President's Day

Alright, alright, I realize that President's Day was Monday and its been a few days since then, but I just haven't had the heart to start up my computer after long work days the past few days. Our plan was to spend the long weekend in Sedona, but since a storm came in and dumped over a foot in the mountains of Sedona, we figured it probably wouldn't be the wisest place to go. I don't doubt our abilities to handle snow on the roads, but its other Arizonians who don't frequently drive in the snow that worried me.

Instead of Sedona we decided to try the Apache Trail. Its a scenic drive that takes you through some heavily forested, (well I'm not sure if forested is the correct description) but its a National Forest that is filled with saguaro cacti. I liked it better than Saguaro National Park, it seemed like there was a lot of more saguaro's there than by Tuscon.

To get to the Apache Trail you have to head up to the Superstition Mountains, which remind me of the mountains behind Ivins. Then, you head up a road that takes you by the several abandoned mines, one of which might be the mysterious Lost Dutchman Mine filled with gold.....what you say? That's right, each year people get lost going through the Superstition Mountains looking for this lost mine filled with gold that is supposedly kept hidden from the world by some ghostly protection.

We stopped at the ghost town of Goldfield It was a mine from 1893 - 1897. The owners have since rebuilt portions of the area around the mine shaft, and you end up with a fun place to visit. Plus, you can go down into the mine...which we did. It was very dusty, and very dark. But, more than being cool itself, it was nice to hear a little bit about the history of the area.



The mountains in the back of each of these pictures are the Superstition Mountains. They remind me of something that would have been in the Hobbit.



After we left Goldfield we headed along the trail further. There are three lakes that were made by the Mormon Dam and you can get to each of them along this trail. We only went to the first one because not far after that the asphalt ends and there was no way I was taking my car off the paved trail.



There's a paddle boat way in the back of the picture that was taking people up and down the lake. It looked like something you would see on the Mississippi. Mark my words, one day I will go out on it.

All in all, it was a great President's Day, we got to explore some of the areas just outside of Phoenix and learn a little bit about its history.