Tag Archive for: Superstition Mountains

One of My Favorite Things…..Hiking the Superstition Mountains

Hiking is very popular here in the Desert Southwest.  I enjoy hiking with my husband and family during the cooler months of the year.

Last year, my husband and drove to the Superstition Mountains, which is located just outside of the Phoenix metro area.  

Superstition Mountains

The Superstition Mountains are a very popular destination among hikers.

Some are hoping to perhaps find the legendary gold of the Lost Dutchman’s Mine.  The legend is that a German immigrant, returning from the California gold rush, decided to search for gold in these mountains.

The story says that he came to Phoenix in the 1870’s with bags of gold and bragged that he had found  a huge amount of gold in the mountains, worth millions of dollars.  He would not reveal the exact location of his gold mine, but he implied that it was located in the Superstition Mountains.

Superstition Mountains

He died in the 1880’s and some say that he revealed the location of the mine to the woman who was caring for him as he lay dying.  Since his death, thousands of people have searched for his legendary mine, but it has never been found.

People still search for the mine to this day.  So, why has no one found it?

Well, one reason may be that the Superstition Mountains occupy an area of over 159,000 acres, with rugged terrain.  Many people become lost in the wilderness.  

Superstition Mountains

Another possible reason is that the mine maybe never existed in the first place.

The reason that we visited the Superstition Mountains was purely selfish on my part……

Superstition Mountains

And no, I wasn’t searching for gold.

I wanted to enjoy a day of hiking in the beautiful outdoors with my husband and without my kids.

Isn’t that awfully selfish?

I encourage those of you who live close enough to visit these beautiful mountains.  There are many different hiking trails that will take you to different areas of the Superstition Mountain wilderness.

You will enjoy your visit to this beautiful place, even if you do not ‘discover’ the Lost Dutchman’s Mine 😉

You can find more information about the Superstition Mountains here.

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Bright, Sunny Flowers All Year

The Desert After The Rain….

Yesterday, my husband I dropped off the kids at school and then went on a hike around the beautiful Superstition Mountains, located just outside of the greater Phoenix metro area.

beautiful Superstition Mountains

Superstition Mountains

You could see saguaro cacti growing up out of the rocky mountainsides.

Did you know that saguaro cacti favor the south side of mountains?  Look carefully and you will seen a huge difference when comparing with the amount of saguaro on the north sides of mountains.  The reason for this is that it is warmer on the south side of mountains and they receive more sunlight which the saguaro favor.

beautiful Superstition Mountains

Superstition Mountains

beautiful Superstition Mountains

Green grass surrounds the remains of a Mesquite tree.  The floor of the desert rapidly turns green as grass grows in response to the rain.

Desert After The Rain

The rushing water from the creek could be heard everywhere we walked.  We had to cross over it 3 different times.  Unfortunately, I lost my balance and stepped into the water and came out with a wet sock and hiking boot ;^)

Desert After The Rain

The remains of an old Saguaro cactus.

Desert After The Rain

Who says that the desert is brown and ugly?  We had a wonderful day of hiking and the weather was just beautiful.  

One of My Favorite Things…..Hiking the Superstition Mountains