. One of which is the Arizona Trail, a roughly 800 mile long distance trail that traverses the entire length of the state from the Mexican border to the Utah state line.
This particular region of the AZT gave us some awesome camping opportunities right along the Mogollon Rim with stunning views down into the valley some 2,000 feet below. To be fair though, we didn’t really spend too much time on the actual AZT. We chose instead to create our own route along the rim, in search of drinking water and those aforementioned great views.
For gear on this trip, Sara decided to pick up several new pieces budget backpacking to test out – a sleeping pad, two person tent, and two person sleeping bag complete with pillows. She found each of these for about $30 a piece on Amazon. But would they get the job done for an overnight backpacking trip with our dog in tow? Well, there’s only one way to find that out, I guess.
Oh, and the last mile or so of road to the trailhead was impassable due to a blockade of remaining snow, so that made for an interesting start 🙂
Trailhead Used
Battle of Big Dry Wash Historical Landmark & AZT Trailhead
Payson, AZ 85541
34°27’15.4″N 111°15’02.5″W
Join me for 3 days of Backpacking, Camping and History as we search for the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine in Arizona’s Superstition Mountains.
For this desert backpacking trip, I headed south to the Superstition Wilderness, within the greater Tonto National Forest – about 60 miles east of Phoenix, Arizona. Not only was this a beautiful and scenic hike due to the stark desert surroundings and sharp, rugged peaks, but this particular region has added bonus – a rich history full of intrigue and lore right at home in your favorite spaghetti western flick.
Some of these tales are indisputable facts. Others, are more debatable – the stuff of legends and mystery. The most notable and famous of those stories is that of “The Dutchman Jacob Waltz who was supposed to have had a secured a secret gold mine in the area, and that of Adolph Ruth, who met a mysterious demise many years later trying to find the gold after Jacob’s passing.
Whether the Lost Dutchman’s Gold was an actual mine, or a hidden cache that was originally mined elsewhere, depends on which version of several accounts you choose to believe. In fact, even the fact that he came upon it accidentally is up for debate as well. Some iterations of the tale suggest that he was given the details of the hidden mine after saving the life of a man who belonged to a wealthy Mexican mining family.
As the legend goes, Jacob managed to live off the gold keep it’s whereabouts a secret from local treasure hunters and bandits for many years. Until, on his death bed in 1891, he confirmed the gold mine to his caretaker Julia Thomas and provided her with info on it’s whereabouts. Apparently, it wasn’t quite enough info, because they never found it after years of searching.
Word spread, many more people started searching, and they continue to search until this day. People have gone missing while searching, some have even had their skull found right on one of the trails we hiked on our loop, complete with two bullet holes and their body found separately in heavy brush 1/4 of a mile away. That man was Adolf Ruth, who went into the Superstitions on a two week expedition in search of the gold back in 1931. He never showed up at the end of those two weeks, but he did leave a bunch of strange clues and unanswered questions…
Trailhead Used
Peralta Trailhead
Gold Canyon, AZ 85118
N33° 23.858′ W111° 20.873′
3 Days of Desert Camping and Backpacking in Yuma County Arizona.
For this backpacking trip, I headed even farther south to a remote corner of Arizona not too far from border with with Mexico in an area known as the Kofa Wilderness.
For sleep and shelter I brought an ultralight trekking pole tent, 3-season inflatable sleeping pad, and a 40 degree sleeping bag, as the forecasted temperature range for this December adventure would range fro highs in the eighties down to as low as the upper 30’s depending on wind conditions and where I chose to set up camp in the vast array of mountains and valleys found in this corner of the American Southwest.
My choices for camping food on this backpacking trip would be pretty simple – mostly because there are no reliable water sources in this desolate sampling of the Sonoran Desert. Since I would have to pack in and carry all of my own drinking water from the start, there was little reason to spend money and effort on traditional dehydrated backpacking meals.
Instead I chose to hit the local dollar store for some calorie dense, if not nutritionally diminished, food sources. The end result? 3 days worth of calories for under twenty bucks, and no water or stove required. …there will plenty of opportunities to eat salad back in civilization. If I manage to get back there…
Trailhead Used:
King Road Access, 1/4 mile north of Yuma Customs Checkpoint on AZ Rt 95
Join Sara & I for 3 days of desert hiking, backpacking & camping in the Superstition Mountains. And who knows – maybe Sara will find the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine…
For this desert backpacking trip, we’ll be hiking a loop in the Superstition Wilderness, within the greater Tonto National Forest – about 60 miles east of Phoenix, Arizona. Not only was this a beautiful and scenic hike due to the stark desert surroundings and sharp, rugged peaks, but this particular region has added bonus – a rich history full of intrigue and lore right at home in your favorite spaghetti western flick. Some of these tales are indisputable facts. Others, are more debatable – the stuff of legends and mystery. The most notable and famous of those stories being that of Jacob Waltz, or as it’s commonly referred to, the mystery of the Lost Dutchman’s Gold.
As touched on in the video, the story of the Dutchman and the lost gold mine is much to deep to give justice to in the passing of a hiking video, so for those interested, I highly recommend taking the time to check out the various iterations of the story, theories, etc. For the sake of this post though, the basic idea goes like this – Jacob Waltz stumbled upon some gold in the Superstition Mountains. Whether it was an actual mine, or a hidden cache that was originally mined elsewhere, depends on which version of several accounts you choose to believe. In fact, even the fact that he came upon it accidentally is up for debate as well. Some iterations of the tale suggest that he was given the details of the hidden mine after saving the life of a man who belonged to a wealthy Mexican mining family. The name of that family, by the way, was Peralta – you know, like the trailhead we parked at. But anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself and going down the rabbit hole. Hmm, maybe the gold was hidden in a burrow of sorts, and not an actual gold mine. No wait, I’ve got to stop this.
Okay, let me try this again. Somehow, Jacob knew where a bunch of gold was in these mountains, and he kept it a complete secret, despite rumors throughout the years that he knew about it’s location. People would try to follow him when he went into the mountains, but he always lost them, or at the least, waved a gun at them until they left. Finally, on his death bed in 1891, he confirmed the gold mine and gave some info on it’s whereabouts to two individuals. Apparently, it wasn’t quite enough info, because they never found it after years of searching. Word spread, many more people started searching, and they continue to search until this day. People have gone missing while searching, some have even had their skull found right on one of the trails we hiked on our loop, complete with two bullet holes and their body found separately 3/4 of a mile away (his name was Adolf Ruth, and he went into the Superstitions in search of the gold back in 1931) .
So what does all this have to do with our backpacking trip? Did we find some gold or something? Am I devoting my life to finding the Lost Dutchman’s Mine? Well no, but it makes hiking around out there pretty cool and Old Westy, if you ask me. At the very least, it gives you something to ponder as you hike along the cactus covered traverses, baked incessantly by a sun they just may have glinted off of Jacob Waltz’s prize back in the 1800’s.
But anyway, back to the hike we did. Here’s the details…
Route Overview – Hiking the Superstition Mountains – Sintax77
Season / Time of Year
Winter – January 20th to January 23, 2016.
Elevation Range
Minimum – 2,283′
Maximum – 3,550′
Full GPS track data and waypoints are available on the Trip Data page.
Trails Used Day 1 (in order of use) Peralta Trailhead Parking Lot, Dutchman Trail Set up camp in a relatively flat area along the trail, about .75 miles after crossing an intermittent stream. This particular stream actually had a decent flow at the time, but depending on recent conditions and time of year, it may not always be that way.
Day 1 Total Mileage: 2 miles Day 1 Total Elevation Gain: 344′
Day 1 Elevation Profile – Superstition Mountains Hike
Trails Used Day 2 (in order of use)
Continue on Dutchman Trail
Pass the intersection with Coffee Flat Trail to stay on Dutchman Trail, after which you’ll begin to rack up the bulk of your elevation gain for the day.
Leave the Dutchman Trail and head east on the Whiskey Springs Trail. Just before the upcoming trail intersection, the trail crosses LeBarge Creek (where we stocked up on water for the rest of the day)
At the intersection, turn left to head west on the Red Tanks Trail.
Red Tanks Trail ends at the intersection with Dutchman Trail.
Turn right to head north on Dutchman Trail.
Set up camp along Dutchman Trail.
Day 2 Total Mileage:10 miles Day 2 Total Elevation Gain:1,325′
Day 2 Elevation Profile – Superstition Mountains – Sintax77
Trails Used Day 3 (in order of use)
Continue on Dutchman Trail
At the intersection, continue straight (west) on Bull Pass Trail
Turn left to head south on Black Top Mesa Trail, towards the top of Black Top Mesa
Explore the mesa and hunt for the Spanish Hieroglyphs or maybe some of the Lost Dutchman’s Gold, etc.
Retrace your steps back down Black Top Mesa Trail.
At the bottom, turn right to head east on the unofficial Bull Pass Alternate Trail (not the same as the previous Bull Pass Trail).
At the intersection, turn right to head south on our recurring friend, Dutchman Trail.
At the intersection, depart the Dutchman Trail and take Terrapin Trail.
At the intersection, turn right to head south on Bluff Springs Trail.
Return to the Peralta Trailhead parking lot.
Day 3 Total Mileage: 15 miles (plus a couple miles of meandering about on Blacktop Mesa) Day 3 Total Elevation Gain:2,933 feet
Day 1 Elevation Profile – Superstition Mountains – Sintax77
Trip Grand Total Mileage: 27 Miles Trip Grand Total Elevation Gain: 4,662′
Highly recommended book for hikes in this area:
‘Hiker’s Guide to the Superstition Wilderness‘ by Jack Carlson and Elizabeth Stewart
This book appears to be out of print, but I managed to get a used copy and love it. It has detailed descriptions of all the trails, with some cool related history mixed in. It also contains plenty of solid maps and a bunch of suggested hikes.
. For the sake of this post though, the basic idea goes like this – Jacob Waltz stumbled upon some gold in the Superstition Mountains. Whether it was an actual mine, or a hidden cache that was originally mined elsewhere, depends on which version of several accounts you choose to believe. In fact, even the fact that he came upon it accidentally is up for debate as well. Some iterations of the tale suggest that he was given the details of the hidden mine after saving the life of a man who belonged to a wealthy Mexican mining family. The name of that family, by the way, was Peralta – you know, like the trailhead we parked at. But anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself and going down the rabbit hole. Hmm, maybe the gold was hidden in a burrow of sorts, and not an actual gold mine. No wait, I’ve got to stop this.
(long version)
for water storage.
for eating our chili and queso appetizer
on top of a 
water filter configured in a gravity setup
‘ by Jack Carlson and Elizabeth Stewart