Weather: 65ยบ, sun & clouds
About this Hike: We intended to do this as an out-and-back starting on Dutchman Trail and working our way up Boulder Canyon Trail to Needle Canyon.
All of the creeks were flowing strong. This hike was definitely an exercise in reading topography both on a map and as it compared to the surrounding landmarks. When we determined based on topography that we had found Needle Canyon, we weren't able to go up the canyon at all due to strong flow from the creek, which was draining into larger Boulder Creek.
We opted to complete this hike as a loop instead of an out-and-back by continuing up Boulder Canyon and joining Second Water Canyon Trail, which would return us to the First Water parking lot.
There were A LOT of crossings over Boulder Creek and some were tricky. I don't know how we ever did hikes like this in the past without hiking poles—their help was indispensable.
About halfway up Boulder Canyon the trail became hard to follow. We found a cairin marking a steep scramble up a scree chute. I hoped that it wasn't the trail. After some exploring, we found the correct Boulder Canyon trail, but learned a valuable lesson—the steep trail we discovered is actually the start of the trek up to the summit of Battleship Mountain. We were informed this by a friendly group of hikers that was in the area. As sumitting the Battleship has grown popular in recent years, I've wondered about how people find this unofficial summit trail. Now I have an idea.
Second Water came into view, and while the creek was mostly dry, some fall foliage still hung on the trees in the creekbed.
We returned to the parking area just in time for a magnificent sunset. It's unfortunate so much of the Superstitions was lost this past June. Now that I have the Tacoma I'm just getting started exploring this beautiful area of Arizona.
About this Hike: We intended to do this as an out-and-back starting on Dutchman Trail and working our way up Boulder Canyon Trail to Needle Canyon.
All of the creeks were flowing strong. This hike was definitely an exercise in reading topography both on a map and as it compared to the surrounding landmarks. When we determined based on topography that we had found Needle Canyon, we weren't able to go up the canyon at all due to strong flow from the creek, which was draining into larger Boulder Creek.
We opted to complete this hike as a loop instead of an out-and-back by continuing up Boulder Canyon and joining Second Water Canyon Trail, which would return us to the First Water parking lot.
There were A LOT of crossings over Boulder Creek and some were tricky. I don't know how we ever did hikes like this in the past without hiking poles—their help was indispensable.
About halfway up Boulder Canyon the trail became hard to follow. We found a cairin marking a steep scramble up a scree chute. I hoped that it wasn't the trail. After some exploring, we found the correct Boulder Canyon trail, but learned a valuable lesson—the steep trail we discovered is actually the start of the trek up to the summit of Battleship Mountain. We were informed this by a friendly group of hikers that was in the area. As sumitting the Battleship has grown popular in recent years, I've wondered about how people find this unofficial summit trail. Now I have an idea.
Second Water came into view, and while the creek was mostly dry, some fall foliage still hung on the trees in the creekbed.
We returned to the parking area just in time for a magnificent sunset. It's unfortunate so much of the Superstitions was lost this past June. Now that I have the Tacoma I'm just getting started exploring this beautiful area of Arizona.
