We Weren't Lost

Friday we hiked six or six and a half miles in the Superstition Mountains east of Mesa. From a distance these mountains look like barren dark-red rock.





We hiked the Lost Mine Trail off Peralta Road. The trailhead was hard to miss.



Up close, the hillsides are covered with green Palo Verde, Saguaro, Mesquite and other cactus and shrubs.





A miner named Jacob Walz brought gold out of these mountains so pure that when he died in 1891 without revealing its source, a legend was born. For a century miners have hunted for the "Dutchman's" mine, without success. A nearby Arizona State Park is named Lost Dutchman and this trail is named for the lost mine.

We had the trail to ourselves yesterday under a cloudy sky. It was good to hike in the cooler air.



I just love the Saguaro and like to imagine what their various shapes look like. Is this one saying, go to the left?



This fellow seems to be motioning, come here.



When I read about the hike online, they described a Saguaro near the beginning of the trail that reportedly has 40 arms and you can't see daylight through it. I believe it.