Chapter 3: Into the Mountains

Jason’s first task was to try to pinpoint likely sites for a tribe of warriors to live. Armed with the general description of the area that the Hohokam Indians had settled and irrigated nearly two thousand years before and Samuel’s journal describing his ordeal in the mountains and his subsequent labor to rebuild what the Hohokam had left behind, he opened his well-worn map of the of present day Mesa and Apache Junction and the tiny village of Gold Valley, and targeted his first site to explore.

Driving from his apartment in Tucson, he reached the trailhead of the Hieroglyphic Trail at about one o’clock. The parking lot was nearly full, which meant that there would be many people on the trail. As he made his way up the nearly mile and a half of relatively easy hiking, the number of people on the trail confirmed his first impression. This was a very popular trail for beginners and families and his lost tribe was not going to be located near this trail. There were some interesting petroglyphs depicting hunters and various types of animals and cave-like structures, which were encouraging, but it wasn’t until he reached the end of the trail that his spirits soared. Here at the end of the trail, after a more difficult climb over rocky terrain, he discovered a flowing spring and a waterfall forming a relatively large pool at its base.

‘Just perfect for the lost tribe of warriors to bathe in or to replenish their drinking water,’ he thought. However, as he looked around, he could see no place for the once thriving community to have made their camp. As he stood on the rocks behind the free flowing spring, he glanced to the east. Here was very rocky terrain, with much more difficult climbs. It would not be something that the average hiker on this trail would attempt.

He stayed at the spring taking in the view of the Valley of the Sun; he tried to imagine what those warriors must have thought about that most inhospitable landscape and what they would think of it now with over five million inhabitants in the Metro-Phoenix area alone. Not to mention what they would think of the jet airliners gliding in for a landing at Sky Harbor International Airport in the distance.

When he had seen enough, he joined the rest of the hikers as they slowly proceeded down the trail back to the trailhead. Even accounting for the time he spent at the spring the entire hike took less than two hours, but if he included his travel to and from his apartment each day his entire travel time would be nearly six hours, wasting entirely too much daylight time. He had to find a base of operations closer to this location. After he got back to his car and as he was leaving the parking lot, he noticed a large house being built on a rise that he was sure overlooked the trail. The builder had, optimistically, placed a for sale sign at the foot of the road leading to the house. Making note of the phone number to call, he resumed his long drive home where he made his call.

One of the advantages of being filthy rich is that you can make spur of the moment purchases without giving it a second thought. It took less than two weeks for him to become the proud owner of the only permanent residence on Open Sky Road. From his rear window, he could see the Trail as it snaked its way into the Superstition Mountains. Better still, he was less than one hundred yards from the trail itself, an easy hike down to the trail.

The house was huge, far more space than he needed, and his apartment furniture looked lost in the big rooms. There would be time later to have the house professionally decorated. Now he had to prepare for his first venture off the trail and into the rugged bolder filled landscape east of the trail.

Dressed in a long sleeved shirt, a pair of heavy jeans, a pair of heavy-duty hiking boots and a wide brimmed hat and carrying a large backpack, he set out at first light. Even at this early hour, he encountered several hikers. He was sure they thought he was entirely over dressed for the trail. Jason didn’t care, he knew he was dressed properly for what he was about to do. When he reached the spring, instead of stopping to admire the local flora and the impressive giant saguaro cacti, he continued past the spring and headed east making his own trail across the face of the mountain. The going was extremely slow. Several times he nearly lost his footing, which, if he had, would have probably cost him his life. He knew his destination, it was about a mile east of the spring; it was the last of a series of deep valleys, sheltered from the direct rays of the merciless Arizona sun. He finally reached the crest that overlooked the valley below when the sun began to set. It was here that he would spend the night.

Jason removed his backpack, took out his sleeping bag, removed his boots, his jeans and his shirt, and stuffed them into his backpack. His dinner consisted of two protein bars and half of his remaining water. He had about six feet of level ground between him and the valley below so wandering around after dark was out of the question. Moving off to the side, away from his campsite, he took care of his personal needs, returned to his sleeping bag, and crawled in for the night. The last thing he did was zip himself in, thus making it harder, but not impossible, for creatures of the night to enter. As he gazed up at the clear nighttime sky, he was amazed at the infinite number of stars that he could see. He was far enough away from the city lights to be able to see stars that he had never seen before.

“Is this what it was like when you walked this area?” he wondered out loud.

That night he dreamed of Maria, the warrior dancer, and Samuel’s tale in his diary. His dream weaved all these facts into a tale so vivid that at one point he was sure that Maria was standing over him.

The next morning, he rose with the sun and, after taking care of business, dressed and walked the rim of the valley, searching for a way down to the floor below. He had just about given up hope of getting down there when he heard a voice that seemed to be coming from below. The floor of the valley was filled with what looked like Mesquite trees that blocked his view of the ground below.

‘If there are that many trees down there, then there must be a source of water as well.’

He continued to stare at the vegetation below, when suddenly a human form appeared briefly through the trees, but then just as quickly disappeared again. Jason ducked down removed his back pack and stretched out onto the ground, just his head sticking out over the edge. Try as he might he couldn’t see the image of the person that he was sure he had seen before. He was so intent on the task at hand that he never heard the two people who snuck up behind him, one taking his backpack, the other standing directly over him. Jason sensed rather than saw that he was no longer alone. He quickly turned, in the process losing his hat over the edge. What he saw he could not quite comprehend. There standing over him was not just one but two female warriors, naked from the waist up, just as he had envisioned them in his dream. Both were beautiful and both appeared to be angry.

One reached down and yanked him to his feet, pushing him forward, indicating that he should follow the one that led the way carrying his backpack. About a third of the way around the western edge of the rim, there appeared a steep path, which led down to the valley floor below. It could not be seen from the eastern or northern side of the rim because it descended within a deep fissure in the rock wall. It could be seen from the south if you could get there; he was reasonably sure that no one ever had; the climb was excessively steep. It was the perfect hiding place. Then it struck him, ‘these are the actual descendants of the lost tribe, the Amazonians’.

When they reached the bottom Jason looked around, the valley was not wide, probably less than five hundred feet across, but it was completely covered with ancient mesquite trees all trying to reach the sunlight above; existing at all due to the water that was running from a cave near the center of the valley wall into a series of irrigation ditches which brought the life giving water to not only the trees, but the gardens that had been planted among the trees. Nearly the entire valley floor was flooded. Pushing him forward once again, they continued down a path that ended in front of a small cave. One of the warriors entered the cave while the other stood guard over their prisoner.