Salt River, Superstition Mountain and More

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On St Paddy’s Day I made a photo safari from Mesa, taking the Bush Hwy along the Salt River to the vicinity of Saguaro Lake. There were some nice vistas in the area.

Next, I turned The Beast toward Apache Junction and Superstition Mountain; the area of the Lost Dutchman gold field.

As fortune smiled on me, I came across the Goldfield Ghost Town; a marvelous photo opportunity depicting life in a mining town of the old west. The best part was that admission was free!

As soon as I got to town, some cowhands were casting slurs back and forth, and soon, a gunfight erupted in main street before my very lens! It was fun.

I walked the street with a little swagger and from time to time quick drew my camera to fire of a shot. No tripod today on these dusty streets hosting shops and historic buildings.

While admission was free, there are many activities to spend money on. Myself, I purchased some fudge for the wife.

Back in the 1890's Goldfield boasted 3 saloons, a boarding house, general store, blacksmith shop, brewery, meat market and a school house. Just when it looked like the town would outgrow Mesa, the vein faulted, the grade of ore dropped and the town died a slow painful death.

After several unsuccessful attempts to reopen the mines, the town did come to life again from 1910 on and off until 1926. Since then, it has somewhat resuscitated by tourism.

I drove on to Lost Dutchman State Park to get some information about the campground for future reference.

Next, I visited Superstition Mountain Museum, and walked the trails with camera and tripod. I knew I was going to make some shots of the mountain to stitch as panoramas.

It was a fun day. I think I’ll turn some of the photos into paintings.

See you down the trail!

Paddy

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Comments

[Terry]

Gold in them thar hills?
Did you read about the man who found an 8 pound nugget last week while grading his road in CA? It is probably worth about $450,000! Keep looking, Paddy!

[Julia A Knaake]

Goldfield Ghost Town
Awesome photos the skies are a beautiful blue......Julia & Claudia

[tom mackin]

brother 3
Hi Paddy and Nancy, Hope all is great! Paddy, what nice and interesting pictures. Keep on rolling!

[John James]

That was a close one!
Dang! You never know anymore when one of those 'shoot outs' are going to happen; hoped ya didn't git winged. They weren't using real cameras, were they? As you come to the end of the trail, partner, hoping your return trip is bit less eventful, safe, and fun...it's just as long coming back; go slow if you want to miss the rain, wind, cold here...July is usually good, August guaranteed. John