Amazing, Spectacular Arizona Trail – Cottonwood Creek

In the land of Arizona
Through desert heat or snow
Winds a trail for folks to follow
From Utah to Old Mexico

It’s the Arizona Trail
A pathway through the great Southwest
A diverse track through wood and stone
Your spirit it will test

Oh, sure you’ll sweat and blister
You’ll feel the miles every day
You’ll shiver at the loneliness
Your feet and seat will pay

But you’ll see moonlight on the borderlands
You’ll see stars on the Mogollon
You’ll feel the warmth of winter sun
And be thrilled straight through to bone

The aches and pains will fade away
You’ll feel renewed and whole
You’ll never be the same again
With Arizona in your soul

Along the Arizona Trail
A reverence and peace you’ll know
Through deserts, canyons, and mountains
From Utah to Old Mexico
-“The Arizona Trail,” Dale R. Shewalter

Arizona Trail: Roosevelt Cemetery to Cottonwood Creek

Woke up to a wet sleeping bag again this morning. Going to have to get scientific about sorting out the exact differential between temperature and dew point for such condensation to occur (at least in a desert climate). After drying stuff out, I begin the ascent into the Superstition Mountains, at first on Forest Service roads then along Cottonwood Creek. I quickly feel vindicated in my decision not to chance this section in the rain – on some stretches, there is a 2-3 ft gap between the trail and the creek bed below, evidence of significant recent flash flooding, probably related to the Woodbury Fire that occurred in the watershed this summer. Magnificent views of saguaros are also present, though, as the trail climbs through the creek side vegetation to a wide basin that obviously suffered in the fire, where there’s enough space to make camp for the night before proceeding to the wilderness boundary and beyond tomorrow.

The Superstition Mountains are volcanic in origin. The current mountains are the eroded remnants of the resurgent lava dome of a supervolcano similar to Yellowstone but on a smaller scale – comparable to Yellowstone’s “little brother,” in a sense. The caldera boundary can still be seen within the mountains today. The name comes from the various superstitions that surround them – legends such as that of the Lost Dutchman mine, and a belief among some Apaches that the road to the lower world is located there. More to come on these mountains as we enter them shortly.