On Tuesday of our week in Mesa, my wife and I decide to hike and scramble up a trail on the western side of the granite bluffs overlooking Apache Junction.  We begin at Lost Dutchman State Park and take the Siphon Draw trail which approaches the middle of the massif seen in this picture to the right.




The trail begins with a fairly gentle slope.  On this beautiful day, a number of other day hikers are taking the trail with us.  Some were out-of-towners like us. Others do this route weekly as exercise.








However, after about 500 feet of climbing, the entrance into the ravines is reached.  More and more rocks are found on the trail and the beauty of the pathway increases considerably.




It is a mystical place, completely perfect for the tones of a Native American Flute. As the sound of the flute echoes among the rock faces, the music returns to my ear improved by the multiple reflections.










It is hard to adequately describe the size of the rock formations we are surrounded with as we make the climb. Look carefully at this piece of the cliffs.  That's Diane in the white shirt.  (And that is only about half the cliff face.



But not everything getting our attention is huge. In the week before we arrived, there was a large amount of rain in the desert. This week, everything is blooming and green and beautiful. The brown of the desert is replaced by spring's green and flowers carpet the area between the blocks of granite fallen from the rock faces above.





As we continue the trail, we gain more and more altitude above the flat plain of the valley floor.  Here, we are about a thousand feet above the streets below.



Turning the other direction, we have almost reached the level of the basin where the trail ends and rock scrambling begins.  Just about the center of this picture is one wall of the basin.  On that wall, three hikers can just barely be seen sitting on a rock ledge.

Up over the basin, to the right is a formation known as the Flat Iron, and to the left is Weaver's Needle - said to be the secret location of the Lost Dutchman mine.



On the trail to the basin, the high desert blooms in abundance, with life oozing from every crack. This Saguaro has just begun life that may last 250 years.





At the entrance to the basin, we sit to take a rest. The shadows are dark and the bright sun only shines on the south facing cliff sides. We have reached a point about 1200 feet above the valley.



Here, the rock formation suddenly changes.  Instead of broken rock, the cavity of the basin is swept smooth by rain, hollowed out by eons of the forces that make and wear down mountains.  And, quite amazingly, there is water in the desert!  A burbling stream flows through the middle of the basin, fed by sheet water on both sides.