Lost Mines

By: D.S.

Legend holds that a great treasure lies hidden somewhere in or near the Superstition mountains; The Lost Dutchman's Mine, the richest gold mine discovered in the American west, it's secret location lost with the death of Jacob Waltz, fueled by the discovery of a box of gold nuggets discovered in beneath his deathbed.

Treasure hunting is a perilous business and many have died in the pursuit. The Superstition Mountains are brutal and unforgiving. Water is not found often and when it is, the stinging insects and territorial animals who got there first covet it. Your very flesh sustains others as small cuts and scrapes from the rough rocks become a watering hole for all manner of scavengers.

I spent several days hunting for the treasure myself and nearly lost myself. Stumbling back along the path I tried to get a little moisture from the fruiting cacti I passed. I was in no real emergency and had some bottled water left, but sucessive 120 degree days had destroyed the spirit. Fantasies of wealth turned to gas stations and slushie machines.

Did I find anything out there? A sign that the gold was real? It hardly matters. Anyone whose seen hell knows: nothing is worth it.

It's out there.

-2012-
anatomy
sleepwalking
new chapter

-2011-
like sedona?
torn in two
blink
bridge to nowhere
door
hitting the wall
elusive 2
elusive 1
ascenders
voyage
hole
icarus

-2010-
revisited 2
revisited 1
which way?
the pit
lost mines
narrow
snowfall
chute
false floor
monolith
crack
freeze
slice
bunker
in their footsteps
resolution

-2009-
goodbyes
undercurrents
casting the bones
mountain thief
the deer hunter
strange temple
sanctuary
burial pt. 3
burial pt. 2
burial pt. 1
scarlet fever
return to hell
forsaken
the lower depths
underground lake
stretch sewer
crypt
still waters
shadow movements
meager rations
sw pt.8: geothermal + ending
sw pt.7: lost gold mines
sw pt.6: big tube caves
sw pt.5: gold!
sw pt.4: el calderon caves
sw pt.3: redondo
sw pt.2: ghosts
southwest adventure pt.1
the river
dark salvation
reflections
dreams
the underdark
night odyssey
beginnings