Copyright © 2004 by Bill Qualls. Last updated August 21, 2004.
| After work I drove to Lost Dutchman State Park and hiked the Treasure Loop Trail and the Siphon Draw Trail. These are hikes #21 (2.4 miles) and #22 (3.2 miles) respectively in Stewart Green's book. Temperature was in the 90s. | |
| To reach the trailhead from Scottsdale, go south on 101, east on 60, north on Idaho Road (exit 196), east on Arizona 88, right at park entrance. Park entrance fee is $6. |
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| Treasure Loop trail in yellow, Siphon Draw trail in red. |
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| Informational sign. |
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| Me on the Treasure Loop trail. |
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| Tall (30 feet?) trailside saguaro cactus. |
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| Cactus in bloom. |
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| Rock formation known as the Praying Monk. |
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| Praying Monk. |
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| Or is this one the Praying Monk? I'm not sure! |
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| Just another random desert view...makes my heart sing. |
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| Superstition Mtns in the background, cholla cactus in the foreground. |
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| It was already dusk when I began hiking the Siphon Draw trail. It is a long steady climb. |
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| This was my second trip to the Superstition Wilderness, having hiked Peralta Canyon several weeks ago. |
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| Sunset over Phoenix about 20 miles to the west. |
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| The fading light played games with the colors of the rocks. |
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| Crescent moon. |
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| I'm not sure I made it to Siphon Draw. I really don't know what I was looking for; where the "trail" ends and the "boulder scrambling" begins. I suspect I was just a little short of Siphon Draw, but it was getting dark. I had already heard a rattlesnake in some brush beside the trail: I wanted to get off the more narrow trail inside the canyon before it got too dark. |
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| I hiked the last mile or so in the dark. I had a flashlight but didn't bother using it. With no overhead canopy there was sufficient light to make out the trail in front of me. It was very peaceful. When I got back to the car I spent some time sitting at a picnic table enjoying the desert atmosphere and watching the silhouette of the Superstition Mtns against the evening sky. |
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Copyright © 2004 by Bill Qualls. Last updated August 21, 2004. | |