Follow the Noise: A Saga of Fire and Flood in the Arizona Desert and the Scars Left Behind

“The wretched sound grew louder, louder, louder. It sounded as if the entire canyon above us was being dredged up, everything brought down. The gushing, crunching, and sloshing echoed throughout the cove like a desert avalanche.”In 1903, the Apache Trail was carved through the Superstition Mountains as a supply road for Roosevelt Dam - the first dam on the Salt River. By 1905, it became a stagecoach route, drawing the first tourists into the heart of the Arizona desert.A series of dams were built on the Salt River, creating four reservoirs to sustain the burgeoning city of Phoenix. Pavement eventually smothered the sections of the Apache Trail used to reach three of the lakes, but the paved road ended in a rattle before reaching the deepest recesses of the mountains. Tucked away in isolation, Apache Lake became a hidden sanctuary where a rugged resort eventually took root.As desert was converted to domain, nature responded. In 2019, a massive wildfire scorched the Superstitions, followed by historic storms that triggered catastrophic flash floods and rockslides. These disasters, followed by a second wildfire across Four Peaks in 2020, severed access to the region for months.When the resort finally reopened, a group of lifelong friends returned to the water they grew up on together. But as a monsoon gathered in the mountains high above their cove, the picturesque day turned into a fight for their lives.Follow the Noise is a personal journey flowing through the legends of those who try to conquer the wilderness, only to confront the raw, violent power of the natural world. Read more