{"id":8839,"date":"2013-04-22T12:57:02","date_gmt":"2013-04-22T12:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2013\/04\/22\/black-top-mesa-western-superstitions-21-april-2013\/"},"modified":"2013-04-22T12:57:02","modified_gmt":"2013-04-22T12:57:02","slug":"black-top-mesa-western-superstitions-21-april-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2013\/04\/22\/black-top-mesa-western-superstitions-21-april-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Top Mesa, Western Superstitions, 21 April 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday's killer hike, commencing at First Water Trailhead at 7:30 AM, took us to the top of Black Top<\/em> Mesa (not to be confused with cholla-forested Black Mesa, also accessible via First Water).  It is a leisurely saunter over Parker Pass and across some now-almost-dry streams until you arrive at the Bull Pass upgrade which is not only steep but slippery as hell.  At Bull Pass, a cairn marks an unofficial spur that leads to the top of the mesa and some fine views.  It is easy to miss it and end up on a very different (false but seductive) spur that peters out only after one has been well-seduced.  (Been there, done that.)  It got warm and our start was late, James having driven up from Tucson, so the two old men spent 8 1\/2 hours on the trail including leisurely rests and a half-hour lunch atop the mesa.  We were out of water and well-trashed by the time the death march was over and we climbed back into the Jeep with visions of Fat Tire Ale dancing in our heads.  Mileage is about 12 round-trip with accumulated elevation gain of about 1600 feet.  Details here<\/a>.  Weaver's Needle from the top of the mesa:<\/span><\/p>\n


\n\"IMG_0902\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 James sucks it in and strikes a pose:<\/span><\/p>\n


\n\"IMG_0904\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Not happy to see us (left-click to enlarge):<\/span><\/p>\n


\n\"IMG_0900\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\nRelated articles<\/span><\/legend>\n
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\"\"<\/a>Jeep Wrangler: Trailhead Access in Style<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>Another Hiker Lost in the Superstitions<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/fieldset>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday's killer hike, commencing at First Water Trailhead at 7:30 AM, took us to the top of Black Top Mesa (not to be confused with cholla-forested Black Mesa, also accessible via First Water).  It is a leisurely saunter over Parker Pass and across some now-almost-dry streams until you arrive at the Bull Pass upgrade which is … Continue reading “Black Top Mesa, Western Superstitions, 21 April 2013”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[131,92,132,133],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arizona","category-autobiographical","category-hiking-and-backpacking","category-photographs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8839\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}