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With no threat of rain on Sunday, John and I decided to do a
day hike - something moderately difficult, at least eight miles in length - so
that we could spend some time together and get some good exercise. Although we
had tossed up many ideas, including a hike in Saguaro National Park, we chose
to do a hike in the Superstition Wilderness Area so that we wouldn't have to
drive very far to get to the trailhead.
After consulting a map of the Superstitions, John found a loop that we could
do - one that was much like the Marsh Valley Loop that we had done in
March
1999, but shorter. We would leave from the First Water Trailhead, off of SR
88, and hike the Second Water Trail to the
Black Mesa Trail, then finally hike
back out on the Dutchman Trail, which would take us back to the trailhead. The
whole loop was 8.5 miles in length, which would make for a perfect afternoon
hike.
Our plan was to get out of bed at 5:00 a.m. on Sunday morning so that we could
get an early start. That way, we would be done hiking by the time the trail
got too crowded, and we would have time to do some things around the house
after the hike. However, the alarm clock never went off that morning! We
finally awoke at 6:30 a.m., just as the first light of morning was beginning
to poke through the slats of the blinds in our bedroom. We quickly showered
and got ready; then, we woke Mary, dressed her in a warm sleeper and put her
in the car seat. At 7:15, we were finally ready to go. After our usual stops
to get bagels for breakfast and gas for the car, we drove to the First Water
Trailhead.
We arrived at the trailhead at 8:30 that morning. One of the first things that
we noticed had changed is that there is now a self-pay machine just outside of
the trailhead parking area. You can pay your $4 parking fee with cash or with
a credit card, and the machine prints out a little receipt for you to keep on
your dashboard.
There were already a lot of cars in the parking lot when we arrived - that
probably meant that the trail was going to be a little crowded, but most of
the hikers would be on the Dutchman Trail, because it was the most popular.
(The last time we had hiked that trail, we only saw backpackers on the Second
Water and Boulder Canyon Trails; all of the day-hikers were on the Dutchman
Trail.) Hoping that we would have a nice, quiet hike that wasn't too crowded,
we put on our day-packs, strapped Mary into the Snugli, and started hiking.
We started our hike on the Second Water Trail #236, which begins at the
trailhead and junctions with the Dutchman Trail a half of a mile later. As the
trail leaves the trailhead, it gently descends towards the creek then levels
out as it follows a ridgeline next to the creek. Just beyond the trail
junction, the trail crosses First Water Creek - and later Second Water Creek.
Normally, these two creeks are bone dry - it is the desert, after all - but
with all of the recent rains, both creeks were gurgling with water. In fact,
there was so much water that some of the creek crossings were ankle-deep!
(Needless to say, we actually got our boots wet.)
Continuing along the ridgeline, the trail gently climbs towards
Garden Valley,
where it intersects with the Black Mesa Trail #241, one and a half miles from
the trailhead. Garden Valley is a vast, lush valley, which is choked with palo
verde trees and chollas. It is very beautiful, especially since all of the
rain we had had recently caused the wildflowers to bloom and the green grass
to sprout.
It was here that we began hiking on the Black Mesa Trail, which turned out to
be much easier than we expected. As it leaves the junction, the trail begins a
very gentle climb towards the base of Black Mesa. It then becomes steeper -
but not too steep - as it climbs to the top of the mesa. Although it got the
heart pounding a little bit, I was a bit surprised when we did reach the top
because I was expecting the trail to be much more difficult.
Upon reaching the top of the hill, John announced that he needed a "baby
break." He had been carrying Mary uphill, non-stop, for about two and a half
miles, so he needed a chance to rest his shoulders and back. (Mary was
starting to get quite heavy.) He put her down on a receiving blanket, but as
soon as he did so, she began to suck on her hands, indicating that she wanted
to be fed. I picked her up and gave her a bottle while John rested. She sucked
for a few minutes; then, she stopped and began smiling at me, which usually
means that she is done.
As we prepared to continue hiking, John decided that he wanted to try carrying
Mary on his back for a while, just to see how she would react to that - and to
see how it would feel to wear the Snugli like that. Unfortunately, we managed
to go about 500 feet before Mary started wailing, because she was still hungry
and there was no way to feed her like that. We removed her again from the
Snugli, but by that time, she was so angry with us that she wouldn't take the
bottle. Instead, she cried loudly for about fifteen minutes while John and I
tried to comfort her. We changed her diaper, burped her, hugged her, tried
again to feed her, but nothing worked. Of course, now we were getting
desperate, because her cries were getting louder, and she was disturbing the
other hikers.
Finally, her cries subsided, and she took the bottle. Her little eyes soaked
with tears, she sucked greedily at her bottle until she was full. Then, when
we put her back into the carrier, she was happy again. For the next two miles
or so, she was in her playful mood - smiling and "talking". She even took a
short nap.
As we walked across the top of Black Mesa, we found ourselves in a huge forest
of cactus. What was so different about this forest, as compared to others we
had seen, was the height of the chollas: some of them were eight to ten feet
tall! I don't think I had ever seen so many chollas standing so tall before -
they were just amazing!
Just before descending from Black Mesa, we discovered another amazing sight:
Weaver's Needle, which was standing majestically amidst all of the other
beautiful monoliths of the Superstitions. It was probably the best view I had
ever had of this interesting landmark, so I snapped a great picture of it.
According to the trail description, the Black Mesa Trail descends steeply
towards Boulder Creek, just before coming to the junction with the Dutchman
Trail #104. That is indeed an accurate description of the trail: it does
descend very steeply (I wouldn't want to be climbing UP that trail!). However,
it is not a difficult descent by any means. The trail does not have very much
loose rock to make the descent dangerous, and at some points, it seems to
"stair-step", which makes for a rather easy hike down. All you have to do is
find the right place to put your foot, and you can continue downhill at a
normal pace without the danger of slipping and falling.
We reached Boulder Creek around 11:30 a.m. As soon as we discovered that there
was water in the creek, we decided to stop there and have lunch. It was a very
peaceful place to stop as the only sound we could hear was the gurgling of the
water in the creek as it trickled over the boulders that lined the bed. We
didn't stay there for very long, though, because the boulder on which we sat
was cold and it chilled our rear-ends! (On a side note, John continued his
"punny-ness" from last week's
Ballentine Trail adventure by remarking that we
were now "Over the Shoulder Boulder Creek Beholders.")
Just a few feet away was the trail junction for the Dutchman Trail, meaning
that we were just four miles from the car - and halfway through our hike. That
also meant that we were probably going to encounter more people on our way
back to the trailhead. Since it was already noon, we set a goal to be back at
the car by two o'clock so that we would still have time to do things around
the house when we got home.
The Dutchman Trail was indeed very crowded. We passed our first group of
hikers at the trail junction, and after that we passed one group of hikers
every fifteen minutes or so. Some of them were so loud that they made Mary
seem quiet - so much for the wilderness experience! A few of our fellow hikers
had to stop and ask about our baby, so John would tell them, "We're training
her to be a Sherpa!" One group of female hikers stopped us to warn us about a
creature that they had seen burrowing in the ground. They indicated that it
had black and white stripes but that it wasn't a skunk. "He seemed harmless,"
they continued, "but we ran past him." It sounded to me like they were
describing a badger, but since we didn't get to see him, we weren't sure.
Mary slept for part of the last four miles, but when she awakened, she was
hungry again. We stopped twice to feed her before cresting Parker Pass. Then,
about a mile from the trailhead, she started crying again because she was
soaked - her diaper had leaked! We not only had to change her diaper, but we
had to change her clothes as well - and on top of that, she was hungry, too!
While John changed her, I held a bottle in her mouth to feed her (how's that
for teamwork!); then, when she was ready, we continued on our way.
Fortunately, the ease of this trail helped us make up for lost time. Except
for the climb over Parker Pass, this trail is mostly flat, with a few short,
gentle climbs up and over ridgelines. After going over Parker Pass, the trail
goes downhill towards Second and First Water Creeks. We had to cross the creek
several times here - this was where some of the creek crossings were
ankle-deep, and the water was very cool. John remarked that this would be the
best time to backpack in the Superstitions, because all of the creeks were
flowing so nicely. He also suggested that we could do our New Year's Eve
backpacking trip there. (Hopefully, the water will still be there by then!)
When we finally reached the trail junction, at 1:50, we quickened our pace in
hopes of making it back to the car by two - and in hopes that we could get
there before Mary became hungry again. Of course, we had no such luck, so John
handed me the keys to the car and insisted that I hike ahead; he would join me
in a few minutes. I reached the car around 2:05 - just over five hours after
stepping onto the trail! Seconds later, John and Mary arrived, too, so we
started to load our gear into the car...
The first thing John did was unlatch the top straps of the Snugli, without
realizing that the side latch was already undone. Mary proceeded to fall out
of the carrier; John caught her before she could get too far, but not before
she hit her head on the car. Although she didn't hit her head too hard, she
started to scream loudly, and John and I found ourselves once again trying to
comfort her. Fortunately, her cries didn't last long, and after she stopped
she was smiling again as though nothing had happened.
On our way back to town, we stopped by the Verleys' house to help them move
some furniture. After we were done there, we went to the grocery store to shop
for the week. Once again, Mary broke into a crying fit, in the middle of the
produce aisle, and I could feel all eyes burning on us as I tried to comfort
her. She had another crying fit that night, too, right as The Simpsons started
- we think that she was either overly tired or that she had a headache from
hitting her head on the car. Whatever the case, as soon as we calmed her down
that night, she fell asleep and took a long nap; and when she woke up, she was
a happy baby again. When we gave her a bath that night, she was smiling and
laughing as though she had not had a stressful day.
Despite the fact that we were exhausted at the end of the day, we went to bed
that night very happy, because we had had a great day. We had hiked in a
beautiful part of the Superstitions, and - most importantly - we had spent
quality time together as a family. |
