Superstition Mountain

Painting by DeGrazia

 

We were told not to wander into the mountain area after dark. I guess many people have - wandered in, that is.

There are legends and folklore about the mountain. One of the Native American legends states that the Creator was unhappy with the people because they were not honest and charitable. He brought floods, and only the minority of people who were good were saved. The others fled the flood up the mountain, and were turned to stone. You can still see the shapes of those people in the rocks.

Hermit

Pictures/drawings of Jacob

Hunter Hall of Fame

During the gold mining time, there was a man, Jacob Waltz, the Dutchman, who had a gold mine hidden. He died without emptying it. There were clues as to where it was, but no one has found it yet. And many, many, many people have tried throughout the 20th century.
 
I visited a gold mining town, now a ghost town converted to a tourist attraction. They had a Dutchman Hunter Hall of Fame. There were short bios of people they knew searched for this gold mine. Some made it out; some didn't. Some might have met up with the hermit of Superstition Mt. At the small museum in this ghost town, they also had the buffalo skin Robert Redford wore in the movie, "Jeremiah Johnson" and some bronze statues by Frederic Remington.

After the area's museum and the ghost town, I went to Tortilla Flat. Doesn't that sound like it should be in Mexico? I ate at the Superstition Saloon, where they have saddles for bar stools, except at the end, where you sit on a carved horse's ass. Those 2 stools were empty when I was there. The restaurant and other shops are papered in dollar bills - thousands of them.

The ride up the Apache Trail to visit these sites was beautiful - a curvy, scenic road with 1-car bridges and lots of pull-offs to enjoy the views. I rode with my windows open, playing Bob Dylan (yes, a child of the 60s) and thoroughly enjoying myself.

  

The next day I went to an Arboretum. Once again, I was impressed by how beautiful the desert and its plants are. There are many trails, and many sections/forests featuring a type of plant. There were also a couple homes. One of these was up off the main trail, and not accessible this day. Another was a small home built right into the rock, It was empty. The arboretum also had a small stream. I really wanted to go a little further to the edge for a picture, but the sign,"only rattlesnakes beyond this point" kept me away... and taking a new interest in the trail and my surroundings.

 

 
Next I'm headed to Jerome and towns nearby.