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| Hiking | 15.41 Miles |
3,031 AEG |
| | Hiking | 15.41 Miles | | | |
| 3,031 ft AEG | | 15 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | I took a mid week Payson rim hike to beat the heat. Forecast was 40% chance of rain so I packed rain gear too. I selected the Horton super loop. I love rim hikes. Lots to see here so excited to go, but slept in and got there around 11am. For some reason I wasn’t feeling great at the start. Not to worry because I had scouted the early July temps and knew it’d be agreeable. I decided to just take it easy and enjoy the day. It was a solo, so I just travelled at whatever pace I felt like. The weather was cloudy and breezy and really nice, especially compared to the blast furnace back home.
Just for fun I decided to wander down to the pin location of Horton Spring. It was a bone dry event, and I’m quite certain that the map pin needs to be moved to where the actual spring is. You know, the rock face with all the water pouring out of it that everybody goes to. I cannot remember how to move the pin.
I saw 18 people the entire trip and 17 of them I crossed paths before reaching Horton Spring. Mostly groups of folks enjoying the Horton Creek area. I also passed a group of 4 older backpackers coming back down from their adventure. Up on the rim there were a few scattered disbursed camps but it was really quite as I strolled along General Crook and other forest roads. There were a lot of marked trees. I seem to remember reading about deforestation a while back so makes sense.
The campsites along SR764 apparently don’t see many visitors. Up top I met a juvenile Black Bear that reared and took off in the opposite direction before I had a chance to grab my phone. I also saw signs of huge elk along the road. Thunder was rumbling and lightening was getting closer. I started getting first drops on the Promontory section so I bagged everything up. It turned out to be a false alarm and I pretty much hiked back with light drizzle. Had a cloudburst after I was in my car driving down to Payson so the weather worked out pretty well. The sunset was awesome as well as I drove back home.
Glad to get here midweek. The area will be packed this weekend for sure. I’ll be staycationing the holiday with friends and family, so should be another great Independence Day.
Happy 4th of July HAZ! |
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