Superstition Hike from 1st Water

Our route started at 1st water, then through the very green lush Garden Valley Trail, then of course got rocky & bouldery as we approached Boulder Creek & the Calvary Trail. It was a good work out for Connie’s new repaired knee. Would like to camp in this area sometime as water was really flowing much more than normal but always seem to soon to stop, maybe going in on a afternoon sometime to get settled, then next day scout out the area to the south. We did have lunch here, as it was beautiful but not many wildflowers or shade, but the water flowing was mesmerizing. We hiked out the short but steep hill of the Calvary Trail to Marsh Valley which Nancy was more that happy to see. It was 8.1 miles found a really nice campsite about ½ mile from Dutchman Trail; it took 6 hrs to do the hike. A nice way to do the Superstitions & enjoy it. Beautiful evening, creek at ear distance, nice fire, & sliver of a moon with Venus bright as ever! We didn’t bring a rain fly or a footprint & worked out well. We did have 2 young boys hike thru looking completely exhausted as we chatted thru our airing out laundry! 3-1-09 Warm a.m., because we only had 1 night to enjoy camp we decided to spend it there till about 11a.m.before heading back to the truck. So we brought projects & enjoyed the morning. Hiking out on the Dutchman Trail means going over Bull Pass, (it always brings back memories of my 1st hike into the Superstitions with hubby). We passed some horseback riders on the top that took a short cut to the south to Black Mesa that I would like to do sometime. We made it back to the truck in 5 hrs a warm day of 91 degrees, but thank goodness a cold beer with chips was waiting for us! This would be a good hike to take walking sticks & even an umbrella. Judy