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Rogers Canyon Day Hike Superstition Wilderness March 30, 2013 by Becky Johnson |
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 Trailblazers pass muster at Rogers Trough. |
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On U.S. 60 we head out to Queen Valley Road. Soon we turn on to Hewitt Station Road and travel 18 miles on a bumpy dirt road. It is Easter Weekend and many RVers are camped everywhere with their motorhomes, trailers, tents and ATVs. |
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Hewitt Canyon is gorgeous with colorful, rough, high rock formations along the way. Driving the final three miles to the Rogers Trough parking area at the Rogers Canyon Trailhead we see fauna, quail, a pair of mule deer; flora which include Chia, Desert Marigold, Brittlebush, Poppies and pink and red Penstemon. We pass 3 pickup trucks parked with large horse trailers attached. There must be Cowboys in the area on a round-up. |
 We arrive at the trailhead. [photo by Wayne] |
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The trailhead parking lot is almost full when we arrive. The weather is perfect and we have light cloud cover. We gear up, have a quick group photo and begin our hike down the trail. |
 Beginning the trek. [photo by Quy] |
 Wilderness before us. [photo by Kevin] |
 Reavis Sign. [photo by Kevin] |
We have about 7 miles of trail before we reach the cliff dwellings. There is seasonal water flowing. George remarks that he has not seen this much water along the trail. |
 Just 1 of 34 creek crossings today. [photo by Bill] |
 Bouldering skills. [photo by Bill] |
 4th of 24 crossings, or was it 34? [photo by Bill] |
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The trail follows Rogers Creek bed with many springs flowing into the creek. |
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 We encounter the Cowboys stopping to allow their horses a cool drink. [photo by Quy] |
 Cowboy helps his horse cross the creek. [photo by Kevin] |
 No help needed by this horse to get across the creek! [photo by Kevin] |
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The cowboys have taken guests out on the trail overnight. There is an abundance of beautiful manzanita. Near the creek beds we see Fremont cottonwoods. There are wild hyacinth, fleabane, and chicory. |
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 Arturo treks through fallen foliage. [by Kevin] |
 Barren Sycamore. [photo by Kevin] |
 Flax [photo by Quy] |
 Firecracker Penstemon [photo by Quy] |
 Bird nest [photo by Kevin] |
 Sotol [photo by Kevin] |
 Rough and Rugged. [photo by Quy] |
 View to the Ruins. [photo by Quy] |
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The Rogers Canyon Ruins are constructed within a cave of the canyon. It is the reason the dwellings are so well preserved. They are not exposed to the elements of rain and wind erosion. We meet two young hikers who say that there are other caves of the canyon which have ruins. Across the canyon from the ruins, a red-tailed hawk soars the currents of the canyon updraft. |
 Looks like a Rock Troll lives here. [photo by Quy] |
 That’s not a Monkey on his back. This hiker has brought his best friend. [photo by Bill] |
 Rudy and Nancy inspect the ruins. [photo by Bill] |
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Feeling right at home, Rudy enjoys the daily newspaper. At least some of us were able to climb to the upper ruins. Thanks for the photos, Wayne. |
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 Enjoying the daily paper. [photo by Quy] |
 Log ceiling. [photo by Wayne] |
 Support post. [photo by Wayne] |
 Upper room. [photo by Wayne] |
 This makes a great open air dining room! [photo by Quy] |
 View from above. [photo by Wayne] |
 A different view. [photo by Wayne] |
 View from ruin. [photo by Bill] |
 The Canyon walls are high and narrow. [photo by Monica] |
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This view is looking north from the ruins. Somewhere in that direction lies Angel Basin, one of our destination sites. |
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 One of many butterflies. [photo by Wayne] |
 Mossy pool. [photo by Kevin] |
 Angel Basin: the final leg. [photo by Wayne] |
 Water and boulder features. [photo by Wayne] |
 Running water. [photo by Kevin] |
 Water feature. [photo by Kevin] |
 Water, the source of life. [photo by Wayne] |
Just a half mile north of the ruins lies Angel Basin, our turnaround point on this hike. A fabulous place to make camp! It is here in this area that Southwestern artist Ted DeGrazia burned some of his paintings in 1976. He did so in protest of Federal estate taxes on artwork to be left to his heirs. See page 269 of Hiker’s Guide to the Superstition Wilderness by Jack Carlson and Elizabeth Stewart, Clear Creek Publishing, Tempe, AZ, 1995. From here the trail intersects to the west to Tortilla Pass, the JF Trail, which then goes to the Woodbury Trailhead. The Frog Tanks Trail to the north of Angel Basin continues through Rogers Canyon and can either branch off to Reavis Valley or to Castle Dome. |
 Northern Cardinal. [photo by Wayne] |
 Yellow Two-tailed Swallowtails. [photo by Wayne] |
 Nancy and Quy explore a side canyon. [photo by Bill] |
 Angel Basin. [photo by Wayne] |
 Elisha Reavis Grave site. [photo by Wayne] |
 Boulder-hoppin’ Bill. [photo by Bill] |
 Arch. [photo by Wayne] |
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Is this an arch? Or maybe we have found a wedgie ... |
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 Hikers share their experience of the hike. |
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It would have been nice to have sunshine for photographic purposes. We’ll have plenty of that this summer. Thanks to our fabulous five photographers: Bill, Kevin, Monica, Quy, and Wayne. See you on a trail soon! |
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updated June 1, 2020