The alarm went off at 5:02am. I quickly downed an energy drink and a Clif Bar, then we were in the Jeep, on our way to the trailhead.

With the help of a headlamp, had in her pack, we started our hike about 40 minutes before the sun even came up. We thought about going to the Wave Cave, but worried that might also be the destination of the occupants of the other 9 or 10 early arriving cars.

As the sun started to appear on the horizon, we decided our goal for the morning would be the Carney Springs Waterfall, with a stop at the Shaka Cave on the way back. It was only about 4.4 miles out and back.

The waterfall turned out to be more of a water “trickle”, but hey, in the middle of the desert, you take what you can get. We still had the cave.

As I looked back down at the cave, I was a little dubious about its “Skaka” moniker. I really didn’t see. Even once we arrived at the entrance, it didn’t seem like much of a cave.

But then once we went inside and started taking pictures looking back out, I eventually moved to spot where it became obvious why they called it Skaka.

Even on the way back to the trailhead parking, the views were still pretty nice.

This was just a quick overnight jaunt. But the Superstition Mountains is definitely a place we’ll visit again … and next time we’ll catch the Wave Cave at sunset.

Til Next time,

Memories:

(A look back at post from around this time a year ago):

The Skaka Cave