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The packs were heavy and the trail was overgrown and rocky, but the company (Aaron and Jenny) was wonderful and the scenery superb.

So began our most recent backpacking adventure into the Superstition Mountains of central Arizona. This aptly named range still hides gold mines of famed wealth that many a man and woman have paid with their lives to find. On our first trip to the area we uncovered the plethora of folklore that gives the mountains their name.

Starting from the Woodbury Trailhead, we hiked the JF Trail to Roger’s Canyon Trail and set up camp in Angel Basin. The trees in Roger’s Canyon were blazing yellow and orange, and the nights were crisp with temperatures in the 30’s Fahrenheit.

Compared to the steep, narrow canyons all around Angel Basin is a large flat area that was once farmed by a native people called the Salado. The Salado are believed to have lived in the area 800 years ago. It is easy to imagine what a perfect place to live the Basin must have been when Roger’s Creek flowed year-round. Though the creek was dry when we visited, the canyon was still beautiful.

The next morning we hiked to the Cliff Dwellings. Pottery shards and lithics littered the ground (lithics = chipped stone flakes and cores). The upper dwellings required a scramble but were well worth it—several rooms were mostly intact. The quality of the workmanship was apparent, the builders even left their hand and finger prints in the mud stucco of the walls.

After exploring all day, we headed back to camp and cooked up a nice warm dinner. There were quite a few other campers in Angel Basin due to the holiday weekend, but it was still enjoyable! The second night we fell asleep to the hoo-hooing of an owl serenading from a nearby sycamore tree.

Our last morning was so brisk that it was hard to get out of our nice, warm sleeping bags. Relieved that they were so much lighter, we shouldered our packs and hit the trail. We were thrilled that the trail ahead was all new terrain as we looped out on Roger’s Canyon Trail to Reavis Trail and back to the car.

Roger’s Canyon and Angel Basin are full of history, from the prehistoric Native Americans to the “trail blaze” cuts from prospectors and ranchers. Judging from the way the blazes were grown over, the trail was probably marked over 100 years ago.

Even though they look like just desert hills from the outside, the Superstitions are truly a wonderful mountain range. They constantly amaze us!

[Note: view full-size photos on our Flickr page.]