boxelderbryan
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2017
- Messages
- 2
I've been reading this forum for a long time - thought I would take a stab at posting...
I had to go to Phoenix for work last month and made a quick run over to the Superstition mountains. I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of the desert (and 80 degree temps in February) and as soon as I got home hatched a plan for a family winter backpacking trip.
While I was there I happened across a mild loop out of the easily accessible Second Water trail head just outside of Mesa near the Lost Dutchman State Park. It covers about 13 miles including a 4 mile walk around and through a clear flowing shallow stream that I thought the kids would have a blast playing in. Did I mention it was 80 degrees down there?
We are trying hard with the little ones to make our backpacking outings easy and fun so we split the loop up into three days of about 4 miles each. This is a popular trail head, but mostly with day hikers, we ended up only seeing 2 or 3 other backpacking parties and felt totally secluded at night.
Day 1:
The Trail starts right on the border of the Superstition Wilderness, we took the Dutchman trail which rises gently (400 feet over three miles) before descending into a valley where multiple drainages converge and flow into boulder creek.
It was surprising how much water was flowing right now. Some of the hikers we met from the area mentioned that this is one of the wettest springs they can remember. The biggest challenge we had on day one was getting the kids past/through streams and mud holes
We ended up finding a nice spot to camp with a good view of the weavers needle in the distance
With the kids in mind I hauled in a package of hot dogs for dinner which unsurprisingly was a huge hit and I have to admit tasted pretty awesome.
Crappy cell phone pictures don't do it justice of course but the views were really spectacular. Many parts of the trip reminded me of being in southern Utah in the spring with green orange contrast, expansive views, and towering rugged cliffs.
Day 2:
the second day was a hike down boulder canyon which consists of around 4 miles and 24+ stream crossings. I think the kids had a blast.
One of the cool features of the superstitions are the giant Saguaro cacti. The scale is really incredible.
We found an incredible campsite the second night near the boulder canyon stream.
Day 3:
Everybody got a good night's sleep
We have found that small (annoyingly heavy) additions like stuffed animals and a deck of uno cards (half a pound btw) go a long way with the little ones.
Sleep was important because I was worried about the climb out of boulder canyon (600 ft over 3/4 of a mile or so) but the crew handled it like champs.
In truly one of the most spectacular feats I have ever seen our smallest took the lead up the steepest section and lead us all the way to the top of the hill. This is her moment of triumph -
The steep section gave way to another easy three mile stroll to the finish line.
All in all a pretty great trip. I was blown away by the beauty of these rugged mountains. I loved being out backpacking in the winter and I think we will make this a yearly tradition.
I had to go to Phoenix for work last month and made a quick run over to the Superstition mountains. I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of the desert (and 80 degree temps in February) and as soon as I got home hatched a plan for a family winter backpacking trip.
While I was there I happened across a mild loop out of the easily accessible Second Water trail head just outside of Mesa near the Lost Dutchman State Park. It covers about 13 miles including a 4 mile walk around and through a clear flowing shallow stream that I thought the kids would have a blast playing in. Did I mention it was 80 degrees down there?
We are trying hard with the little ones to make our backpacking outings easy and fun so we split the loop up into three days of about 4 miles each. This is a popular trail head, but mostly with day hikers, we ended up only seeing 2 or 3 other backpacking parties and felt totally secluded at night.
Day 1:
The Trail starts right on the border of the Superstition Wilderness, we took the Dutchman trail which rises gently (400 feet over three miles) before descending into a valley where multiple drainages converge and flow into boulder creek.
It was surprising how much water was flowing right now. Some of the hikers we met from the area mentioned that this is one of the wettest springs they can remember. The biggest challenge we had on day one was getting the kids past/through streams and mud holes
We ended up finding a nice spot to camp with a good view of the weavers needle in the distance
With the kids in mind I hauled in a package of hot dogs for dinner which unsurprisingly was a huge hit and I have to admit tasted pretty awesome.
Crappy cell phone pictures don't do it justice of course but the views were really spectacular. Many parts of the trip reminded me of being in southern Utah in the spring with green orange contrast, expansive views, and towering rugged cliffs.
Day 2:
the second day was a hike down boulder canyon which consists of around 4 miles and 24+ stream crossings. I think the kids had a blast.
One of the cool features of the superstitions are the giant Saguaro cacti. The scale is really incredible.
We found an incredible campsite the second night near the boulder canyon stream.
Day 3:
Everybody got a good night's sleep
We have found that small (annoyingly heavy) additions like stuffed animals and a deck of uno cards (half a pound btw) go a long way with the little ones. Sleep was important because I was worried about the climb out of boulder canyon (600 ft over 3/4 of a mile or so) but the crew handled it like champs.
In truly one of the most spectacular feats I have ever seen
our smallest took the lead up the steepest section and lead us all the way to the top of the hill. This is her moment of triumph - The steep section gave way to another easy three mile stroll to the finish line.
All in all a pretty great trip. I was blown away by the beauty of these rugged mountains. I loved being out backpacking in the winter and I think we will make this a yearly tradition.
