Since our last update we moved east of Mesa/Phoenix out to an area just on the NE side of Apache Junction. We are camped in a great State Park called the “Lost Dutchman.” The name is derived from a man who was lost in the desert. He was a Miner and rumor has it that he struck it rich out here in these hills. Unfortunately he disappeared and no one has found his mine.
Until the last 30 years here were lots of different mines and there are still plenty of Cowboys. In fact just across the highway is the Ghost Town we spoke of a few days earlier.
We are “Dry Camping” which is great. It means no hookups, no power, and no water/sewer. At just $10/night we love it. The motorhome has been great – when we need TV or power we turn on the Generator (switch is on the dash). For heat and hot water we just run off propane and it seems to be quite frugal in the amount that it uses. I love camping with a nice warm shower each morning!
As Thursday (24th) is the American Thanksgiving we have watched the campground fill up each day. They celebrate Thanksgiving much more than we do in Canada
On Wednesday evening (23rd) we went on a Park Ranger led hike. There were about 15 of us on the hike. As we are camped at the base of the famous “Superstition Mountains
Apparently more people are hit by lightening in AZ than bit by Rattlers each year. From December to February they aren’t much of an issue at all as they are usually curled up inside somewhere – just hoping that doesn’t mean in our shack!
We had a great time on the hike which was about 3 miles or so. It went from the day-use area in our camp site along the base of the Superstitions and then back around by our camp site. We got finished at about 6pm.
About one hour later I was sitting outside on a lawn chair at our site and noticed that Helicopters were looking for a place to land on top of the mountain beside us. They had spotlights on and it was apparent to be some kind of search or rescue mission. My past career and experiences told me that rescue missions of this type at night are only in rare urgent situations and most times have to wait till morning. As I continued to watch it appeared to be very urgent. As I sat there I recalled hearing sirens minutes before.
I called Barb outside to come and watch. Barb ended up talking to a neighbor camper who had just been told it was a plane crash! She had seen lots of what looked like fireworks and the person who told her said that they had seen the plane flying too low and then the explosion!
What a terrible feeling we all had come over us. As we looked up one could see the orange glow so we walked down the road a bit more – not even a city block from our camp spot and there were the flames. One could see there were at least three smaller fires and one main fire burning. If you knew the terrain of this mountain in that area (basically straight up) and saw what we just saw; there was little hope.
One person said they thought it was a small jet and another thought it was a dual engine private type aircraft. Later it was confirmed that it was a twin engine privately owned aircraft.
The fire burned for at least an hour or so afterwards. The Helicopters continued flying back and forth to the top. Likely taking in rescue personnel.
As we stood there watching and listening I saw the biggest, closet and brightest meteorite I have ever seen! It was huge, bright white light and then it started to break up and disappeared from the sky as fast as I could mention “look!”
Nov. 24th (Thursday) I woke up (at 715am) to the sound of Helicopters flying right over top of us. I couldn’t sleep so I went out side and sure enough they were flying back and forth to the top of the mountain about every 15 minutes most of the day. One was the Sheriff’s Chopper. They had a staging area set up in the “day use” area of our camp site which they were landing. A few minutes after landing each time they would take off back up the mountain, I couldn’t count how many times. The “day use” area was just off to the side where we were camping.
Later in the afternoon we went into Apache Junction so that we could get caught up with email updates from home and work. As we were leaving the camp-ground we saw several Sherriff cars blocking off roads. We had already been told that the hiking trails were closed for the day. As we got to the exit where the Park Ranger office is there must have been at least six News vans/trucks parked in the parking lot. The camp ground had been closed to the public except the ones (like us) who were already camping in there. The TV Vans had their Telescopic Dishes all raised high in the air presumably waiting for more on the breaking story.
When I thought of the hiking trails being closed I recalled we had gotten off the trail at 6pm. We later found out the plane crashed at 630pm basically right above where we were. It had just gotten quite dark at that time and one can’t help to wonder what went wrong.
From viewing the crash site today near the top of the mountain it was obvious they weren’t high enough. So sad… Why did this tragedy happen? We just pray for their families; all six died at the scene.
We spent Thursday (American Thanksgiving) just relaxing (as usual) and enjoying the cool weather. It only went up to maybe 70F today with overcast skies. The making for a beautiful sunset and the clouds helped deliver it perfectly!
JM
Was it windy at night at your campground?? John used to rent planes back when he had his pilots license in the US...I remember him telling me that the take-off & Landings in the desert were often the scariest because of strong winds & wind-sheers (especially near mountains)...and that you have to be careful to fly higher than normal to leave "space" for wind-sheer recovery?? a hard thing to do when the scenery is so gorgeous you want to fly lower to see it all, perhaps the pilot who crashed made this same mistake...just a theory :S
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