Day 81

The Lost Dutchman State Park borrows its name from the interesting Legend of the Lost Dutchman Mine, a gold mine they claim.  First, I must clear one thing up right away, the “dutchman” of the fable was not actually Dutch, he was German (in German, the word is Deutschman) so the others got it wrong, but who can blame them?  MS Word keeps telling me I spelled it wrong too; it should be the other. 

Anyway, the lost mine is fabled to be located somewhere in the Superstition Mountains.  Since my campsite is right at the foot of these mountains, I couldn’t help but want to know the origins of the legend.  The story has it that for a couple of centuries, one or another explorer had worked the mine, reaping big lodes and still the mine was never registered as a claim.  Apparently, adventurers continue to comb over the area looking for the treasure, but never found it. 

If you want to read about the legend, this looks like a good place to start.

https://curiosity.com/?utm_source=discovery&utm_medium=discoverydotcom&utm_campaign=articlefooter

There are lots of trails in this park, even one that goes up to the flats about 2.4 miles straight up.  I’ll settle for the easy botanical trail thank you.  Below are some random pictures of the park.  Beautiful, eh?       

Apache Junction, AZ