Welcome to the Superstition Mountains!

Welcome to the Superstition Mountains! There are some places I’ve seen that I come away with a healthy respect for. They are places where you have to realize that you are in over your head, and really don’t belong. I don’t belong on Superstition Mountain. This is a wilderness region in Arizona where men who do not respect the heat and elements (or know where they are going) can quickly die. If you are like me, and grew up in a city where parks are places with parking lots and hot dog vendors . . . And that is all you know . . . Well then, you probably don’t belong on Superstition Mountain either. Summers here are brutal due to the heat. The elements are unfriendly and can be dangerous. If it stings or bites you can find it here. I took a brief hike on the easiest trail here and became disoriented for a moment or two before finding my way. I did not like that feeling at all. So, if you’re like me, visit the parking lot, take a few pictures, don’t walk too far, and then go back to your hotel. Leave the “back to nature” stuff to the guys who were born doing that. Every year there are a few star-eyed tourists who wander into the Superstitions and are never heard from again. As much as I love nature, I don’t plan to be one of them.

This photo shows the Superstition Mountains as seen from Goldfield Ghost Town on a dry, hot, summer day. Camera: Olympus E-300, kit lens.