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Coronado Mesa Day Hike
Superstition Wilderness
December 14, 2002
by Ted Tenny


    13 hearty hikers and a dog began their journey from Tortilla Trailhead in the Superstition Wilderness. Five would finish the hike.

Fish Creek Canyon     There are two ways to get from Tortilla Trailhead to Coronado Mesa. The easiest way is to walk the smooth ridge beside the road (Arizona 88, Apache Trail highway). This is the stretch of road where the pavement ends. The ridge is wide enough that you don't have to walk on the road most of the way.

    A more rustic route is to hike westward down in the canyons south of the highway, then turn north and climb over the road to get to the mesa. Several hikers and the dog wanted to take the easy way. So, lacking another leader, Ted led everyone on the ridge by the road.
    The day was cool and decidedly breezy as we walked down to two lookout points west of the highway and one on the northeast. The western lookouts have a grand view of Tortilla Mountain, Malpais Mountain, and the canyon country around Tortilla Creek. The northeastern lookout features a rugged side canyon that flows into Fish Creek Canyon from the south.
    But at the last lookout point, three hikers were missing! They were found back on the road, having decided to skip the rest of the hike and walk back to their cars. Five more hikers and the dog joined them as we left the road for the last time and climbed up on Coronado Mesa.
    The five all-star hikers who finished the trek were
•   Wayne Shimata
•   Joe Michalides
•   Chuck Parsons
•   Stephen Trombitas
•   Ted Tenny
Fish Creek Canyon     We climbed up from the highway and over to a rocky lookout over glorious Fish Creek Canyon! The canyon is 1200' deep with rugged, colorful walls eroded into fantastic shapes and sycamore trees on the bottom turning golden with autumn color. There are caves on the north side of the canyon and intricate patterns of color in the sunlit rocks.
    The wind had calmed down and day became quite pleasant. Rejuvenated, we walked the mesa west to two more awesome overlooks. The first featured a rocky fin far below us. The next was definitely “Look Before You Leap” as we climbed a narrow rocky ridge to the edge of eternity. Chuck and Ted pictures at each of them.
    Then we climbed to the top of Coronado Mesa and walked a smooth ridge south to the last overlook, featuring Fish Creek Canyon juxtaposed before the mighty peaks of the eastern Superstitions. From this point, the cars were right below us.

Lesson learned:
    Ted promised that this hike will be "B-" from now on, with a hike description that emphasizes bushwhacking, steep drop-offs, and prickly vegetation. Next time we’ll hike those canyons south of the highway.
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Arizona Trailblazers Hiking Club, Phoenix, Arizona
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updated December 15, 2005