It did not happen to me but to a friend of mine outside of Phoenix.
I was out there for a week about six years ago for school. I stayed for an extra weekend so I could visit my buddy Tom who spent the winters out there at the time. I worked for Tom at GM before he retired.
Tom is quite a hiker and in great shape, for an old fart. His wife was in bad health so he spent his time hiking the mountains. He said he had been to the top of every mountain in the area. He was and still is a tennis fanatic. He will go one on two with younger guys and that old bastud is 80 now.
We drove up into the hills and he parked. We took off up this trail with me a following. He set a good pace and after a while I told him if he did not slow down I was gonna knock him in the skullbone with a dang rock!
It was a nice walk and it led up into a cut. He said that in wetter times there is a little creek running but it was dry now. He mentioned that there was a small pond up ahead. It was all rock and would fill at times of high water and would hold water until it all evaporated.
As we were hiking up the trail the view was beautiful. We could see Phoenix in the distance. We came to a rock that was full of big holes. It was on the left side of the trail. Tom said it was used by indians and maybe to grind grain but he did not know for sure.
[attachment 36920 Pheonixrock.jpg]
We continued up the trail and the cut kept closing in on us. We finally came to the pond and we sat down on a ledge above the pool. Across the pool from our perch was more sign that this place was important to the indians. The picture is poor but it shows the old paintings.
[attachment 36921 Pheonixpictographs.jpg]
As Tom and I sat there and enjoyed the late evening scenery he told me about the last time he brough someone up there.
He said he and a friend and his wife took a hike up there and were setting on the very ledge we were setting on. You can see it to the left of the pool.
He said they were just a setting there, eating their lunch and enjoying the view. Soon they heard chatter and giggling coming from the trail.
Around the bend came four young ladies. He said they might have been in their early 20's or so. It was a very hot day and back in that cut it was like an oven.
The girls were laughing and waved at them and proceeded down to the pool and stripped. They jumped in and had a ball with Tom and his friends watching and just enjoying the view. It didn't seem to bother the girls and sure the heck didn't bother Tom!
When the girls finished and were dressed Tom walked down to them and thanked them for the entertainment and they told him, "Any Time" and left laughing!
Tom took me back to an old dried up creek bed, on another hike, that he had found. He told me that it was full of a semi-precious stone called Apache Tears. They are black and you can see light through them. I squatted in one place and foune 21 of the dang things. I brought them home and have no clue what happened to them.
These next two pictures are of the pond with Phoenix burbs in the distance. The ledge can easily be seen on the left.
One is from a distance and the other is a good shot of the pool
[attachment 36922 Pheonix12.jpg]
[attachment 36923 Pheonix09.jpg]
This next is of Tom and a shot up the cut
[attachment 36924 Pheonixtom.jpg]
The last is a picture of my in the Superstition Mountains. I just threw it in because I could use one more picture and it was that same weekend
Pretty country[attachment 36925 Pheonixme.jpg]
I was out there for a week about six years ago for school. I stayed for an extra weekend so I could visit my buddy Tom who spent the winters out there at the time. I worked for Tom at GM before he retired.
Tom is quite a hiker and in great shape, for an old fart. His wife was in bad health so he spent his time hiking the mountains. He said he had been to the top of every mountain in the area. He was and still is a tennis fanatic. He will go one on two with younger guys and that old bastud is 80 now.
We drove up into the hills and he parked. We took off up this trail with me a following. He set a good pace and after a while I told him if he did not slow down I was gonna knock him in the skullbone with a dang rock!
It was a nice walk and it led up into a cut. He said that in wetter times there is a little creek running but it was dry now. He mentioned that there was a small pond up ahead. It was all rock and would fill at times of high water and would hold water until it all evaporated.
As we were hiking up the trail the view was beautiful. We could see Phoenix in the distance. We came to a rock that was full of big holes. It was on the left side of the trail. Tom said it was used by indians and maybe to grind grain but he did not know for sure.
[attachment 36920 Pheonixrock.jpg]
We continued up the trail and the cut kept closing in on us. We finally came to the pond and we sat down on a ledge above the pool. Across the pool from our perch was more sign that this place was important to the indians. The picture is poor but it shows the old paintings.
[attachment 36921 Pheonixpictographs.jpg]
As Tom and I sat there and enjoyed the late evening scenery he told me about the last time he brough someone up there.
He said he and a friend and his wife took a hike up there and were setting on the very ledge we were setting on. You can see it to the left of the pool.
He said they were just a setting there, eating their lunch and enjoying the view. Soon they heard chatter and giggling coming from the trail.
Around the bend came four young ladies. He said they might have been in their early 20's or so. It was a very hot day and back in that cut it was like an oven.
The girls were laughing and waved at them and proceeded down to the pool and stripped. They jumped in and had a ball with Tom and his friends watching and just enjoying the view. It didn't seem to bother the girls and sure the heck didn't bother Tom!
When the girls finished and were dressed Tom walked down to them and thanked them for the entertainment and they told him, "Any Time" and left laughing!
Tom took me back to an old dried up creek bed, on another hike, that he had found. He told me that it was full of a semi-precious stone called Apache Tears. They are black and you can see light through them. I squatted in one place and foune 21 of the dang things. I brought them home and have no clue what happened to them.
These next two pictures are of the pond with Phoenix burbs in the distance. The ledge can easily be seen on the left.
One is from a distance and the other is a good shot of the pool
[attachment 36922 Pheonix12.jpg]
[attachment 36923 Pheonix09.jpg]
This next is of Tom and a shot up the cut
[attachment 36924 Pheonixtom.jpg]
The last is a picture of my in the Superstition Mountains. I just threw it in because I could use one more picture and it was that same weekend
Pretty country[attachment 36925 Pheonixme.jpg]
She was as purty as a speckled pup