April in Arizona: Backpacking the Superstition Wilderness with kids

By LIN WILDER
For the Coloradoan
Lin and Hanna Wilder and Michele and Emma Scheetz

When my friend Michele and I announced our intention to take our daughters Emma, 7, and Hanna, 8, backpacking in the Arizona desert, the response wasn't quite what we had expected. Sure, there were those who recognized our efforts to create character-building, nature-bonding opportunities for our daughters.

But the vast majority of responses ranged from shock (what about all the scorpions and snakes and spiders - oh my!) to disbelief (your daughters are going to be carrying packs?)

Well, as the saying goes - those who think it can't be done should get out of the way of those who are doing it. And so it was that the four of us found ourselves heading into the Superstition Wilderness (about an hour east of Phoenix) in the early hours of April 13.

Because of a rare rain the evening before, the desert was crisp and shining and smelled of creosote bushes. The only nod we made to the ominous date was the panicked discovery of a leak in my Camelback that was quickly fixed with duct tape.

A bystander would have thought us an odd bunch on our first few hours on the trail. Our mouths hung open in awe, and we kept repeating, "This place is amazing!"

Indeed it was - clusters of hedgehog cacti popped their heads up in hot-pink splendor and whimsical ocotillo arched their red flags into the air. "What are THOSE?" the girls asked as they spotted the nearly leafless, green-trunked palo verde trees and the waxy yellow prickly pear blooms. Their excited cries of "lizard!" and "frog!" would punctuate our entire trip.

What seemed like many water-guzzling and sweaty hours later, at the glacial pace of a 7-year-old with a pack, we reached Garden Valley, a vast flat stretch of desert populated with "teddy-bear cholla" cacti that only look soft like a stuffed animal but will break off in small pieces and grab your leg without provocation.

Here, the girls spotted a cactus wren nest snuggled into a cholla, and we found an Indian ruin complete with pottery and tool fragments. On the return trip we would also find grinding holes in the rocks nearby.

We reached our camp at Second Water Spring just as the saguaro shadows began to grow. The girls had adjusted to the long miles by pretending to film and narrate their own show for children called "Arizona Desert Survival." The little desert tidbits and trivia I obnoxiously kept yammering on about were apparently sinking in. We listened happily as the girls told their "viewers" about how agave only blossom once after 10 to 30 years and then promptly die, and how saguaro swell up with water after a rain.

We settled into our sleeping bags early each night to listen to the conversations of pygmy owls and frogs and watch bats swoop through star-studded skies.

While Michele and Emma were snug in their tent, Hanna and I slept under a tarp. While not too concerned about poisonous bedfellows, I do admit to scattering lavender buds around our sleeping area after reading that scorpions don't like lavender. Did it work? I don't know, but I do believe in aromatherapy now, as I've never slept better.

In the middle of one night, though, I was startled awake by a strange sound. A quick flash of the headlamp revealed the hasty retreat of a desert spotted skunk that had been helping clean up some left-over chocolate pudding we'd been too tired to deal with after dinner.

The next day, a 7-mile day hike around the golden cliffs of Battleship Mountain found all of us floating without our heavy packs. A venomous lizard called a Gila monster surprised us on the trail, and then skulked into the leaf litter under a palo verde tree and glowered at us.

We pushed on, hopeful of finding a "secret" emerald swimming hole in the entrance of the LaBarge Box Canyon. Hours later, hot and dusty from bush-whacking over an inhospitable saddle, we shivered in its welcome waters.

During the last hour of the day our fatigue was lessened by another Gila monster visit, the discovery of a scorpion only inches from Hanna's fingers, ruins of the Indian Paint Gold Mine and a lethargic turtle.

The attractions came rapid-fire, distracting us from our fatigue. As we made our final push toward camp, my feet ached and I kept waiting for Hanna and Emma to complain. Instead, they harmonized in a rowdy refrain of "It's the best day ever ...!"

After dinner that night, two men hiked by our camp in the dark and stopped to chat. They regaled us with stories of old-time gold-miners and told us of petroglyphs right next to our camp.

They were so full of desert trivia and history that we joked about putting them in our back pockets for the remainder of our trip.

"Do you have a hiking guide to this area?" one asked. We told him we had planned our trip with the excellent "Hiker's Guide to the Superstition Wilderness."

"Yep, that's my book," he proudly stated, and we realized that he was Jack Carlson, author of our favorite guide. Turns out he was in our back pocket after all.

On our final day, we wished we had more time to explore the Superstitions, but as is true with every backpack trip no matter how wonderful, we all emerged from the desert ready to drop our packs, eat junk food and languish in long, hot showers.

We carried with us a couple of cactus spines we would discover in our legs days later and a sense of togetherness, adventure and accomplishment.

In our eyes, Hanna and Emma had grown up quite a bit. After all, they had truly learned about "Arizona desert survival," and as they told everyone upon their return, it had been "the best trip ever."

BagButton recruits the outdoor enthusiasts

Protect Gear, Save space for pennies
Date Released: 05/01/2007

Mossyrock, WA., May 01, 2007 – BagButton LLC. has a 10 year legacy of the most economical vacuum space saving home storage solution in the world. True to the legacy, BagButton is to launch an innovative ad campaign aimed towards the outdoor enthusiast

BagButton can take plastic garbage bags and make vacuum storage space bags that are ideal for all forms of outdoor recreation as well as travel and seasonal storage. The air tight garbage bags are manufactured from polyethylene and enable the user to compress and protect clothing and gear. Compacting compressible items like fleece, sweaters and sleeping bags in plastic bags can yield up to 100% more room in backpacks, suitcases, duffels and closets. BagButton and the vacuum space bags it creates are indispensable for recreational pursuits like camping, hiking, backpacking, boating, hunting, biking, golf – virtually any activity were the cost for space is at a premium and items must be protected from water and dirt. They’re also useful for travel, since packed items take up less space in suitcases and carry-ons.

BagButton enables the user to use plastic bags for both roll-up and vacuum seal. BagButton is used for both versions of compression and are resistant to water, moisture, mildew, dirt, insects and allergens.

In the roll-up version, air is manually squeezed from the bag through the opened port located on the BagButton. As the air is removed, the packed items compress, “shrink-wrapping” the contents and freeing up to twice as much room. BagButton space-savers are airtight and watertight, so packed items stay protected.

The roll-up version is perfect for backpacking, water sports, boating, canoeing, kayaking, day hiking and car camping. Plastic garbage bags come in virtually unlimited size and styles and a price range from 5 to 50 cents per bag, depending on the size, style and manufacture.

The vacuum-seal storage version uses an ordinary home or shop vacuum to remove air through the BagButton. This version is ideal for off-season, long term storage of bedding, sweaters and bulky outer-garments like parkas and cold-weather gear. Plastic bags come in some pretty amazing sizes so it’s left up to the user as to what can be vacuum sealed.

BagButtons are available at selected retail locations throughout the World and on the web at www.bagbutton.com. www.bagbutton-space-bags.com .

The BagButton is manufactured and distributed by BagButton LLC. Incorporated in 2004, BagButton is recognized as the global leader in the development and marketing of innovative, economical, space-saving storage solution. BagButton’s corporate offices and warehouse are located in Mossyrock Washington with support offices in Overland Park, KS. and Smyrna Beach, FL.

About BagButton LLC.
About The families and staff of BagButton.

We are Made in the United States.

BagButton, Global leader in economical space saving solutions, provides the highest quality and most economical portable vacuum space saving solutions in the World.

Our Links- www.bagbutton.co.uk www.bagbutton.com www.bagbutton-space-bags.com

BagButton LLC

BagButton LLC has been in business for 10 years designing the BagButton in order to bring the BagButton to the market place in February of 2004. We are deeply involved in the economical space saving industry. We were formed with the objective of becoming the major economical participant in the space saving industry, targeting all retail outlets and the massive market that exists with space saving technology. We have established a strong relationship with distributors World Wide. We have established a work ethic and pride in our new and innovative product at a very competitive price. We have been quite successful at this by concentrating on a relatively small number of products in our line. Financial results for our first, second and third year are well above the projected expectations.