Duration: 6 Hours 15 minutes
Vertical Up: 5495 feet
This my first time hiking in the Superstitions and it will not be my last. This is a beautiful area and so much different than other areas around the valley. The hike was put on through one of the hiking meet up groups I belong to. It was originally supposed to be a short 5 1/2 mile hike with a view of Weaver's Needle and some caves on the way back. Those plans changed.
On the morning of the hike I woke up to pouring rain at my house - not the best hiking weather. However, since Anthem is at least 60 miles away from the Superstitions, I knew the weather would be different. I met up with the group and we drove to the trailhead. Because of the rain, the group turned out to be only 3 of the 5 people that signed up for the hike.
At the trail head it was drizzling and cold. Since 99% of my hikes are in hot weather, this was a welcome change. While we were there we talked to the ranger about the trail conditions and the different options we had to extend the hike. We found out that the hike all the way around Weaver's needle was 12 - 15 miles. We made this our goal (and I snapped a picture of the map).
The first 2 1/2 miles of the hike was a steady 1100 foot assent for 2 1/2 miles up to about 3800 feet. Along the way we were bombarded by a steady drizzle and rewarded with spectacular views of the surrounding mountains.
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At the summit of this section we were treated to our first view of the Weaver's needle. This was where the original hike was supposed to turn and head back down the Cave Trail. Since we were just warming up and had 3 strong hikers , we decided to press on and hike all the way around Weaver's Needle.
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| Weaver's Needle in the Rain |
The next section of the hike was a steady 3 1/2 mile decent keeping the needle on our right (to the east). There were several points where we stopped to study the map, our surroundings and the trail to make sure we were going the right way. Soon enough we reached the northern end of our hike at the base of Black Top Mesa. This is where the hike turned east. Interesting not here, from the map at the trail head, we knew the trail numbers we were supposed to follow. When we reached this turn, the sign did not have the numbers, only the name of the trail.
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We followed the base of Black Top Mesa east for a short hike and got a view of Weaver's needle from the north. After a short stop for lunch, we turned south to head back down a new trail back to the trail head.
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As if on cue, the weather began to clear up. Our morning in the rain was not a waste as we were rewarded with blue skies and crisp air. As soon as we turned south the trail got steep, I described it as a swift assent. I was feeling good and keeping up with the strong hiker and sometimes leading and setting the pace. We followed the trail back south, keeping Weaver's Needle on our right. The trail kept up its steep climb for about a mile, before beginning a slow decent back to the trail head.
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The rest was was a combination of following the ridge line while slowly descending. There was an occasional climb to the top of some hill, but it was mostly an easy hike.
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In no time at all the parking lot came into view and before we knew it we made it back to where we began. Twelve miles, half in the rain. What a great way to spend a Sunday!
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