Roger’s Trough

Dear Phoenix,

Spring break was a few weeks ago, and while you provided the perfect weather, I wanted to do things outside the city limits.

Two of my close friends, an acquaintance of theirs and I drove out to the southeast side of the Superstition Mountains with the intentions of backpacking into Roger’s Canyon and hiking up to the ruins. It’s a four mile hike to the ruins with a 1,000 foot elevation change and a lot of overgrown plants.

Jon, taking a photo of the Superstition Wilderness sign. We hiked in as the sun was setting.

We ran into more than enough wildlife, including a tarantula (pictured), ants, a beetle (in my sleeping bag, even) and bees.

Jon moves his head as I play with shutter speed to make a light painting.

Ben and Jon prepare to cook dinner.

The ruins are believed to have been occupied by Salado Indians approximately 400 years ago, according to a sign posted nearby.

The doorway is approximately four feet tall.

Some parts of the ruins are so well preserved, hikers can see the hand prints in the hardened mud.

Family photo.

Ben Peck, 20, found and suggested Roger’s Canyon as our backpacking destination. He enjoys backpacking because “I feel like 75% of the crap in my life gets filtered out, and I can just look at it in third person as a spectator.”

Jon Navarro, 21, has day hiked the Grand Canyon with me (and Ben) before. He said his favorite part of backpacking is “being away from society and trying to lose sense of time. To just be in the moment where you’re simply an observer of the beautiful existence of nature.”

I usually backpack with Ben, but this time, backpacking with Jon gave me another way to look at how the outdoors affects people. Regardless of who I asked, both men said that backpacking gives them the opportunity to be an observer, a spectator, to watch the world around them.

I agree completely.

Keep your eyes peeled, Phoenix. Be an observer for a while.

Love,

Amanda

Dear Phoenix,

The first time I hiked the Grand Canyon I went with a group of friends from church. We took the South Kaibab trail down, camped at the bottom of the canyon, and then took the Bright Angel trail up the next day.
I was amazed by how peaceful, beautiful and refreshing the hike was, even though I was sore and unable to walk well for the next few days.
I had the opportunity to return this past October for a simple day hike, and was just as amazed by the beauty that was such a short drive from Phoenix. My trip in October was even more beautiful as I was able to make the 5 mile return hike from Indian Gardens to the Bright Angel trail head by myself, at  my own pace, where I could enjoy the nature around me on my own terms.

Keep on trekking,

Amanda