January 22, 2021 - Lost Dutchman State Park

We slept in until almost 9am so it was almost 10 before we go started!

I told Tobey I didn’t want to hike so we decided to just “go for a walk.” Our campsite was #123 on the far right side of the map. We had not hiked the Quail Loop – on the far LEFT hand side of the map (in red), so that’s where we went!

We followed the mountain bike trail over and actually saw more quail BEFORE we got to the loop than on it!
Our little “walk” was 2.91 miles! At least it was pretty level and we only had about 100 foot elevation change today!

Back at the RV, it was time to load up and check out of our campsite. We had a great time and we are checking off some of the places we’ve never visited in Arizona.

January 21, 2021 - Lost Dutchman State Park

It rained in the early morning hours so we slept in today knowing we didn’t want to get an early wet start to hiking! It was a cloudy and windy when we finally started off a little after 10 this morning.

We both had on our warm jackets and hats, but it warmed up pretty quickly. We took Jacob’s Crosscut Trail and connected to the Treasure Loop Trail.

Tobey spotted “hole in the rock” as we made our way up the trail. It was much smaller than the one in Phoenix!

Continuing on, we made our way to the Prospector’s View junction. It was beautiful!

Rather than head back down the mountain on Treasure Loop we headed further up the mountain. We weren’t quite sure which way the trail went, but we continued on!

We met a young woman hiking with her dad (from Iowa) and visited with them a while as we all headed further up the mountain.



After making our way around these tall spires, there wasn’t a very well marked trail, so … Tobey and I bushwhacked our way down the mountain!

My brave husband led the way. It was really steep in some areas and I was pretty nervous.

He led us down and we were able to reconnect with the Treasure Loop Trail and make our way back to the campsite.

Two and a half hours and 3.6 miles later, we were home! We had about 850 feet elevation gain today. Both of us had tired feet and were happy to have lunch and relax.

Late this afternoon, we took another “walk” on the Discovery Trail – about 1.6 miles round trip. It helped us stretch those muscles and it was beautiful to see the Superstitions!

Looking to the north toward Roosevelt Lake, we could see a small rain squall but it wasn’t heading in our direction.

There were several hiker/biker campsites along the trail, as well as the coyote sundial. It was pretty accurate – almost 4pm!

Close to 6pm, the sun was starting to set and cast beautiful light on the mountains.

We had another beautiful sunset.

It was a great day and we plan to relax this evening and decide if we will hike again tomorrow!

January 20, 2021 - Lost Dutchman State Park, Arizona

We ventured out today driving 40 miles east from Scottsdale to camp at the Lost Dutchman State Park at the base of the Superstition Mountains.

So before we begin our adventure, you will first have a small history lesson.

The Superstition Mountains have been a source of mystery and legend since early times. The area is dotted with ancient cliff dwellings and caves. When Anglos settled this area, they learned about odd noises, strange disappearances, and mysterious deaths in the mountains. Native Americans’ fear of the area were based on superstitions, and so the name was given. To this day, the Superstitions claim more than their fair share of disappearances and mysterious events.

During the 1840s the Peralta family of northern Mexico supposedly developed rich gold mines in the Superstitions. Their last expedition to carry gold back to Mexico occurred in 1848. In the 1870s Jacob Waltz, "the Dutchman" (actually a native of Germany), was said to have located the mine through the aid of a Peralta descendant. Waltz and his partner, Jacob Weiser worked the mine and allegedly hid one or more caches of gold in the Superstitions. Most stories place the gold in the vicinity of Weaver's Needle, a well-known landmark. Weiser was killed by Apaches, or according to some, by Waltz himself.

In failing health, Jacob Waltz moved to Phoenix and died some twenty years later in 1891. He supposedly described the mine's location to Julia Thomas, a neighbor who took care of him prior to his death. Neither she nor dozens of other seekers in the years that followed were able to find the "Lost Dutchman's Mine." Subsequent searchers have sometimes met with foul play or even death, contributing to the superstition and legend that surround these mountains.

SO …. Our first stop was at the Lost Dutchman Monument in Apache Junction. In 1938 an Arizona historical group erected the monument to Waltz. The city of Apache Junction grew up around the monument which is the oldest structure in town!

A few miles down the road we stopped at the Superstition Mountain Museum which lies in the southwest end of the foothills of the Superstition Mountains. Opened in 1990 by the Superstition Historical Society, we were impressed with the displays both inside and out. They had several maps on display and we were sure we would be able to find the gold if we used one of these.

I love the description of the height of the pine and cactus as landmarks to find the mine and gold!

This map is probably our best bet for finding the gold!

We  liked seeing the equipment used in the mining operations.

They also have a barn that was moved here from the Apacheland Movie set after it closed in 2004. It was fun to see the photos of the actors who had movies and television shows filmed there.
After lunch, we were able to get into our campsite at the park … except someone was parked there! We politely had them check their reservation and they were wrong, so they moved. Our spot has an amazing view of the mountain!

As soon as we were parked, we filled our water bottles and were off on our first hike.

We headed off on the Upper Siphon Draw trail toward Flatiron. The sun was out and we were both hot before we had gone too far! The temperature had risen to about 75 degrees!

At one of MY resting stops, we both thought this part of the mountain looked like a horse’s head.

When we finally made it to the “Basin” area, we were in the shade and enjoyed the coolness it provided.

There was a small pool among the rocks.

We turned around and returned to our campsite rather than continuing on to the Flatiron. We had already gained 950 feet in elevation and the Flatiron trail is another two miles and over 1000 feet up! We had a beautiful view back into the valley where we are camped.

A little over two hours later, we were home after hiking 3.4 miles roundtrip.

The sun was getting low in the sky casting a beautiful glow on the mountains.

As the sun went down over the valley, Tobey grilled steaks and we watched a movie after dinner.

All in all, it was a great day in the mountains!

December 30, 2020 - Scottsdale, Arizona

Sometimes you just need to do maintenance on this old RV. Our kitchen faucet developed a slow leak and it was becoming more apparent that it wasn’t going to fix itself, so Tobey ordered a new one.

We store all of our pans under the sink, so once everything was out, Tobey got to work. It was surprising how quickly the old faucet came out. We got the counter cleaned and were ready to go.

With a little assistance from me, he was able to attach the screws to the new hardware and the new faucet was in place.Next came the more difficult part of the job – reattaching the water supply lines. There isn’t much room to get under the sink, but he managed!

Tobey had allocated eight hours for the installation, but less than an hour later, the new faucet was installed with no leaks under the sink and it doesn’t drip. Hurray! 

It should be good for another 18 years and will probably outlast the RV!!!