Day 10 - Scottsdale to Superior

Relatively easy day. Took the Scottsdale bike path from north Scottsdale where my parents live all of the way to Tempe. Was that there when I lived here? Maybe some of it, but definitely not all. I remember it was a 45 minute drive from home to ASU, we did that trip on bicycles in an hour and fifteen minutes. Pretty good. Of course it's much quicker by car now that they built the 101 and the rest of the freeways.

Arizona was one if the last states to build freeways in urban areas. Barry Goldwater wanted to see large boulevards instead and that's what we had. Can't say which is better, I do have fond memories of driving through town to get anywhere.

we stopped long enough for me to put down a foot on the corner of campus then rode on.

We also saw our first citrus (orange) trees today. Even grabbed one for a taste, not bad. Earlier in the trip I explained the four "c's" of the Arizona economy to Michele: copper, cattle, citrus and cotton. We've seen plenty of cattle and today, finally, citrus. Recently they added a fifth "c": climate, in reference to the positive impact of tourism. The first four aren't as important as they once were, but I remember cotton growing along Pima Road, which I drove between home and ASU.

We spent along time riding east from Tempe, through Mesa and into Apache Junction before we finally left civilization. Past the Superstition Mountains where I used to backpack and over Gonzalez Pass and in to Superior where we finished the day with root beer floats and a walk to downtown.

In Mesa I meet a man who makes tractors and the like out of beer (or soda I suppose) cans. Neat.

The Superstitions are the location if the fabled Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine. Supposedly a prospector discovered a gold in the Superstition Wilderness and revealed its location on his deathbed in the late 1800s to a boarding-house owner who had taken care of him for many years. As far as I know, people are still looking for this pot of gold.

Some Apaches believe that the hole leading down into the lower world is located in the Superstition Mountains and that winds blowing from that hole cause dust storms.

At the east edge of superior is a 500' cliff called Apache Leap (you can see it in the photo of downtown). There were no known trails to the top, but a group if Apaches lived there. Sometime in 1870 after an Apache raid to capture cattle the cavalry were sent out to intercept. The soldiers followed cattle wandering to the east of Apache Leap, and they discovered the access to the top. They waited and then attacked. Instead of allowing themselves to be captured, the Apache men jumped off the cliff to their deaths. Legend has it that the Apache women mourning the loss of their men cried over the side of Apache Leap, where their tears became little black glass. The little pieces of obsidian found here have been named Apache Tears.