The Superstitions, Goldfield, Tortilla Flats

The Superstitions

Superstition is a big word in Apache Junction. The cause is the mountains pictured here, named by the local Indians as the Superstition Mountains. They are visible from our campsite in Superstition Buttes 55+ park, which is just down the road from Superstition Boulevard.

Watching the mountains is a little like watching the lake, or watching the ocean. If you look at them over time, you can envision different moods and feelings that the mountain range will offer, from glowing in the late afternoon sun, hiding behind low clouds, or standing strong in midday. Forgive me, but growing up in nothing more than hills in Massachusetts, and living in the flatlands of Minnesota for 20 years, I am amused and inspired by seeing these geologic wonders.

One day last week, Bill and Pat said, "C'mon, we're going to ride out to Tortilla Flats." This was fine with us, since Consuelo had heard about the place, without really knowing what it was, but wanted to go check it out. So we planned to have lunch out there, and packed into Bill's SUV.

Our first stop was Goldfield, the first town outside Apache Junction. Goldfield had been a goldmine town, now was a tourist attraction with western flair. They have their collection of buildings dating from the 1880's, including a hotel, a bordello, and a collection of merchant shops.

Goldfield cowboys in town

To keep the tourists amused, they stage a gunfight in the streets every couple of hours. They also offer horse rides, train rides, and you can pan for gold.

We spent an hour of so looking in the shops, watching the gunfight and Pat checked out the Bordello She is an honorary deputy sheriff back in Massachusetts, and when the Madam in the bordello told her that they waived the $2.00 entrance fee for law enforcement, she whipped out her badge and got her $2.00 back. Seems unfair to me.

The 4 of us with the wooden Indian

After leaving Goldfield, we continued up a tortuous winding road, route 88, which eventually winds its way up to Roosevelt dam. The next attraction along the way, normally, is Canyon Lake. But the lake was virtually empty, as it had been drained to perform routine maintenance on the dam. Roosevelt, Canyon and Saguaro are 3 of the man-made lakes on the Salt River, providing fresh water and electric power to the Phoenix area.

Downtown Tortilla Flats

Our next and final stop was Tortilla Flats, a former stagecoach stop along the Apache Trail, that became a town of 125 when folks were travelling back and forth to build Roosevelt Dam, back in early part of the 20th century. The current resident population is 6, and there is a restaurant, a general store, and a small museum.

The restaurant has a small but inviting menu of burgers and Mexican fare, reasonably priced. They were doing a good business, as apparently lots of folks make the winding trip out to see a little town at the end of the hard road.

Paintings in the ladies room

Pat and Consuelo went to the ladies room and saw these great paintings on the walls and stall doors. Consuelo came back and got my camera and took a few pictures. Thy were quite hilarious.

After lunch we checked out the museum, then made our way back to AJ to catch a nap.

Arizona fishing (Updated)

Saguaro Lake boat ramp

My one and only brother Bill set up housekeeping in Apache Junction, Arizona, last year. He found a home in a 55+ park and, with his girlfriend Pat. duplicated many of the things they have in Massachusetts: two cars, a boat, a really nice organ, and comfortable living. Bill worked long and hard, and late in life. I'm glad for him that he's able to enjoy life in retirement.

The Arizona boat is a 20' Sea Ray with a 190 HP Chevy inboard/outboard which he found on Craig's List. It was designed for skiing and such, but he's made some good modifications to use it as a bass boat. He took out the front seats, and built a raised floor in the front with a fishing seat, and added a 24v trolling motor with a Garmin fish-depth finder.

We planned to do some fishing here, as Arizona has numerous lakes and reservoirs, and has one of the highest boats-per-capita numbers in the nation. The closest is Saguaro Lake, one of three reservoirs on the Salt River, about 18 miles from his house.

Bill with the boat

So far, the fishing has been obstructed by Murphy. Before we arrived, he had the boat parked in the street in front of his house, and a neighbor's friend backed into it and bumped it. No apparent damage, but an auspicious start nonetheless. After we arrived, we took the boat to Saguaro Lake, but the boat would not start. He had planned on taking it in for service, as it has sat since last spring untouched. So, we went from the boat ramp to the shop in Tempe. A few days later he got it back. Again, we took it to Saguaro late one afternoon, and it started and seemed to run OK. We checked out the trolling motor, and that all worked fine. We only had about an hour, and found no fish.

After bringing it home, he discovered that there was excessive side-to-side play in the I/O unit, and after checking with the shop, determined that the likely cause was that the accident did cause some damage. He got an estimate for repairs, negotiated with the perp, and got a settlement. The boat went back to the shop. A week later it was back.

We spent a morning getting the depth finder mounted, and went back to Saguaro to check it all out. This time, all worked perfectly, and we still caught no fish. But we talked with others who were successful and got some tips on what lures to use, so we took a trip to Bass Pro yesterday, and we're ready to go fishing in earnest soon. Of course, it's almost time to leave here, so we'd better get out there!

For me, fishing in Arizona is Epiphany (defined as: "A sudden revelation of truth inspired by a seemingly trivial incident." as used by James Joyce). The revelation here is that it might be possible to catch fish when surrounded by saguaro cactus in the middle of the desert. Being there just seems strange, given my Massachusetts/Minnesota/Maine background.

Possible. Possible. We'll keep trying. It beats the alternative.

Update (12/26)

Saguaro Lake shoreline

We got a long day back at Saguaro Lake, with new lures, live bait, everything as we thought it should be. While the day was cool, the wind was light and the sun was bright and warming. I made us some sandwiches for lunch, and we got to the lake around 12:00 noon. We've done this enough times now that the launch is more or less routine. I backed the boat into the water, and Bill tried to start it, but it wouldn't start. The engine battery was nearly drained in the process.

Not wanting to throw in the towel, we asked a few guys who were putting in or taking out their boats if they had any jumper cables. We finally found a guy who did, and Bill pulled one of the trolling motor batteries and jumped the engine battery. Much to our glee, the boat started.

We headed out into the lake and found some fish. Tried all our lures. Tried lots of spots. The depothfinder displayed lots of fish, at various depths, but they didn't care for what we were offering them. Other guys on the lake said they were only catching very small fish, 6-8 inches.

We ate our lunch, trolled alomg the shoreline.

Bill trying to land a bush

ow, don't think that just because we caught no fish that we didn't catch anything. We both caught stuff on the bottom severl times each, resulting in the loss of a couple lures and a couple hooks with worms or anchoves. And Bill casts his lures much farther than he thinks he can, catching stumps and bushes on the shore.

But, that's why they call it fishing, not catching. And, honest, the live bait died trying for us.