Backpacking The Superstition Wilderness - Boulder Canyon/Marsh Valley Loop - 3 days November 2019
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- čas přidán 29. 11. 2019
- Well I found some weird stuff on this 3 day trip... Including tons of flowing water!
Starting at the First Water Trailhead in The Superstition Wilderness in Arizona in late November of 2019... On the first day I took the Dutchman Trail #104 and camped in East Boulder Canyon. I found the remnants of a deserted campsite including a car camping tent, a frying pan, a foam mat and an empty backpack. Looks like it had been left there a few weeks or more. I got a little creeped out. On the 2nd day I climbed up the pass around black top mesa and then looped around to the cavalry trail and camped at the foot of Malpais Mountain. Tons of water crossings. On the 3rd day I descended into Boulder Canyon where I hopped and water crossed my way to 2nd water canyon until I eventually walked out back to the trailhead.
This was my first time filming on a new Panasonic Lumix G9 camera. There are a few scenes where the color may be off a little bit and autofocus wasn't tracking - but that's not the camera's fault! By the 3rd day I had basically learned how the thing worked.
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Nice video work and content. I'm a Wilderness Steward in the superstitions and have been in this area often
FYI the abandoned camp has been cleaned up and junk packed out.
And THANKS for your campfire remarks, right on!
Awesome. Really appreciate all the work done by volunteers in our public lands, right on!
I totally agree with you on the point of people do what they want and not think of the circumstances. Especially when it comes to fires! I often see camps with fires ten + feet high when there is only three or four people at camp. Smaller fires are easier to maintain and put out. Someone should do a video about camp fire sizes and what or how to use them.
thanks for portable bucket and water tips to extinguish the fire
i would be terrified at night if i were at that campsite alone, i wish i had your bravery
It's more common than you might imagine. Over this past year I've come across the remains of 3 abandoned campsites where people left their tents behind. I don't want to make too many assumptions about who is doing this - but I have learned that dutch hunters latch onto the ghost story websites and general lore of the area and decide to come out searching for the lost dutchman's gold without any outdoors experience whatsoever. When they inevitably come back empty handed they just bail, leaving their trashed gear to be everyone else's problem. I do not regularly see "real" backpacking gear left behind. It's always the cheap/heavy Ozark Trail and similar Walmart/Target car camping stuff.
Thank you for your comments on campfires, so sad 140,000 acres burned, not to mention the impact on wildlife cause of someone's carelessness, us here in Colorado have had 2 major forest fires in 20 yrs, north of Ft Collins, I think one was started by man, just heartbreaking for all the people & animals
I love a good campfire, but these days I find it's rarely worth the trouble or risk. Plus, here in the west it's recently become somewhat of a taboo anywhere outside of a riverbank or lakeshore.
Really cool !
Currently planning a trip along these trails in late march woot. this video has been extremely informative and has gotten me even more excited. As a hiker from Colorado it'll be awesome to see a whole new landscape then what im used to. Thanks for this video!!!!
O man such a great hike good edit as well.
Thanks so much for all the hard work in producing this excellent content. We moved from England to The Phoenix valley a few months ago and I am really looking forward to hiking in the Superstition wilderness. Can't wait for more uploads and good idea re the shorter tips and gear vids.
Excellent videos, great point on campfire safety, well done
Excellent job of filming and editing, I'm heading out there next week sometime depending on the weather for a two night adventure. Great to have good water available...
I guess I failed to comment on this video (thought I had). Was nice chatting with you on the HAZ forum. I'm CharlieAZ there. Your videos really are awesome. Thanks for recording and sharing your experiences.
Yo dude, thank you - very kind words! Curious, what camera was the video you/your partner shot on? Looks like possibly one of the newer GoPros? Good image quality & stabilization.
@@WildlandExplorer yes, you are correct. GoPro Hero 7 Black. I've been messing with the settings to get the quality right. A bunch of my CZcams friends have nice tech like you. Haven't made that leap yet to the cameras. Seems like it's working great for you.
I came across an abandoned tent near that area as well. Not sure if it was the same campsite because I dont remember the backpack or foam pad, but yup... i was freaked out too! Great video, look forward to many more!
It's crazy, a few weeks ago I saw two different sites with collapsed tents just sitting there along LaBarge, nobody nearby. It was probably one of those that you saw. I'm not really sure what should be done about this growing problem. I imagine it is mostly inexperienced tourists; I can't imagine an experienced backpacker doing something like that.
Heading into that area tomorrow morning! Three day trip exploring around Marsh Valley, Charlebois Canyon, and Boulder Canyon. Water everywhere!
Super cool running into you on the trail yesterday! I was the guy with the big blue Osprey pack and chatted at your campsite. I really appreciate all your videos, they are the reason I backpack in the Supes now!
Yo, it was cool to meet you! Nice to see these videos help people to get out there. Hope you enjoyed the rest of your trip!
@@WildlandExplorer it was amazing. Calvary Trail was super sweet, totally had a blast. Absolutely loving it out there, can't wait to get back out for a couple more nights!
Really nice video !! Beautiful area , especially with the water everywhere !! Definetly a nice place to go in the fall and winter . I'm with you on your fire policy. I to , enjoy a fire in the Sierra Nevadas , where I hike. I keep it small , and well put out , when I leave. Unfortunately , there are a few yahoos out there that cause the majority of the problems, like out of control fires and trash. You've got a well filmed and informative channel for the Superstitions, which are on my bucket list. Thanks for sharing !!
I think you're right - it's always the minority that spoil it for the rest of us. I hope to bring some more education & awareness to that topic on my channel. Thanks for watching!
Wonderful journey my friend. This is the third video viewed since discovering your channel yesterday. I started backpacking at eleven-years-old with the Boy Scouts; I'm now in my sixties. I'm still backpacking and hiking so I'm truly enjoying coming along on these journeys with you. Just one correction; I'm almost certain that was not a "catclaw acacia" but in fact a mesquite. Although they are quite similar in appearance the thorns (straight), the color of the stems (dark reddish), and the leaf pattern suggest mesquite. Catclaw has shorter curved thorns (like a cat) that grab your clothes very easily but don't poke you like a dagger as does mesquite. Sorry if I'm being a d&#@ about this. I'm hooked on your videos, and I'm looking for maps and guide books of the area to start planning my next trip because of your enthusiasm. Thanks buddy.
Awesome videos! I'm trying to plan a 3 night trip in the Supes for Christmas. Unfortunately the forest service isn't answering the phone, so I was wondering if you could please give some recommendations?
Dude I would love to do this come fall !
It's a great accessible adventure in the supes. Just know that 2019 was an insane water year and is unlikely to be repeated anytime soon. Most of those creeks are dry until sometime in late Jan to early Feb when the winter rain comes in, but sometimes you get lucky and have pools in the fall from the tail end of monsoon season. You'd usually have some water in east boulder canyon where I camped that 1st night, but you have to know if it's there before you go as it's seasonal. Other than that, plan around spring sources. Charlebois always has water, so does LaBarge Spring, but it is now entirely covered in thick poison ivy up a vertical muddy climb, so it's hard to access unless it's flowing in the creek channel (which it was this past March). 2nd Water Canyon where I turned off from Boulder canyon is usually good as well.
@@WildlandExplorer Thats great info man. Ive fallen in love with the Superstitions and have just began exploring. THis weekend I am going to be trying out the Sierra Estrellas for the first time though.
Howdy,guessing this is southern Arizona? Not familiar:) Just catching up with your travels
Yep this is immediately east of the Phoenix area. Funny you should bring this up because we were just out in this same area about a week ago and I'm editing a video of it currently.
Have you found the lost dutchmans treasure yet? 😃🇫🇮
Well done, really enjoyed the scenery and flowing water throughout the video. Glad you take the time to break out a map and help everyone watching understand where exactly you went. Think gear review videos would be good. As a new resident of the Phoenix area, I would love to explore the Superstition Wilderness. Your videos are very helpful and well edited. Look forward to more. By the way what map are you using?
Glad I could help! How are you liking Phoenix so far? The map for that trip is the Superstition Wilderness - Tonto National Forest one made by the US Forest Service. The outside of it is brown. The trail labels and topo lines on that one seem superior to the National Geographic trails one.
Phoenix is taking some adjusting since we have lived in humid areas most of our lives, but so far desert life has been good. Nothing beats wearing shorts and a tee while family and friends back east are wearing parkas. Thx for the map suggestion. Will have to pick one up as I’m hoping to venture into the Superstitions for an overnight in the next few weeks. Using your videos as guides.
Hey boss have you hiked Bull pass from Dutchmans trail to The calvary trail? You went low in this video below black top Mesa but Bull Pass goes above black top I will be hiking this trail if it's not too tuff as I'm 63 please advise thanks Eric
Are all of you superstition wilderness videos on mapped trails or do you do some route finding and off trail hiking?
So far all the videos from the supes are on or at least near trails, mainly due to practicality for filmig. There are some off-trail hikes in plans to do as videos but those are more demanding, so I have been saving them up for when the days are longer - particularly a fish creek canyon Lost dutch loop and the entire length of needle canyon to boulder canyon.
i have seen abandoned gear. likely the "dutch hunters" who come in, stay for some time looking for some lost treasure and then leave with a lighter load. yours, te-wa (from hikearizona)
Yo Mike, thanks for the comment! Yeah I've noticed this on several occasions from the dutch hunters but it's usually like one or two small items. Had never come across a full campsite's worth of abandoned gear before. I think one of us is going to have to haul that mess out of there.
Awesome video man, hey how do you like you Ghost Whisper puffer jacket? Thanks!
Great Jacket! Get it on sale if you can stomach the price. I have had it down into low 20s, so can't comment on temps below that - but it was fine that low with a couple baselayers + fleece underneath. Mine has lost some down and couple small holes from the catsclaw at campsites but wamrth to weight hard to beat. I have also washed with Grangers just once and put in the dryer without issue - puffy again. Just wish I had gotten the hoodie version!
@@WildlandExplorer Right on! Thank you for feedback. This jacket will definitely help create room in my backpack, my Marmot puffer jacket is not very packable:/. Thanks again!
What trails do you recommend for intermediate backpackers here in Arizona? So far I’v hiked Reavis Ranch and really enjoyed it.
Check out Hikeaz.com and your answers can be found there. Yes, it costs $10 but you're supporting a great community and they have a gps app with extensive information.
How do you like the Panasonic Lumix G9 so far? I'm partial to Sony (RX100 series, A6400/A6600, A7* series), but I'm always down to try out new camera gear!
Hi yoyo, I really like the G9 so far. I haven't used Sony's stuff to compare, though. All I know is the IBIS is rock solid - I barely have to apply any stabilization in post. It also got a firmware update just before I received it, giving it 10-bit 4:2:2 at 4k 30 fps and hybrig log - so it's future-proofed for shooting in HDR down the road. One thing that always annoyed me about shooting in 8-bit color as an outdoors youtuber is sky gradients would always have banding issues after applying contrast to the image, so the G9 in 10-bit solves that problem for me. M43 sensors aren't well known for their low light performance which is why I'm shooting on two f/1.7 primes so that I can use them wide open in the evenings to achieve acceptable noise similar to what you'd get on a larger APS-C. What is nice about the m43 system is the lenses are tiny and take up little space or weight in my pack. I do think Panasonic has fixed a lot of the autofocus issues they were previously known for. I just didn't know you had to tell it to use near-focus when I was out shooting this video; definitely a learning curve!
Which do you prefer between Superstition and Mazatzal Wilderness?
Really hard to pick one. I know the Superstitions better just because I get out there more often and there are more access points. I'm hoping to do more exploring of the central Mazzies this winter and next spring... Can I give you a better answer then? haha
What kind of shoes/boots are you using for all the water crossings?
Hi there! I’m currently wearing Topo Athletic Terraventure trail running shoes and Injinji hiker toe socks. They dry fast, especially while hiking and toes socks prevent blisters; so I don’t worry about carrying footwear for water crossings.
Can I ask what map this is that youre using? ( Is it the superstition map from REI?) Thank you!
It's actually the map made by the Forest Service, doubt you'd find it at REI. Most likely I got it from Arizona hiking Shack on Thomas & 32nd St. but you can get it from the USGS online map store as well. The Nat. Geo. one sold at REI is fine too.
Where did you get the map that you showed?
It's from the Forest Service. I bought it at Arizona Hiking Shack in Phoenix many years ago.
do you see a lot of deer out there? or wildlife in general?
Hi Garrett. I see deer out there pretty often in fall & late winter. Mostly east of Bluff Spring trail and in the flats above Upper LaBarge Canyon. Same area I've seen Javelina. Ince I was camped out on some slickrock by upper LaBarge creek just west of Brads Canyon and there was a Javelina so big hanging out in the bushes right on the other side of my tent I momentarily mistook it for a bear encounter till I saw the tusks. Yelled at it banging my pans until it decided to run away into the bush.
Every October through November I see hunters on their way in an out. January 2020 I saw a lot of mountain lion sign in the tortilla Creek drainage in the Hoolie Bacon area north of Horse Camp Ridge which is quite remote.
@@WildlandExplorer thats pretty cool man. I like to hike and take photos of wildlife with my swarovski spotting scope and my camera adapter. been trying to find a large mule deer buck to photograph. Ive been doing some research in this area and you seem to be pretty knowledgeable of the trails and water sources. I also have had some close run ins with javelina. love to see them.
as far as natural water springs in this area is there much out there?
That scope sounds pretty cool - I bet you get some crazy tight wildlife shots. I like to hike as light as I can, but as you know optics can get pretty heavy and have opted to mostly carry around something that only gets about a 5x - 7x optical zoom from a wide shot so you gotta get pretty close to wildlife. There is pretty good year round water in the superstitions but they can be far apart. The best ones I can think of are Charlebois spring, LaBarge Spring and Brads water. Some out east have traditionally been reliable but I can't comment on them as I know some damage has been done since the fires.