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| Superstition Mts. 2014 |
In 25 years of road trips from Seattle to Arizona for
hiking and birding, my husband Uno and I have had a whole lot of fun
adventures, both on and off the trail so to speak.
Nearly every time we traveled here, we’ve stopped at the Superstition
Mountains Wilderness Area, which is approx. 40 miles east of Phoenix.
There are many trails to chose from and
all have incredible views all around them, but the “birdiest” one we’ve found
is Jacob’s Crosscut trail, which angles across the base of the mountains,
linking the Lost Dutchman State Park with the First Water area.
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| Harris Hawk |
One day, we saw six Harris’s Hawks putting
on quite a hunting show together there.
These hawks are unlike most all other raptors, because they are highly
social, with complex hierarchies for cooperative hunting, eating, and
breeding.
They band together in
groups of up to seven related and unrelated individuals, and sometimes the
majority of them spend all their time guarding the group’s territory and
hunting in order to help one breeding monogamous pair.
Not to mention they are stunningly
beautiful birds, with their large, auburn-colored shoulders and the broad white
bands on the base and tip of their tail feathers.
Their soaring and diving high above our heads
also meant that the shrubs and Saguaros around us were alive with the bustle of
songbirds and other perching birds who were staying out of harm’s way too!
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| Bluebird Mine & Gift Shop, 2008 |
But birding is only half the only reason we love going to
the Superstition Mountains:
the
other half is to visit the Bluebird Mine Curio Shop and its owners.
In particular, owner Luis Ruiz, who has
a million and one stories to tell about his lifetime in the Superstitions area.
Though we’ve heard some of them a few
times, it is always quite entertaining!
Plus the store itself is filled with unusual items for sale from the
owners’ collection of rocks, fossils, snakeskins, and more.
And of course who could resist a Bluebird Mine coffee mug or a pair of rattlesnake bone earrings? Not me.
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| Can you dig it |
Every square foot of wall space is
covered with their collection of historical photos and newspaper articles, and
every bit of the exterior spaces are worth exploring too. Many
years ago, they used to give tours of the mine too, but those days are
long gone now. But just ask the owners about it and they'll fill you in
on a slew of fun facts about the whole region. Not to mention that
they make a pretty good hamburger and fries as well!
Arizona historian Tom
Kollenborn has written a great story about the Bluebird Mine and Luis Ruiz as well, which you can find by
visiting
http://superstitionmountaintomkollenborn.blogspot.com and doing a search for Bluebird Mine.
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| Boyce-Thompson Arboretum cactus, succulents, and trees |
If you’re up that way and have time for another stop, we
also really like the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, which is approx. 20 miles further
down highway 60, in a riparian area that contains trails, ponds, creeks, and thousands
of interesting desert plants. Butterflies abound there amidst the plants along the trails, and it’s not surprising
that over 300 species of birds have visited it, mostly during migration season,
including 32 warbler species and 45 waterfowl species!
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| Pipevine Swallowtail at Boyce-Thompson Arboretum |
Photo Credits:
Superstition Mountains by Emily Bishton
Harris's Hawk by Alan Vernon,
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Bluebird Mine & Gift Shop and
Boyce-Thompson Arboretum by Emily Bishton
