Red Mountain

Like the Superstitions, Red Mountain is pretty much a fixture in our lives - visible when we go to the river, to church, or most anywhere to the north or west. It located on reservation land north of the Salt River and is especially colorful late in the afternoon or early in the morning.

A couple weeks ago, the phone chimed with a late afternoon e-mail announcing a new cache had published named Red Mountain Vista. With a name like that, we decided to see if we could pick up a First To Find (FTF). We got to the coordinates, managing to stay out of the mountain bikers way, and were the first to sign the logs.

The best part was watching the light change on the mountain as we hiked back to the truck just before the sun set. Turns out this cache was hidden by a gal who BJ has known for several years and who has done some dog sitting for us.

Usually, new caches around here are announced in the middle of the night. Rumor has it that the volunteer reviewer actually lives in Korea - thus the midnight to 4 am normal publishing times. Another cache was published a couple days ago but I was in the midst of my ditch digging project. When no one found it the first day, I headed out before sunrise the second day, hoping to snag another FTF.

It was fun watching the sunrise start to color the sky as I hiked out to the cache location. It was about a mile from the car and I had the trail to myself.

I signed the log and took a picture of Red Mountain before the morning light hit it. Once again, a FTF.

Both of these caches involved a couple mile hike (round trip) and are in locations with great views, but they are not getting many visits. I'm starting to think that most cachers around here are allergic to too much exercise.

The best part of the morning was the view of the mountain about the time I got back to the car. Morning light and a reflection in the Arizona Canal. A great way to start the morning!