PARIS!! Je t'adore!

I know... how the heck do I have the time, right?  Well, I don't.  I just thought I'd show you what cool and FREE photo editing I've got. it's called GIMP.  Look it up on the internet and download it for free.  Pretty cool stuff.  This was actually a picture I took of myself a month ago at the top of Camelback mountain super-imposed on a random picture I found of a guy taking a picture of himself at the top of the Eiffel Tower...  I'm SUPER imposing.  lol.  I know, I am a loser. AND hiking all alone. Come on, people! You need to hike with me!  Let me know if you're interested in hiking on Saturday mornings and I'll let you know the deets. ok. gnight y'all.

Catching up in a paragraph

I haven't posted since September 1st?!?!  hoy! ok, real quick- Aaron is cast in Copperstar productions' The Sound of Music as Captain Von Trapp and I am cast as Sister Sophia and Maria's understudy. Megan is in the preshow show choir, and Matthew starts soccer on Wednesday. I went hiking on Labor day at Telegraph Pass and yesterday (saturday the 11th) at Camelback.  Loved both hikes! Matthew got his head cracked open last night with a metal baseball bat (accident) and got a cat scan.  It freaked out the babysitter and the friend who did it.  Everything's ok, though. no worries. DONE!

Tomorrow's Hike: Barks Lower Canyon Loop

Meet tomorrow (Saturday, August 21) at 5:00am at the Peralta Trailhead. We'll start hiking right at 5:15am. Please comment or call if you're planning on coming. ..or if you're gonna be late or need clarification 480-216-4327

Below is the hike description from my favorite hike forum, http://www.hikearizona.com/ :

This hike offers a lot of bang for the buck! Normally it is necessary to substantially penetrate the Wilderness for descent returns. At only about four miles round trip, this is a rare example of close in quality. I would consider it almost on par with the Cave Trail (always a favorite) but less strenuous and much easier to follow. It is so nice in fact, I wondered if it was wise to post it. Then, if it is hiked responsibly, I really would like to see other hikers enjoying this beautiful little canyon.

Starting from the Peralta trailhead, take the Bluff Spring trail up Cardiac Hill, past the Cave Trail intersection to the top, and then down the other side to the bottom where it first crosses the creek bed. Here you depart the trail and head south through the bottom of the wash following it several miles till you intersect the Dutchman Trail in Barkley Basin which then takes you back to the trailhead.

Directions to Peralta Trailhead: 7.6 miles east of the junction Idaho Rd / US-60. Turn Left on to FS77 which is Peralta Road. Follow FS77 5.6 miles to a left and up turnoff. Continue 1.9 miles to Peralta Trailhead.
The trailhead has restrooms minus running water. The parking lot is huge. It does fill up in season on weekends. 0.5 miles before reaching the trailhead is an overflow lot which is also suited for horse trailer parking.

Hike:This is the simple part. From the point just over a mile in, where Bluff Spring trail crosses the wash at the bottom of Barks Canyon it is simply a matter of following the creek bed all the way south to the Dutchman trail. I saw no cairns or footprints through the numerous sandy areas testifying to the unexpected solitude of this of this seldom used canyon. The wash is easy to follow with only minor rock hopping and only one small spot of thick bush. Route finding is a cinch as the canyon presents only a singular route. However, with various paths to choose from through the bottom, I suggest varying from side to side to follow the more interesting terrain features as you go along. The sides are alternately lined with small cliffs and numerous smooth rock areas seeming to grow more and more interesting as you proceed. Despite the extremely dry conditions present at the time, there were numerous large pools of water along the way.

As you approach the 2.5mi point where the basin starts coming into view, look ahead for reddish colored mine tailings spilling forth about 100 yards up the slope on your left. It cannot be seen from directly beneath so you need to spot it as you are approaching from up stream. This tunnel is shown on Tom Kollenborn's map in Helen Corbin's book The Curse of the Dutchman's Gold as being Charles Crawford's camp. No date is given and I don’t know if this was a producing mine or merely a prospect. It does go back for a long distance into the mountain possibly indicating a mine, on the other hand, it is in a very straight line, and that would indicate a prospect. It does however finally fork at point where the bats were getting thick and I lost the courage to proceed. This may indicate the start of a “drift”, or the point at which they possibly began to follow a vein of whatever ore they were seeking. It never ceases to amaze me the amount back breaking work that must have been involved in those hellish conditions to move that much solid rock by hand.

Soon after passing the mine, the canyon begins to open up into the Barkley Basin. Continue to follow the widening wash a short distance to the well-worn and easily spotted crossing of the Dutchman trail. From there it is a short one mile cruise back to the trailhead.

An option for the diehard who may want a bit more strenuous hike would be to add what I’ll call the “Mid Barks” section. To do this, initially remain on Bluff Spring trail going north until you reach the Terrapin trail intersection. It is here that you now follow the same creek bed south but add on about 1.5 miles extra total distance and a bit more rugged terrain.

The best part is shortly downstream of the intersection where you will encounter a lengthy and steep series of cascading pools carved into the smooth rock beneath sheer walls. You then enter a beautiful, but dense thicket of trees at the bottom that requires a bit of determination to penetrate. From here you basically parallel Bluff Spring trail and eventually merge onto it as you approach the previously described starting point.

As I mentioned at the outset, I sometimes agonize over whether to publicly post some material given the virgin or delicate nature of a certain area. I realize there are good arguments both ways. I have listened to many and Im still listening. Enjoy the hike~

There is a life outside of the computer?!? Documenting this strange occurance...

I know, I know, I haven't posted about all the hiking and other fun stuff we've done... okey dokey, here goes-

A little over a week ago (before school started for the kids), we decided to have a fun-packed weekend before school started. 

(not our limo. Lawl)

We went to GameWorks and I had so much fun romping all over Aaron in Dance Dance Revolution! I've never really been that great at it, but all of a sudden it clicked and I could do it-I had a blast. Then we went for a midnight swim in our friends' pool (they were out of town, but we had permission :) 

The following morning at 5 we did our routine Saturday hike but it was just Aaron and I and the Wilsons. It was like a fun double date. We planned to go to the Willow Springs Canyon hike, but since we woke up late we just hiked Hieroglyphics Springs again. The guys liked it (and so did Josefina and I, but we've already been there).  There were no more frogs; instead there were little tadpoles and a bunch of the tiniest little black frogs I've ever seen! soo cute! Sorry, no pics of them! Just to give you and idea-they were about the size of my thumbnail. Some of them were halfway changed from tadpole to frog and had long tails.

We picked up the kids from the Downey's house (they had had a sleepover [if you dont have an overnight bbsitting exchange with some friends, I highly recommend it!!]) and then packed our lunches and went to the Salt River to go riverboarding.  Now, this riverboarding was MUCH different than what we used to do in HS- we used to get a large board and anchor it to the shore so it stayed in one spot and skimmed the water, then you'd swim to it and get on and ride it on the rapids back and forth, jumping the waves and what not with your body weight.  What we did on on Saturday was a lot more exhilerating and much more difficult. You hook a Banshee Bungee to your board and then hold your board perpendicular to the current so it pushes you down river, then when you think the bungee is stretched enough you lean forward and it bolts you forward on the surface upstream. lots of fun!  The first time I tried, I ended up letting go of the board cause I realized that with the water pushing the board back, it also pushed my swimmingsuit into a nice wedgie. I didn't want to lean up out of the water and have everyone see my tush!  I donned the shorts and did it a few more times.  It was pretty challenging, swimming across the strong current to the other side of the river but was tons'o'fun!  The kids played in the river trying to catch fish with cups and skip rocks. (thanks, Dopps, for arranging it!) Oh and I should mention here that Bryce is a stud for taking bee infested garbage to the trash bin. Go Bryce. now pay up :)

After the river we decided to go see Inception- good movie, BTW.  I thought they rushed through the concept and plot a little too much, but I'm a sucker for Sci-fi, so whatevs.

School Started during the week.  My little Matthew is in Kindergarten now! boo hoo! He seems too young to be in kindergarten :(  He seemed fine when we took him to his class and he stood in line during the morning assembly (every day thing)  but when his class filed past us to go inside he looked like he was going to throw up- I asked him if anything was wrong and he just frowned and looked at me with the saddest eyes ever.. I said "Matthew, was someone mean to you?" and he burst into tears and said "No, I just don't want to miss you!!!" and flung his arms around my neck. Awwwww... poor little guy. I walked with him in line and held his hand. Then we seperated and he went to class and I had to still my throbbing heart. what a sweety. 

After i picked him up I asked him, "You didn't miss me at all, did you?"  "Nope!" he said...and that's that. He's officially too grown up. 

Matt and his teacher, Mrs. McKinney

 I told him we could eat lunch wherever he wanted since it was his first day of school ever- he picked Ono Hawaiian BBQ- A boy after my own heart. We shared the Chicken Katsu as usual.

i have to say though, later I was in the bathroom and he walked in.. I told him to get out, I was in the bathroom, but he wouldn't leave. He said "I'll plug my nose and close my eyes. I just want to be in here with you..." he stayed in the bathroom crouched in the corner like that. ha ha.. so he did miss me a little. cute.

.....a few posts later and we are at this last weekend.... Friday was Aaron's and my 11th anniversary.  Our ACTUAL anniversary.  We were married on Friday the thirteenth of August and as far as I know, this is the first time since we married that it's been on a Friday again. 11 years. sheeeoooot!  I KNOW, right?! We're old!  We celebrated by dining at Liberty Market, of course! Aaron got the burger of the day which was actually not a burger at all, but a salmon patty with dill cream cheese, capers and greens. 

I got the mussels and artichokes in a butter/white wine/garlic sauce with grilled semolina toast. ummm YUM.

And again we shared their perfection in a cup bread pudding. nom.

We went and saw Scott Pilgrim VS the World (cool movie) and then headed home to bed for our early morning trip. woot!

In the morning we threw on our raggedy clothes, packed some snacks/water, and got the kids headlamps, Aaron's cap light and extra batteries for my maglite and caravaned with brother in law, Brian, and neice, Jessie, to Oracle, AZ (about 2 hours away).  Yay Spelunking!

Peppersauce Cave was nice and cool and very very very slippery with mud. We named it peanutbutter cave- at one point my foot was stuck so good that my foot came out of it when I tried to walk. ha ha.  Megan was so afraid at first. she was on her hands and knees crawling along was blubbering "I'm so scared!! I dont want to do it"..etc. I told her, "Megan, we are all here with you- you're safe! Just get up and walk!" She said, "But mom... I'm TERRIFIED!"  I started laughing and just helped her along- she was happy and singing in no time. She just had to get used to it. At one point we stopped and took pictures and told everyone to turn off their lights so we could see how dark it was.  You will never be in a darker place than a cave. Couldn't see ANYTHING. it was awesome.  What WASN'T awesome is that my flashlight led bulb went out. BOOO! Extra batteries dont do you much good if the dang bulb is on the fritz! I ended up using the flashlight setting on Aaron's droid and it worked great!

Sorry about the quality! This was taken in pitch black with a droid- and no, that's not Aaron. He's taking the picture.

Brian, Jessie, Megan, Matthew, Me

Me in front of the crawl space we had to squeeze through. fun fun!

Me crawling through- are you looking at my bum?? ;) I guess I shouldn't have worn muddy camo if I wanted to be seen in this pic!

Coming out the way we came in..

We aren't THAT dirty......are we?

When we got home I made everyone strip before they entered the front door- we had our pile of clothes and shoes by the front door for a couple days :) ha ha I'm such a slacker- luckily the only things that were ruined were our white socks. other than that we came out unscathed!

BTW Matthew LOVES the headlamp. He took it to show and tell on Tuesday along with prints of these pictures and told his class all about spelunking in Peppersauce Cave :)

What a fun adventure!

Tomorrow's hike chosen! Willow Springs Canyon to Bagley Tank

I had never heard of the Goldfield mountains before finding this hike so I'm excited! They are north of the Superstitions and on the way to Saguaro Lake.  Here is a trail log I found:

Easy & Scenic
Overview: From SR88 hike through upper Willow Springs Canyon following an old jeep road over to Bagley Tank. Return by the same route or make up your own off trail loop back to the trailhead.


I wondered what was north of the Apache Trail having driven by many times. I looked up the Goldfield Mountains on the computer and found a great deal of information about the area. For example there are very few actual trails and only some jeep trails to follow. Most of the great scenery is off trail. There are many natural arches in the area but all have to be reached by off trail hikes. I selected the Willow Springs Trailhead. As a reference point, Needle Vista viewpoint is on the south side of the highway. The trailhead is not marked but it's a clear pulloff area just before mile marker 204.


Hike: A locked iron fence blocks the road from vehicle use (maybe by permission but we are hikers) and once through it the jeep trail winds down into the Canyon to Willow Springs Well that looks to be quite deep with a cement frame around it. Our objective was Bagley Tank which is roughly 3.5 miles from the highway. We found some caves, pipe lashings, cement troughs and lots of evidence of years ago cattle areas.There also were many "waterholes" with lots of water. The dogs loved that. Much of the roadbed is sand and it makes for difficult walking. You pass some nice meadows and a grave with a beautiful cross. We wondered who and what and how. Once we left the creek bed-road bed we began to climb slightly more northerly toward the Bagley Tank. Once we arrived we were quite amazed at all the work that had once gone into that water catch. Some of my photos show how big a catch basin it is and how the berms have been built up around it with inlet and outlet trenches. So this is a tank out here! Interesting.


The terrain up and back is quite beautiful and really quite different from the stark, jagged Superstition range nearby. Even the color is varied in the cliffs and surface rocks. We went beyond the Bagley tank a few hundred yards and had a great lunch in a canyon. Although a bit rocky in places this is a fairly easy hike (except for the sand sections like walking on a beach). It opened me up to the Goldfield Mountains. Now I've arranged to go see some of the arches in the area. Over 10 have been identified but all are off trail.


It was a good day. A bit windy, however the temperatures were great! There was 4 of us and 2 dogs. Great fun for me as I did not have the fear of heavy steep climbing. Now I've discovered a new area nearby my home with some interesting terrain.

Directions to Willow Trailhead: Apache trail Northeast from Idaho Road in Apache Junction. About 10 miles northeast to highway marker 204. Just before the marker turn left into parking area. A reference point is the Needle Vista viewpoint on the south of the highway. The trailhead is not marked but is a clear pulloff area just before the 204 sign.

And here is a little about the Goldfield mountains and Willow Springs Canyon (part of the featured hike is the same as the trail we'll be hiking)

As always we will start this hike at 5:15am tomorrow, so be there a few minutes early.  Call/Text or email me to let me know you're coming or with questions. stephanie.shumway@gmail.com 480-216-4327

Superstition Mountains- Hieroglyphics Canyon

Heya peeps! Our hike this morning was sooo perfect! The weather was nice, we started at the best time, the trail was an endurance test rather than strength training, there were a lot of animals about, and the canyon was beautiful!

We set out at 5:15am - the trail was rocky and there was a good steady incline. We were in the shadow of the mountain until the last 15 minutes of the return trip so our timing was perfect.  We encountered a lot of animals on our hike including rabbits, snakes, and lizards. Once we got to the spring we spent about 45 minutes checking out the pools full of mating frogs, petroglyphs, mortar holes in a rock, and a huge rock shelter. We didn't see anyone else on the trail until the last 20 minutes and they were wishing they had set out earlier.  I had so much fun hiking with my peeps! Enjoy the Pics! (Thanks, Brittney, for taking the pictures!)

Tonto!

Three Amigos: Brittney W, Josefina W, and Me W.

umm- I'm a dork.

just before sunrise!

The springs- not so springy, but hey, in the desert water is water

(I guess water is water everywhere else, but we appreciate it more here :)

There were more petroglyphs- these were just the

first we saw so we got all excited and took pictures :)

TONS of mating froggies in the pools- they just swam around attached like that- I wonder how long they stay that way.  They were also REALLY loud.

ummm yeaaaahhh.....
(that was for you, Brit.Lawl)

awwww..how... interesting

Cool Large Rock Shelter

On our way back down

Mortar holes in the rock- where the natives ground their corn, flour, etc..

What a great morning!  Goodbye Mountains!

If anyone wants to hike next saturday I'll let you know where we'll be going by Thursday. Let me know!

Hikety Hike

Hey y'all!  I thought I'd post this in case anyone is looking for a hiking group :) Every Saturday morning i try and find a hike to do. We start at 5:15am, so you'd need to leave home eeearrrrly to get there and be ready to hike since that's the time we start walkin', not the time we park our cars :) . This Saturday we'll be hiking Heiroglyphics trail .  Let me know if you're coming by commenting on this post-leave your email or cell # please :)  Or you can just call or email  me 480-216-4327 :)  stephanie.shumway@gmail.com

UPDATE:  Here and here are posts about two of the many different times we've done this hike- both have pics- one during mating season, apparently.