YOUR GUIDE TO ARIZONA RIM COUNTRY
PAGE 4 • SUMMER 2013
PAYSON ROUNDUP
Hiking: Easy ambles, arduous adventures Hit the trail to watch the sun set while sitting with legs dangling over the edge of the world. From the very young to the very old, everyone in the family can enjoy this trail, even from a wheelchair or a mountain bike.
Rim Country offers cool hikes for every inclination
A STROLL BY THE CREEK
BY MICHELE NELSON ROUNDUP STAFF REPORTER
Wanna take a hike during your summer visit to the Rim Country but just not sure where? Try some of these options — from the strenuous to the social, the Rim Country has a hike for everyone in the family.
HIKES IN TOWN: THE PAYSON WALKERS For the more social types, meeting up with the Payson Walkers offers a chance to see new neighborhoods in Payson and meet local folks. The group started last year by Mary Mastin who joined a similar group when she stayed in Whitefish, Montana. “I didn’t know anyone, but I met a lot of people through the group,” she said. The walkers in Whitefish not only introduced Mastin to locals, she learned the community. The Payson walking group meets every morning at 9 a.m. and walks for about an hour, leaving the rest of the day available for other adventures. The walking group has a calendar with start locations and neighborhoods to walk. To request a copy or to find out more information, please contact Mary Mastin at (928) 4686842 or email her at mastinmb@hotmail.com.
WALK AROUND A LAKE On a really hot day, the perimeter of Woods Canyon Lake up on the Rim offers a leisurely stroll around a beautiful lake and a chance to dip toes in the water to cool off at any time. The lake usually remains open throughout the summer season despite forest closures. To get there from Payson, take Highway 260 east for 30 miles, turn left on FR 300 and follow the signs. Enjoy watching the antics of local critters from birds in the air to fishermen in boats. Osprey and bald eagles glide and dip in their never-ending search for a meal. Ducks crowd the water’s edge looking for a handout. As the sun dips below the horizon, the fish feed a tantalizing few feet from the shore, frustrating fishermen when they refuse to take the bait — but it’s still worth a try because the fisher-
Photos by Pete Aleshire/Roundup
The trail to Fossil Creek (top) offers a challenging trek to paradise. On the other hand, trails along Forest Road 300 offer an easy trek with spectacular views (above).
men are always out in force. The whole hike takes a couple of hours and offers many tempting spots to stop, spread a blanket and have a bite to eat under the pines.
WANDER THE RIM If breathtaking views and an easy stroll are the agenda, then pull over at any viewing spot overlooking the Rim after turning onto Forest Road 300 at the Woods Canyon turnoff, and venture down the paved Rim Trail. The trail recently expanded from an infusion of stimulus money creating a ribbon of black asphalt that winds through the forest overlooking the Mogollon Rim for a couple of miles.
Horton Creek Trail can be a four-mile trek or a slow walk by a stunning creek. Fed by a spring under the Rim at the junction of the Highline Trail and the top of Horton Creek Trail, the meandering jaunt has the unique quality of being shaded by trees for most of the length of the trail. At times, the trail opens up to beautiful meadows, at others it hugs the creek so closely a hiker can peer over the sheer cliffs carved by raging, swollen waters from winter storms or monsoon rains. So gentle is the rise at the bottom of the trail, families with toddlers often wander taking numerous breaks by the creek to allow the little ones a chance to splash about. At the top of the trail, a respectable switchback helps the hiker break a sweat to fully appreciate the cool and refreshing waters of Horton Creek. So pure is the water, no filtration is necessary, just fill up containers straight from the spring source that gushes out from the base of the Mogollon Rim. Camping is allowed and often weekend warriors set up steps away from the trail. If a hiker wanders back to their car at dusk, lanterns at campsites glow through the trees leading the late hiker home. To find the trailhead, take Highway 260 east of Payson and turn onto the road to the Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery. At the bridge next to the RV park, leave a vehicle in the parking lot. The trail is across the street and up a hill.
AN ALL-DAY ADVENTURE If anyone plans on hiking the Grand Canyon rim to rim, spend every weekend for a month hiking the Fossil Creek Trail. With a 1,200-foot elevation change over a four-mile length trail, going up and down to the creek in a day is more than a hike — it’s an adventure. The arid trail is hot and exposed. Getting down early on a hot, summer day is the best answer. Heading up in the cool of the evening will help a hiker avoid heat exhaustion — the number one reason the Tonto Rim Search and CONTINUED ON PAGE 5