On a beautiful spring morning under clear blue skies in late March, nine Arizona Trailblazers gather near the Jacob’s Crosscut Trailhead close to the base of the Superstition Mountains for a group picture. Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the trail ten additional Arizona Trailblazers gather near the Broadway Trailhead for a second group picture. This will be a one-way key exchange hike today, with one group, led by Ted Tenny, hiking northbound from the Broadway Trailhead and the second group, led by me, hiking southbound from the Crosscut Trailhead.

Our goal is for the two groups to meet roughly midway along the trail for a snack and rest break, exchange car keys, and then continue hiking to the opposite trailhead where our own vehicles will be waiting for us. The total hiking distance for both groups will be about 6.5 miles. The temperature stands at a perfect 55 degrees.

On your mark. Get ready. Get set. Trailblazers—start your feet! The race is on! The Crosscut Team bursts from the starting gate at precisely 7:50 AM, hotfoots it across a wide desert wash, and then careens down a relatively flat and level stretch of trail running parallel with a perimeter fence. The Broadway Team is probably a bit later out of the starting gate since they have a little farther to travel to reach the trailhead. Who will reach the midpoint first? Generally speaking, the smaller the group the faster they travel. So the Crosscut Team has a slight advantage here with nine hikers vs. ten for the Broadway Team. Both teams have a roughly equal mix of faster and more experienced hikers, and both teams are led by two of the club’s most seasoned and experienced hike leaders. It’s going to be a close call today any way we look at it.

With all the buzz and media hype about a record El Niño winter this year, along with vast amounts of rainfall scattered across the desert thru early spring, we’ve all been looking forward to one of those “once in every 25 years Arizona Highways spring wildflower seasons”. Although we did see pretty good amounts of rainfall in December and early January, El Niño quickly fizzled out after that with absolutely no rainfall for either February or March and none predicted for the near future. February, in fact, went into the record books as the hottest February ever recorded in 125 years of keeping weather records for the Phoenix area. And we’ve already set a number of high temperature records for the month of March as well. Global warming, or just summer sneaking up on us way ahead of schedule this year? Who knows.

So, needless to say, wildflowers are few and far between on today’s Jacob’s Crosscut hike. But color is certainly not lacking either, with thousands of brittlebush in full bloom along the western base of the Superstition Mountains, painting the desert floor a beautiful golden yellow for as far as the eye can see. Brittlebush, unlike wildflowers, are not as dependent on rainfall and will bloom regardless of rainfall amounts. The same holds true for most cactus species, and we see plenty of blooming prickly pear, hedgehog, staghorn cholla, and buckhorn cholla, especially as we get closer to the Broadway Trailhead.

This beautifully backlit saguaro is an imposing sight. [photo by Dave M.]

That’s good news for the Crosscut Team, however, as we continue to breeze along over long stretches of relatively level trail, gaining valuable ground as we leave more and more of the trail behind us. Nothing will stand in our way now as we blaze across the desert, leaving a large plume of dust in our wake. Eat your hearts out, Broadway Team! You guys don’t stand a chance against us seasoned veterans. Besides, we also have Bushwhack Bill on our side, setting a blistering pace. Is this guy trying to get to a fire or what?

About two miles from the Crosscut Trailhead, I try to contact Ted Tenny over the TalkAbout radios but get no response. Are they still that far away? Does Ted have his radio turned on? But I don’t get a response from anyone on the Broadway Team with a radio, so have to assume that we are simply out of range at this point. We continue to press onward, trying to admire the scenery as we zip along at breakneck speed. Good Grief! Did we just run over a hiker from another group? Give us a break, Bill!

After all, there’s no major incentive for being the first team to reach the mid-point of the hike. Although I do vaguely recall someone saying that the losing team should massage the feet of the winning team after the hike. H’mmm—that’s really not a bad idea at all, especially since we have no intention of being the losing team. Who the heck said that anyway? Did anyone actually agree to it? Shake hands on it? I’m thinking probably not.

For the past few years whenever I hike the Superstitions and look up at the Flatiron and nearby Shiprock Peak, the first thing that comes to mind is that tragic Thanksgiving Eve plane crash several years ago. I don’t think anyone who lived in the Phoenix area back in late 2011 will ever forget that night. It was 6:34 PM on a cold and dark moonless night on Thanksgiving Eve, November 23, 2011, as a small twin-engine plane carried a father and two close friends, along with his three young children, ages 6, 8, and 9, from Mesa’s Gateway Airport to the father’s home in Safford for the Thanksgiving holidays.

Unfortunately, they never reached their destination. Due to circumstances unknown to this day, the plane somehow veered off course and slammed head-on into a wall of solid rock at Shiprock Peak near the Flatiron, exploding into a massive fireball that lit up the night sky for miles around and showering flaming debris and body parts across thousands of square feet of the rugged, almost inaccessible, base of both Shiprock Peak and surrounding areas.

On February 16, 2013, fourteen Arizona Trailblazers, let by Scott Green, struck out from the Siphon Draw Trail with the goal of reaching the Flatiron and North Peak. Somewhere near the base of Shiprock Peak, we came across a small stainless steel memorial cemented to the rock face with pictures of the three young children who were killed in the crash, along with the names of all the victims, and a brief description of the accident. Looking up toward the peak we could clearly make out the scorched and blackened area of impact from that tragic night in late November and appreciate for perhaps the first time what a horrible fate those six people met.

Nearly 15 months after the tragedy, there were still hundreds of small bits and shards of glass, plastic, and metal scattered across the steeply slopping base of the peak. We gingerly picked up several of the pieces to examine them and then carefully placed them back exactly where we found them. This is, after all, a memorial site where six people lost their lives and it will forever be hallowed ground to the families of those victims. That moment in time will undoubtedly be the most moving hiking experience all of us who were part of that hike will ever encounter. And the smiling faces of those three young children will forever be burned into our memories.

NOTE: The area around the crash site and the debris field is extremely treacherous and dangerous terrain, with steeply sloping areas of slick rock covered with loose gravel and rotting sections of granite that can break away without warning. One false step in this area could prove fatal. Hopefully there are now warning signs to that effect in the area. Regardless, I would strongly advise against going anywhere near this area.

I try to contact Ted once again on the TalkAbout radios and still don’t get a response. “Ted, are your ears on?” That’s Arizona Trailblazers lingo for “Do you have your radio turned on?”

We continue hiking for another ten minutes or so when I finally hear Ted’s voice over my radio. “Chuck, we now have a clear view of the Flatiron.” We’re directly in line with the Flatiron ourselves at this point, so it’s probably only a matter of minutes now before the two teams finally come together on the trail.

Sure enough, less than five minutes later at 9:40 AM it’s cameras at twenty paces. Ted is firing his camera at the Crosscut Team, while Bill is firing his camera at the Broadway Team. Meanwhile, Dave M. is off to the side capturing the entire scenario on his camera to see who goes down first.

Thankfully no one is cut down today, so after a brief exchange of greetings we decide to pull up some nearby boulders and sit down for a little R&R below the Flatiron formation. Does life get any better than this?

Jim presents the coveted Trailblazers keychains to Clint and Stephanie.
[photo by Mike]

We make good time until we hit that rough stretch of cobblestones north of the Lost Goldmine junction and can now begin to appreciate how much that slowed down the Broadway guys. We finally arrive at the Broadway Trailhead at 11:10 am, just 3 hours and 20 minutes after starting out earlier this morning. I had estimated a minimum of 4 hours to complete this hike, so we made very good time. The Broadway Team? Let’s just say somewhat longer for those guys. In fact, I think they owe us a good old-fashioned foot massage. No question about it. Perhaps after the next hike, Ted?

Before we parted company, Ted had suggested the China City Super Buffet for lunch, located on Power Road a block or so south of Baseline (2235 S. Power Road). After we all meet up back at the Red Mountain Park location, most of the group decides to head for home, while six of us (Ted, Chuck, K.G., Jim, Dave F., Rudy) make tracks for an all-you-can-eat oriental feast at the Super Buffet.

Apparently we’re the most ravenous hikers of the group. Great suggestion Ted—one of the best Chinese buffets I’ve had in a long time and a great way to cap off a terrific hike with a terrific bunch of hikers.

Happy Trails to all!

Chuck  

Ten tenacious hikers set out eastbound from Broadway Trailhead on Jacob’s Crosscut Trail. The trail has been improved from the trailhead to the Lost Goldmine Trail, which seems to be getting most of the traffic. But then we got a taste of the rocky original Crosscut Trail, from the junction to where it turns north.

The northbound trail is a pure delight. With the sun at our backs, we enjoyed fine views and saw a deer, a buzzard, and lots of lizards along the way.

Approaching the halfway point, we met our southbound companions and stopped for a snack break and a group picture. After that we met lots of people on the trail, most of them hiking but a few on horseback.

Some of the trail junctions are marked with signs, some not. Everyone waited for Ted to point out the way, especially at unmarked junctions. By the time we got to Crosscut Trailhead it was getting hot, but a light breeze refreshed us.

Thanks to those who hiked with me, listened to my enlightened narration, and were so patient with all the pictures I was taking.

Ted  

It was great seeing you all on last Saturday’s hike. I hope you each enjoyed it as much as I did.

These are for the hike from the Crosscut trailhead to the Broadway trailhead, which is about 250 feet lower. If you started at the Broadway trailhead, you should switch the starting and finishing elevations, and also the total accent and total descent. And your times, of course, may differ from mine.

Thanks, Chuck, for organizing a great hike and again to everyone who attended.