Day 17 - Superstition Mountains - Battleship Mountain

This is a picture of me three miles into the big wilderness of the Superstition Mountains.

I would be out in the wilderness for eight hours, covering 18 miles-- two hours and 6 miles more than I had originally planned. I would run short of water, having to ration to two sips for every 30 minutes for the last three hours. I would cross paths with two Gila Monsters, the largest lizard in the country at nearly 2 feet long and one of the only two venomous lizards in North America. And finally, the scariest run-in of all due to my fear of them, I would cross paths with two venomous rattlesnakes, one rattling and coiled-- ready to strike, but neither striking.  And I was alone in this wild, not seeing another soul for the last seven hours. 

One mile down trail after this photo was taken, I turned left to head off trail up a mostly-dry creekbed, a path that I had researched and found online.  The creek looked like this below. The surround scenery massive and proud. 

After a mile of popping up and over and around boulders and rocks along the creek bed I ran into my first Gila Monster. He was 18 inches long with yellow lightning strikes down his back and a large oval head. I would later learn that Gila Monsters are mostly reclusive and rarely seen at all. And I was supposed to feel lucky for seeing him. And I did. He wasn't that scary or dangerous because he was slow- plodding along like a fat cat. Stunned at the huge lizard sighting though, it took me a minute to get my camera out in order to take a picture. By that time, this slow lizard had crawled under some brush and I couldn't get a good picture. I leaned forward trying to get a pic but he went into attack posture, definitely feeling more fearful of me that I was of him, so I let him be and went on my way.

A half-mile down the trail I would run into my first snake, likely a rattler but due to my fear of snakes, I jumped left and ran forward down the creek avoiding him, getting out of sight as quickly as I could. Normally my hiking poles would act as a defensive mechanism, either fending off the snake or having him strike the end of the hiking pole first before me, but they were strapped to my pack for better boulder hopping. Anxious after this encounter, I would call out snake snake snake for the next two miles, hoping that the additional noise would alert any wildlife to my presence.

About three hours in, I came to a slot canyon, a narrowing of the riverbed and a beautiful site to behold. With the walls towering above me and knowing the secret nature of this place, I felt like a true adventurer--Lewis and Clark style--right on the edge of the vivid unknown. This video and pic show the canyon: http://youtu.be/cacv4A0JJqc

The twisting turn of the slot canyon gave me a good position on my topographical map so I knew I had about one mile further down the creek bed until I came to an established trail that would lead back to the original trail and out of the wilderness. But after about a mile the going got tough-- there were thornbushes and prickly plants and big cliffs that were slowing my travel, making me second-guess if I was in the right place.  So after much debate with myself I turn back around and went out the way I had come in. Checking my map every five minutes, a little anxiety was setting in.   Was I in the right place?  Was that the right mountain on the map? What if I got lost in this wilderness?

But I gathered myself and correctly navigated back to the slot canyon, an obvious destination. Having been out for 4 1/2 hours at this point, I started rationing my water-- having began with a gallon but only having a liter remaining. I filled up one extra container with river water from a small waterfall.  The water looked clean but I was nervous to drink it so I kept it in reserve. Just after the slot canyon I saw a cairn, a group of rocks made by humans that signal a trail and saw a clear trail up the mountain hillside, one that I knew based on my research would return me back to the original trail. At this point I had a decision to make-- I could go back on the riverbed 3 miles backtracking the way I came past the snake and the lizard or I could change course going up the side trail back to the original trail. I chose the latter knowing that it was longer but would likely travel faster and maybe I would run into someone who had some extra water on the established trail. 

This was the wrong decision. The established trail was basically hiking over boulders along the river bed just like the shorter route through the creek but was far longer and far more confusing-- going across river randomly at times. But with the towering battleship landmark to my right and my compass on my watch, I knew I was going in the right direction. The trail eventually curved back east towards the original point I had gone off trail four miles into the journey and became a very clear path. I could see the landscape from the first photo behind me and I knew I was safe.

Just then I ran into my second Gila Monster, this one directly on the trail. Pulling out my camera, I got him on camera.

The Gila Monster crawled off the trail far enough for me to scurry past while he hissed and I ran forward. Seeing the riverbed from where I had started this off trail journey just ahead, I felt wonderful-- and and then POW- a rattlesnake rattling and curled just ahead blocking the entire trail. I scurried backwards, ran off trail through prickly bushes down a short slope back to the riverbed, avoiding the snake entirely. A quick two hundred feet though and I came to the two massive cairn rock stands that marked the trail.  Jumping back on trail, I climbed the 4 miles- steep miles- out of the canyon that I came in, passing by familiar landmarks,  feeling tired but making good time.  Finally seeing the lake again I knew I was home free. I took my last sip of clean water and booked the remaining 30 minutes back to my car-- exhausted but exhilarated after 18 miles in eight hours in the big wild Superstitions. 

I would leave the superstitions the next day, deciding that big wild was too wild for me until I got proper training, which would come from a five-day guided trip with a master backpacker later in April. But the Superstitions would leave me one last reward for my trials-- an incredible sunset view on my ride back to camp. :)