Superstition Mountain

Monday, December 8, 2008

Saturday I went over to the Gene Autry Sports Complex for some "drop-in" tennis. Got a decent doubles game in with 3 local guys. Good group and lots of fun.

My camera malfunctioned, but here's at least one shot of the very nice tennis complex.

Gene Autry Tennis Center

I think there are at least 16 or 20 courts, all lighted, all fairly new.

Funny thing. There was some sort of clinic going on with small nets. I thought it might be the new mini-tennis designed for teaching youngsters. It's really awesome. I saw it demonstrated a couple of years ago when I was speaking at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association conference in Miami.

So I went over to see what was going on. And who did I happen to ask as he was bent over putting some tape "lines" on the court, back to me? Tom Fey, the Director of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. And he recognized me and called me by name immediately, remembering me from 55 National Hardcourts the last time I was in the 55's a few years ago. Pretty impressive.

He was putting on a national coaches clinic - teaching the coaches how to coach.

On Sunday I headed out about 8:30 for Superstition Mountain.

I just wanted to explore around that area and get in a good hike.

Unfortunately, it was a relatively cold and dreary day. Since I arrived here in Mesa, every night has been overflowing with stars and every day has been bright blue skies and 72 or so degrees.

Yesterday when I left it was in the 40's and overcast with predictions of a chance of rain. So I bundled up in layers and headed east.

First stop was the Goldfield Ghost Town. In the late 1800's, there were 50 working gold mines in the area. Goldfield Ghost Town represents (so they say) what life was like in those boom days. You can pan for gold, get a mine tour, take a narrow gauge train tour, eat, drink, and shop 'till you drop in Goldfield. I took a quick walk around, chatted with a couple of the gift store merchants, and skipped the rest.

Goldfield Ghost Town

I had been thinking about taking the road all the way around the Superstition Mountains before hiking or, perhaps, interspresed with hiking. It looked, on the maps I had access to, like it might be a fun motorcycle ride.

Luckily I stopped at the ranger station to get some advice. The circumnavigation is 120 miles and, according to the rangers, takes SIX HOURS. That's an average of 20 MPH. A good part of it is gravel and I don't like driving my motorcycle on gravel roads in the first place. Plus, I didn't want to spend the whole day in the saddle at 20 MPH.

So I settled on a trip to Canyon Lake & Tortilla Flats, and then back to the Superstition Mountain area for a good long hike.

Cayon Lake

Canyon Lake - Steamboat Tour

I was really tempted to take the Dolly Steamboat tour, but circumstances intervened. This is at the Canyon Lake Marina. First, the tour didn't start for over an hour from the time time I arrived, and I didn't really have anything interesting to do to kill and hour. Second, it was kind of windy and not exactly hot, and I didn't feel like hanging around in the cold. Third, the tour is 1.5 hours....so with the waiting and the tour, it would have been 2.5 hours out of my day. Given that we all have limited resrouces....time being one of the most limited of all....I opeted to spend my time on other things.

So I passed, but looking at the brochures and stuff I bet it's a pretty good ride through the "Junior Grand Canyon" as they call it.

Maybe next time.

I was itching to get on a hiking trail.

Superstition Mountain

This is where I wanted to explore....and I did.

I got on the trail at just after noon and back on my motorcyle just after 4:00. It may not sound like much, but I definitely felt like I got in a good day's workout.

There are a lot of pictures below. I won't try to describe them individually. Some are looking up at the mountain from various distances and angles depending on where I was at the time and some are looking back down at the valley from whatever elevation I was when I took them. I trust you'll be able to tell the difference.

I hiked up to a spot about 2,600 feet called Green Boulder, then back down to almost the valley floor, then back up to a spot they call Basin at 3,100 feet.

Similar to my trip last year to the Redwood Forests of California, this was a rather awe inspring experience. You wonder where this mountain came from and can imagine the Pima and Apache Indians living in and around it. You can sense the prospectors searching for gold. You can imagine trying to survive the harshness of the desert.

There is something renewing and majestic about natural phenomena like this and being up and in it was worth the energy and effort required to get there.

It was a fun and arduous day roaming and climbing around Superstition Mountain.

If I come back to this part of the world, I'll make sure to do it again.