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Salt River Ramble Goldfield Mountains December 22, 2007 by Ted Tenny
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 Shall we gather at the river? |
 Steam rises from the river on a chilly December morning. |
Nineteen nifty Trailblazers set out from Blue Point Trailhead for their
Salt River adventure. It was chilly! We had to wear jackets until the sun
was all the way up and we had walked enough to warm ourselves.
The map says “Jeep Trail”, but it’s actually a confusing maze of trails from the trailhead to Bulldog Canyon. We stay near the highway and then near the bend in the river before following a washed-out trail down to the canyon. |
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From here it’s a walk in the woods as Ted leads us eastward,
upstream, toward the Four Peaks. There isn’t a well-defined
trail.
The vegetation is dense in places. We walk along the river, then sand-slog on a road, then rock-hop over rounded cobblestones washed up on the river bank by eons of flood waters. Finally we pass under the power line. “Watch for the third canyon on the right,” Ted advises. |
 Autumn trees highlight the Four Peaks. |
 Peak 2290 glistens in the morning light. |
Thick forest blocks our view of the canyon.
We follow a faint trail that has evidently had recent
horse traffic.
Finally we reach the third canyon. But where’s the trail? After climbing up on a river terrace we are above the forest and in Sonoran plant community of cholla, prickly pear, and palo verde. Rounded river rocks, up here? It must have been some flood, half a million years ago, geologists say. |
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The trail, at last!
We’re up on the north side of Gateway Canyon heading toward
the place where Rhyodacite Canyon flows in from the other side.
Just below the junction we stop for a snack break. There’s a cave in Rhyodacite Canyon, about a half mile upstream, that seems to fit the description given by Hank Brown in “What We Found”, Superstition Mountain Journal, vol.8, 1989. The cave’s location wasn’t clear from the article. |
 When these boulders fell, I’m glad I was somewhere else! |
 How did rounded river rocks get all the way up here? |
There’s another natural disaster: truck-sized boulders broke
off the cliff and tumbled down into Gateway Canyon. Apparently no one
was there to see it happen.
The horse trail is a well-chosen route back to the river. Soon we are back at the water’s edge. The weather has turned into a gorgeous winter day. We walk along the river back to Blue Point Trailhead to finish a delightful December hike in the northern Goldfields. |
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Arizona Trailblazers Hiking Club, Phoenix, Arizona For comments regarding this site contact . updated December 22, 2007 |