Fall Guide 2015 by Payson Roundup

Rim Country Visitors Guide

FALL & WINTER DELIGHTS

• • • • •

Fall color Snow play Hiking trails Favorite things Snowshoe treks

2015/16

PAYSON ROUNDUP

FALL/WINTER 2015

Welcome to Rim Country

Photo courtesy of DJ Craig

These are a few of our favorite things BY PETE ALESHIRE ROUNDUP EDITOR

Pete Aleshire photo

I’m sitting on the banks of the East Verde River, in a saturation of golden cottonwood leaves when it comes to me: Five favorite things. Perfect — the theme for the Fall-Winter Visitors Guide. I’ve got at my crafty editor fingertips great writers with deep knowledge of all things Rim Country — and a tremendous diversity of stuff they like to do. Teresa’s got deep roots set into the history of the region and an expert’s knowledge of every thrift store in the place. Alexis likes to dangle on cliff faces from the ends of long ropes and paddleboard in the winter. Michele likes to find surprising foods and snowshoe to scenic overlooks. Keith likes to snuggle into a cozy sports bar and expand the horizons of his dogs. So I’ll just unleash the best reporters in the state (certified by the Arizona Newspapers Association, by the way) and see what they scrounge up. Hopefully, we’ve come up with a guide to all the things we love best — which will help you have that perfect weekend in Rim Country. Of course, they all went off and came back with their stories. As usual, I put it off to the last minute, got writer’s block — and ended up sitting here on the banks of the East Verde, for a dose of cottonwood yellow. And I’m in a quandary. Five things? My five favorite things to do in winter and fall? Just five? That’s nuts. That’s like asking which of my three kids I love best. Who would come up with such a dumb story assignment? I know. Don’t answer. That was a rhetorical question. But since they’ve already written theirs, without complaint and only modest eye-rolling, I guess I’m stuck. All right: So here are my five favorite children.

FALL/WINTER 2015

Pete’s favorites

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For the Roundup editor, whether it is hitting the snow with his pup or the dance floor at the Buffalo, winter is a time get out

Photographing Fall Color on out along the now snow-covered Forest Road 300. f I’m ambitious and organized (which is rare), I Not only can you head out into the forest through get myself organized in time to drive up toward unbroken snow, but before long you can reach the Snow Bowl above Flagstaff at the perfect peak of the edge of the Rim and savor the 100-mile view, with the landscape transformed into a winter wonderland. aspen. I always bring Lobo, since Given the right timing, it’s watching him bound through a soul-stirring photogasm — Dancing at the Buffalo the snow offers a whole sepawhether it’s last light in the rate source of entertainment golden quiver of aspen or a ll right, I love this in any sea— as well as making me feel still life of gold leaves and son — but it’s especially cozy superior, since my species lichen-covered rocks on the forin the winter. Junction 87 (guess invented snowshoes and his is est floor. But Flagstaff is far, which one of the band members just strong, loyal, handsome, so I’m more likely to dash up shelled Vietnam from a destroyer tireless and cheerful. to a couple of yellow-saturatparked in a river delta) hosts a jam ed aspen groves along Forest session every Sunday night from 5 Skiing Sunrise Road 300. to 9. A cast of characters shows up And if even that exceeds my ast winter I discovered to two-step to the country music planning abilities (alas, more Sunrise, having finally givand tell lies about their glory days. often than not) I miss the aspen ing up babying my knee that The Buffalo has good burgers, a peak and wind up wandering I injured long ago in a tragic great vibe and a just-large enough downstream from my house trampoline accident. dance floor. Everyone has a good along the East Verde River, Well, maybe not tragic — time, lots of music loving rock star focusing on cottonwoods, sycbut certainly humiliating. wannabes take the mic and no one amores, willows, ash, walnut Anyhow, I gave up skiing for takes any of it too seriously. and oaks. like 10 years as a result of the On a good day when I rememcombination of left knee anxiber my polarizer, I can even get ety, poverty and an impatience them to reflect in the waters of the steam. with lift lines — since all my previous skiing experience was in California. Snowshoeing with Lobo Then I discovered this old style ski resort on the e’re supposed to have a big El Niño winter, so White Mountain Apache Reservation just outside of I can’t wait for the first couple or big storms Show Low. Not only does Sunrise lack lift lines, I can atop the Rim. Then I can load my amiable and enthu- afford the hot chocolate. Not a lot of double black diamond runs, but right siastic canine companion in the Jeep with a pair of snowshoes and head out to where Highway 260 tops for a slush duffer like me. out on the Rim. The last thing? Usually, the snowplows go on in on Forest Road 300 toward the now snowed-in Woods Canyon Lake. hich brings us to the entirely arbitrary and A quarter mile in, they stop at a parking area, which unreasonable limit of five favorite things. makes the perfect staging ground for a cross-country So how should I pick the last one? Listening to skiing or snowshoe trek. jazz in the Ayothaya Thai Restaurant in Payson; Just strap on your footwear of choice and trudge tasting beer at THAT Brewery in Pine; taking folks

One of Pete’s favorite places to take Lobo in the winter is Forest Road 300.

to Sunday brunch at the Randall House; hiking up to the Spanish Ruins off Doll Baby Road; hiking the Horton Creek Trail: fishing for Verde trout in Fossil Creek; snowball fights with grandchildren on the Rim; sitting almost anywhere on the banks of the East Verde River? Well, of course, I could go on (and on and on), but now they’re giving me dirty looks because I didn’t stick to five. I can understand. What a dumb assignment.

Dancing at the Buffalo Bar and Grill on the Beeline Highway and East Bonita Street is popular with locals and people passing through.

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FALL/WINTER 2015

Pete Aleshire/Roundup

The National Weather Service predicts that sea surface warming in the Eastern Pacific will produce a wet winter in Arizona. This photo shows heavy snowfall on the Rim just off Forest Road 300, which in a good winter makes for one of the best cross country skiing or snowshoeing regions in the country. Below, fall color reflected in the waters of the East Verde.

Bracing for an El Niño winter BY MICHELE NELSON ROUNDUP STAFF REPORTER

The National Weather Service reports that we haven’t seen an El Niño this strong since 1950. So what does that mean for the Rim Country? “Odds clearly point towards a wetter than average winter — especially the latter part of the season,” reports the NWS. It also means, buy a good pair of rubber rain boots/ galoshes/gumboots. You’ll need them to deal with all the mud. But will that mean snow? El Niño does bring warmer weather, so the NWS says it’s not sure if mountain snowfall will be above average or not. So, keep the snowshoes easily accessible, but they might not get used too much. The NWS defines an El Niño as, “a prolonged period of unusually warm Pacific waters that influence weather patterns.” This year, the Rim Country has received about 18 inches. That’s on the way to normal which is 24 inches in a year, but the rain would have to drench us, the year only has two more months. Guess it’s a measure of the intensity of the drought that an almost normal year makes getting out to enjoy the outdoors a little more challenging than usual. To still enjoy hiking and outdoor activities, consider driving down the hill to the Barnhardt Trail or trails in and around Tonto Basin. Or, a drive down the Apache Trail might be in order. Tortilla Flats has some good lunch spots and the drive goes through gorgeous landscapes. The trail passes Roosevelt, Saguaro and Apache lakes. The lower altitude of the lakes means warmer weather and less of a chance of rain. Nice places for a picnic or a brisk kayak or canoe trip. If one doesn’t mind the rain, then throwing on a slicker and some rubber boots to walk in the clean pine smelling air on one of the trails in the Payson Arizona Trails System can be the perfect warm up to a cup of chai tea at Scoops Ice Cream and Espresso

near the movie theater. Some people prefer to make a few loops around Green Valley Park before warming up with a hot cup of coffee. The benefit? Not much mud on the cement path. Then again, the NWS will not fully commit to a huge above normal rainfall. “There is a fairly small sample size for moderate to strong events,” said Mike Halpert, deputy director at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center in a news report. That means there is a 60 percent chance of above average rainfall, a 33.3 percent chance of normal rainfall and a 7 percent chance of below average rainfall. The NWS does predict the ocean temperatures strongly indicate snow will only fall at the higher elevations, while rain will fall at the lower. Just be sure to keep those mud boots around.

FALL/WINTER 2015

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Mazatzal Casino: Refuge in the winter BY TERESA MCQUERREY ROUNDUP STAFF REPORTER

Pete Aleshire/Roundup

Want to spend time with some great people, have a lot of fun, enjoy some good food and maybe even win some money? Then plan a stop at the Mazatzal Hotel & Casino. Winning is never guaranteed, but fun, good food and meeting great people are a sure thing at the casino, owned and operated by the Tonto Apache Tribe. Twenty-three years ago, the Tonto Apache Tribe’s Mazatzal Casino started out in a one-room modular unit. Today, it includes a 53,000-squarefoot casino and hotel and helps drive the local economy. There are all kinds of slots to play from video poker to too many theme games to keep straight. You can play a penny a time on video keno games and on up. Live poker and blackjack games are also available. Winning may not be guaranteed, but when it happens — Wow! Not long ago I was making 50-cent bets on a game built around the theme of Moby Dick and just behind me and to the left I have witnessed two different women win thousands of dollars. One won about $12,500 and the other won more than $20,000 — and that was just over the course of a couple of months. Last winter I enjoyed a phenomenal stretch of good luck playing the quarter video poker machines (you have the option of playing pennies and nickels on these as well as quarters,

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along with keno). Anyway, just about every time I played between late November and early January I was hitting royal flushes — two or three times I even hit them twice in a single visit. I won so much money I had to pay extra on my income taxes. You don’t always win — and it has been pretty slim pickings since then — but when you do … as I said — Wow! If you play with any regularity — like twice a month when you get paid, more often than not you become acquainted with other “regulars” — almost all of them cheering on the winners. The wait staff gets to know you too and more often than not knows what you want to order when you motion them over when they’re making their rounds. Want a steak or just a steak sandwich? The casino’s culinary staff does a great job. You can go into the Cedar Ridge Restaurant for a nice sit down dinner or go over to The Grille for something more casual. You can also get food from The Grill delivered to the slots you’re playing or into the card room. Go online or check out the signs around the place to see what the special is for any given evening. There is a wonderful coffee shop on site now too. Sit on the west side of the casino and you can hardly resist ordering a cup — it smells that good. Need a place to lay your weary body after a long night gambling. The hotel is right there, with the front desk just to the right of the south entrance.

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FALL/WINTER 2015

Alexis’ favorites

For the Roundup’s cops and courts writer, winter is the time to get out of the courtroom and enjoy the scenery

like to stay busy and plan an adventure nearly every weekend. Whether it’s mountain biking in ISedona, skiing Sunrise or hiking to Fossil Creek, there is just so much to do in central Arizona. In the winter, Rim Country offers something you cannot find anywhere else in the state — snow, but not the huge crowds of Flagstaff. Here are some of my favorite ways to pass a weekend.

Paddleboarding hile it might seem like water sports are out in the winter, since most of the Rim lakes freeze up, it is still possible to paddleboard on Roosevelt Lake south of town. Temperatures are generally higher than Payson, given the lower elevation. Jimmy Carson, of Jimmy’s SUP, said he and his fiancee paddleboard year-round. In the winter, his fiancee puts on her Ugg boots, jacket and pants and goes for a ride with their two dogs in tow, riding shotgun on the front of the boards. Since they use inflatable boards, they don’t worry about dragging them onshore. They step on, push off and never touch the frigid water. After paddling around the shoreline for much of the day, they return to their vehicle, make a pot of hot cocoa and head home to Star Valley.

Staying at a cabin The sky around Payson is one of the best for stargazing. hile Payson gets a few inches of snow, it is National Park Service photo just not the same to wake up to several feet of snow at your doorstep. And you don’t have to go far for such an experience. Taking a class Kohl’s Ranch offers several cabins along the creek ith the days growing shorter, it is easy to fall as well as the Wooden Nickel, Cabins on Strawberry into a funk in the winter. Since I am not able to Hill and Creekside Cabin Rentals off Christopher get out and ride my road or mountain bike as easily Creek. I love to rent a in the winter and some cabin, bring a Scrabble of my other favorite Stargazing board, a few books, my pastimes — climbing, snowshoes and some geocaching and hiking K, this is one of those activities that you deficlose friends for a — are hard to get to nitely need to bundle up for, but Payson offers weekend in the woods. when it’s cold outside some of the best stargazing in the state. In fact, or there is ice, I make the 4.3-meter Discovery Channel Telescope, the a point to sign up for flagship instrument for the Lowell Observatory, Building a class. recently opened Jan. 1, 2015 in Happy Jack just a snowman My two favorite north of Payson. And because Payson has a dark ledding is one of locations are the Tonto sky ordinance, it is possible to spot stars, comets the prime reasons Apache Tribe Gym and even the International Space Station flying Valley residents head and Gila Community overhead, all from the comfort of your porch, to Rim Country in the College. For $30 a especially if you have binoculars or a telescope. winter, especially after month, the gym offers A popular place to stargaze is the Tonto Natural a fresh snowfall. unlimited access to a Bridge State Park. Since I don’t have a telescope, The Forest Service pool, Jacuzzi, two sauone of the easiest ways for me to stargaze is with does not promote any nas, a weight room the Sky Guide phone application. sledding locations and basketball court. There are a number of free and low-cost sky in Rim Country and Zumba and water aerguide apps for iPhone and Android phones, but closed Cinch Hook obics are offered and you can always pick up a handheld paper star near the intersection they are always addchart to view the constellations. of Highways 87 and ing new classes. 260 because it was too At GCC, some of my popular and they did favorite ways to break not have a way to manage the number of visitors. a sweat or get centered are morning yoga, physiobThere are still places to sled and the prime spot in all and Pilates. The community college also offers a Payson is the bowl at Green Valley Park. wealth of classes, most free to seniors 55 and older. I If you get there just after a snowfall, you have have taken everything from Spanish to photography the whole hill to yourself, for at least a few min- and psychology. Still on my list of classes to take utes. Locals love to bring their children over to sled are beginning cake decorating, ceramics and acrylic the small hill. And it is the perfect place to build painting. a snowman and snap a selfie with the lake in the Fall classes end in December with the spring background. semester kicking off Jan. 6.

A fluffy snowman at Rumsey Park.

Pete Aleshire photo

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About 60 miles from Payson in the Tonto Basin, the 1,100-acre Tonto National Monument centered on two sets of well-preserved cliff dwellings has inspired decades of research and visitors. Recent discoveries have focused on the discovery of 3,000- to 8,000-year-old spear points and other artifacts at a site overlooking Roosevelt Lake. Ever since the last Ice Age, big-game hunters have made their camps near a small spring within the boundaries of the monument. All told, archaeologists have discovered about 75 prehistoric sites in the monument. The focus still remains on the cliff dwellings and other sites built by a group dubbed the Salado, who farmed the bends and meanders of the Salt River now drowned by Roosevelt Lake. Near the end of their occupation of the region, they built these giant, easily defended cliff dwellings far above the agricultural fields they still depended on, living in them between about A.D. 1100 and about A.D. 1450. Debate continues to rage among archaeologists about the degree to which the Salado were a cultural offshoot of the Hohokam, who built the most extensive civilization in the Southwest where Phoenix now stands along the Salt, Gila and Verde rivers. Recent discoveries suggest that the Hohokam maintained trade networks and built cultural outposts all the way from Southern California to New Mexico. University of California, Berkeley archaeologist Steven Shackley has used chemical analysis of obsidian sources and projectile points to suggest the Hohokam economic dominance covered most of Arizona, from the Colorado River to New Mexico and from the outskirts of the great civilizations of Mesoamerica in Mexico all the way up to Flagstaff. The Hohokam maintained an economic and cultural influence over this vast 50,000 square mile swath of desert and mountains with little evidence of warfare for an extended period. If that theory gains support, it may lead to a re-evaluation of the relationships between the Hohokam in the Valley and the Salado along the Salt River uplands who built the ruins of Tonto National Monument. Another series of new studies suggest that even though the people living in the Tonto Basin, the Verde Valley and the larger Rim Country area may have started as Hohokam colonists or allies, relationships may have deteriorated as the cultures diverged — and floods and droughts strained the Hohokam. Some researchers believe that the construction of great fortresses like the ruins of Tonto National Monument suggest the Salado and other people living in the uplands may have started to build fortresses overlooking their farms in response to slave raids by the Hohokam, seeking labor to maintain their vast canal systems in the face of crop failures and floods. The Salt River’s meandering course through the Tonto Basin formed the

heartland of the Salado, who ultimately built great settlements every couple of miles along the river marked by walled compounds and giant platform mounds — major dwellings built on top of handmade mounds. Those platform mounds provide one connection to the Hohokam, who built similar structures along the rivers in the Valley in the Phoenix area. The Salado occupied a vital crossroads and built sophisticated irrigation works to channel water from the drought and flood-prone Salt River onto fields planted with corn, beans, squash and cotton. They created intricate textiles and a distinctive type of pottery with a vivid abstract design that spread throughout the Southwest — causing all sorts of subsequent headaches and puzzles for archaeologists. The ruins yielded turquoise, bronze bells, parrot feathers, shells and other signs that the Salado participated in thriving trade networks that included the densely settled civilizations of Mexico, coastal California, New Mexico and Colorado. By the same token, the beautiful Salado pottery spread throughout the region. After centuries of occupation along the river, the Salado began building impressive, but remote, cliff dwellings in the surrounding highlands — including the two major sets of ruins protected by the monument. Most of the layered Salado ruins lay down along the river. The construction of Roosevelt Dam in 1906 to provide water and flood control for the Valley submerged most of those ruins. The construction of the cliff dwellings in the monument coincided with a period in which people who had been living in smaller, scattered communiBY PETE ALESHIRE ties concentrated into a smaller number of large settlements. There, they built impressive houses and public spaces on top of giant platform mounts, suggesting either the development of an elite group that could command the labor of many people or perhaps the rise of a religion that would have the same effect. The discovery that people were building the great towns along the river at the same time they were building virtual fortresses in the uplands remains intriguing and largely unexplained. Perhaps they were both reacting to external threats — or perhaps drought or overuse of resources required larger and larger communal efforts to survive.

Tonto National Monument

Ruins pose puzzles for archaeologists

To get there: Drive 17 miles south of Payson on Highway 87 to State Highway 188; turn left on 188 (southeast) and drive 39 miles to Tonto National Monument. The park is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., except Christmas Day. The Lower Cliff Dwelling trail closes to uphill travel at 4 p.m.

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Keith Morris//Roundup

Trails perfect for a meander with dogs wind through Granite Dells, inviting even in the winter. The Payson Area Trails System offers a wealth of options for day hikers — with or without pets.

Hiking with dogs in Rim Country BY KEITH MORRIS ROUNDUP SPORTS EDITOR

I’ve owned three rescue dogs as an adult. The first was Carly, a happy go-lucky Lab-mix from the Humane Society of Flint, Mich. I loved that dog. She was hit by a truck and killed in 1993 at my parents’ farm in Alabama while I was trying to find a place that allowed dogs in Show Low, where I was embarking (no pun intended) on a new job as the sports editor at the White Mountain Independent. I took that news pretty hard. I waited 12 years before discovering a cute and fuzzy little polar bear-looking puppy. I named him Bear after quickly dismissing the notion of keeping the name they pinned on him at the Humane Society — Travis. What a coincidence, that was the name of my ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend. No. Anyway, being a good dog owner, I took Bear on regular walks, usually through the neighborhoods surrounding my home in Flint, Mich. But we took advantage of the change of moving from the suburbs to the White Mountains by walking down the dirt roads leading to my house in Linden most days. Occasionally it was just the three-mile round trip to my mailbox, but many days we covered four miles as I attempted to drop a few pounds. We added a family member four years ago as I sought a playmate for Bear, who suffers from separation anxiety. I decided to commit to rescuing another dog despite my concern that I might not be able to handle two dogs. Bringing home Bailey, an Australian shepherd mix, was the best decision I’ve ever made. She and Bear get along famously. Daily walks on dirt roads remained part of our routine, and we even went on a few hikes in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. But it wasn’t until I moved to Payson two years ago that I began taking my dogs on regular hikes in Tonto National Forest. I’m so glad to live in Star Valley across the road from the forest and access to Monument Peaks Trail. And several other great Rim Country trails in the Payson Area Trails

System (PATS) are within a short drive. It’s so nice to walk out the front door and be in the woods within a couple of minutes. It’s a different world out there, full of wild beauty, rugged terrain and adventure. Walking at about sundown often, we’ve come across elk many times. It’s quite an awesome experience standing within perhaps 60 feet of these majestic creatures. Fortunately, my buddies seem to be in awe like me because they usually stay calm and quiet, something they never do when anyone or anything walks down the road in front of our house. I love that my dogs are getting the daily exercise they need and so am I. And we’re not doing it walking on sidewalks in front of house after house as Bear and I began 10 years ago. No, we’re doing it in front of nobody except the elk, the squirrels, the javelina and the snakes, which I don’t mind not seeing for years.

And some of the prettiest country you could hope for. I love the fall and winter in Rim Country because it’s not too hot to walk in the middle of the day like it often can be in the summer. But if you take your dogs for hikes, make sure you take extra water and a collapsible bowl. And a flashlight if you hike in the forest in the late afternoon just in case. I have my dogs on a leash 95 percent of the time and we often come across dogs running free ahead of their owners. It can be a scary few seconds as you wonder if this dog rushing your way is friendly or is itching for a fight. Fortunately we haven’t run into an aggressive canine in the woods yet. Occasionally I unhook my friends and allow them to explore on their own for a while. I’m concerned about what they might run into, but they enjoy themselves so much I just let them run. They love the forest. I can relate.

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PAYSON AREA TRAILS Thanks to numerous trails offering spectacular views and sometimes challenging terrain, Payson is a hiker’s paradise. Here’s a list of some of the 11 trails in the Payson Area Trails System. The Payson Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department offers free guided Payson Area Trails System (PATS) hikes one Saturday per month throughout the year.

American Gulch Trail South Distance: 1 mile Level of difficulty: Moderate To access the trail, drive 2.6 miles west of the Highway 87 and Main Street intersection on Main Street, which becomes Country Club Drive then turns into Doll Baby Ranch Road. The trail begins on the north side of Doll Baby Ranch Road. Boulders Loop Trail Distance: 2.7 miles Level of difficulty: Moderate This loop features the Boulders North Trail (1 mile) and the Boulders South Trail (1.7 miles). The trailhead is located 3.8 miles down Granite Dells Road from Highway 260, although the road has been closed because of erosion and requires parking on the side of the road and walking 0.25-mile walk

to the trailhead. The trail is also accessible by parking at the end of Phoenix Street. 1.0 miles on Cypress Trail.

Cypress Trail Distance: 2.0 miles Level of difficulty: Moderate There is limited parking at the trailhead, located on Granite Dells Road approximately 2.0 miles from Highway 260. However, the trail is also accessible at the end of Phoenix Street, with ample parking. The trail connects to the Boulders Loop Trail, which is 1 mile from the Phoenix Street parking area. Event Center/ Gila County Trail Distance: 1.5 miles/3.7 miles to Peach Orchard Trailhead Level of difficulty: Moderate This trail intersects and continues on as the Peach Orchard Trail approximately 1.5 miles after the trailhead. The trailhead is located 0.2 miles west of Highway 87 on Green Valley Parkway. Access is available at the southwest corner of Payson Event Center at the end of Green Valley Parkway.

Goat Camp Ruins Trail Distance: 0.3 miles Level of difficulty: Easy This trail connects to the Houston Trail 0.3 miles from Tyler Parkway. This trail passes through archaeological ruins. Trail access is available on the north side of Tyler Parkway at 1000 E. Tyler Parkway. Park on the side of Tyler Parkway. Houston Loop Trail Distance: 3.6 miles Level of difficulty: Moderate Access available from the Chaparral Ranch Trail Access or Mayfield Canyon Road in Star Valley. Houston Trail Distance: 3 miles Level of difficulty: Moderate The main access begins at the Houston Mesa Trailhead, which is approximately 1 mile east of Highway 87 on Houston Mesa Road. The trail can also be accessed at Horse Camp (for campers only) and at the Chaparral Ranch Trail Access at the end of Chaparral Pines Drive, although there is limited parking next to private residences.

Monument Peak Loop Trail Distance: 3 miles Level of difficulty: Easy The trailhead is located on the east side of Granite Dells Road, 3.3 miles from the Highway 260/Granite Dells Road intersection. Peach Loop Trail Distance: 2.6 miles Level of difficulty: Strenuous Access the trail across via the Peach Orchard Trailhead across from Payson Golf Course on Country Club Road. Peach Orchard Trail Distance: 3.7 miles Level of difficulty: Moderate Access the trail at the trailhead across from Payson Golf Course on Country Club Road or via the Event Center/Gila County Trail. Round Valley Trail Distance: 4.1 miles Level of difficulty: Easy to moderate Access Round Valley Trail East (2.4mile length) at the end of S. Gibson Ct. Access Round Valley Trail West (1.7 mile length) through the gate south of Sonic.

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Michele’s favorites

Michele looks forward to four-wheeling in Tonto Basin and hitting the thrift stores for deals

There are many roads to traverse in Tonto Basin if you are looking to put your four-wheeling skills to the test.

Pete Aleshire photo

o, I’ve got my parents coming for a week’s visit this October, and I’m panicked. What will I do S with them? How will I keep them entertained?

In the summer, it’s easy. Find water — hang out. But the fall? It’s too cold for that. So, I guess I’ll just fall back on some of my favorite things, hiking, Jeeping, cozying up for a bite to eat and catching a movie. All things we can work with if it rains.

Hike the Rim Trail for Fall Color adore fall color. The brilliant yellows, oranges and reds mixed with evergreens provide me a moment to stop and relish this transitional time of year — preferably on the easy paved hike along the edge of the Rim to effort-

Jeeping in Tonto Basin he lovely thing about Tonto Basin is the elevation. Because of the T almost 3,000 feet difference in eleva-

tion than Payson, the temperatures always remain warmer. Another added bonus, the place gets less rain. Perfect for exploring in a Jeep, unless you have a serious aversion to dust. All Jeep roads that cross Tonto Creek ultimately take a Jeep up into the Sierra Anchas, a mountain chain that lines the northern boundary of the Basin. The Ancient Salado people have ruins scattered about the mountaintops and along the Jeep trails, but it’s hard to find them unless you have a local guide you. Yet the different drives can take the adventurer past a couple of creeks, or past glades perfect to stop and have a picnic. Wildlife abounds. Mule deer, wild turkey, javelina and hawks all pop up at any time. Of course, after a long dusty Jeep adventure, a stop at the Butcher Hook for some good old-fashioned steakhouse food tops off the day.

lessly drink it all in. The pathway along the Rim lies in the Sitgreaves National Forest off of Highway 260 east of Star Valley and Christopher Creek after the turnoff to Woods Canyon Lake. Dangling my feet off of some of the stones that mark the Rim feels like sitting on the edge of the world. The view of Rim Country stretches for miles and includes the Mazatzals and Mt. Ord. Bring a jacket for the evening chill at the 7,000 foot elevation of the Rim. Then head for Kohl’s Ranch for a warm bite of something delicious.

Wandering along the East Verde River h, the East Verde — close to Payson and one of the last remaining intact riparian areas in the state. Not only does this lovely creek have gorgeous fall colors from the cottonwoods, sycamores and willows, but migrating birds on their way to the warm tropics peek out from the branches. Stopping to sit by the constantly rushing water allows for time to gaze up at the red stacked rocks that create the cliffs of the valley carved out by the river. Numerous pools break up the chattering water perfect for dipping toes or simply admiring the clouds mirrored on the surface.

Sipping Wine in Pine he Trident Winery off of Hardscrabble Road has cozy interior or exterior seating that offers views of the impressive Pine mountainsides. Owner Ray Stephens sells tickets six at a time. He doesn’t care how they are used, either all at once or broken up and shared with friends or used over a period of time. The wines, none made from grapes, titillate the taste buds with flavors unique and wild. Strawberry chocolate — no, it doesn’t look like the Choco-wine with the melted chocolate look, its clear with the hint of cacao. Then there’s the wine made from ocotillo flowers. Tastes like the desert in your mouth. Many other wines tempt and he makes a food plate to go along with the tasting.

Tonto National Monument t’s not a long drive to some pretty impressive ruins. Tonto National Monument is just past the bridge over Roosevelt Lake. The ruins have an easy paved trail up to the buildings tucked away in the cliffs.

Some of the ruins at Tonto National Monument.

Pete Aleshire photo

Once at the ruins, visitors have the chance to wander into the ruins to see what it was like to live in a Salado stronghold. It is a national park, so there is an entrance fee. For those over 62, the National Park Service sells a $10 lifetime pass. My parents each have one, which lets them and four people into the park.

Ogling furniture at thrift stores or some reason, Payson has some of the best furniture donations around. The Habitat for Humanity and St. Vincent de Paul have some of the best of the best. The Time Out thrift store and Humane Society thrift store each have lovely pieces as well. Wandering around the stores made my parents happy and kept them out of whatever weather the Rim Country had for the day. Plus it allowed them to decide what sort of food piqued their interest from hamburgers with a Western decor at the Buffalo to Thai food at Ayothaya Café, with lots of Mexican available from sit down to grab and go.

FALL/WINTER 2015

Fossil Creek: BY PETE ALESHIRE

PAYSON ROUNDUP

Catch-and-release fishery offers unique fall-winter thrill

assumed most of those fish were roundtail chub, but a genetic study by researchers from Arizona State University revealed that the somewhat more Fall and winter bring a unique fishing opportunity to Rim Country — a rare headwater chub dominates except near the junction with the Verde River. Both chub probably qualify for protection as endangered species. Although catch-and-release fishery in the crystal clear, travertine-tinged waters of they rarely occur in the same stretch of stream, they will freely interbreed when Fossil Creek. they do. Environmentalists argued the state and federal governments should The Arizona Game and Fish Department sanctions a catch and release for both headwater chub and roundtail chub, also known as the Verde trout in the more rigorously protect a creek that has become one of the most important refuges for a number of endangered native fish, pressed toward extinction by loss spring-fed waters of Fossil Creek through the winter and fall. The rules limit the anglers to barbless hooks and artificial lures and flies, of habitat and competition with bass, trout, catfish, sunfish, crayfish and other with immediate release of the fish required. introduced species almost everywhere else. Bringing more people into the The October-April roundtail chub season along 4.5 miles of the 14-mile-long canyon will only creek provides increase the probanglers with the lems and the risk perfect excuse to that someone will visit one of the most put non-native beautiful creeks fish back into the in the Southwest, creek. without contending The Forest with the summerService is currently time crowds that considering a plan have prompted to close the creek the Forest Service to most motorized to close the only road in early on access. People Saturdays through would either have most summer to hike 1,500 feet weekends. down the fiveThe roundtail mile-long Fossil chub exists in only Springs Trail from 21 other places — Strawberry or and none of those drive in about 15 at a population miles on the Fossil density that allows Creek Road from for even a catchCamp Verde and and-release fishthen park their ery. The headwacars and hike the ter chub exists in last mile or two to only about 18 other places. reach the creek. Six environmenThe restrictions tal groups and the would likely result Yavapai-Apache in a sharp drop in Nation objected to the roughly 90,000 the catch-and-repeople who visit lease fishery of the the creek annually rare native fish, — mostly on sumbut the commission mer weekends. hoped the fishery Under the prowould help build posed system, peosupport for the ple would have to protection of the make a $10 resernative fish among vation just to hike fishing groups — which contribinto the creek from Pete Aleshire/Roundup ute significantly either side. can savor Fossil Creek and enjoy a unique catch-and-release fishery, thanks to thriving populations of headwater and roundtail chub in the to conservation. Anglers That means this restored, spring-fed creek. Best of all, a visit in the fall and winter sidesteps the summertime crowds. Biologists argued winter may provide that even if 5 to 7 a final opportunity to drive into the creek and take advantage of the catch-andpercent of the fish caught and released later died from the stress and injury, it release fishery. would have no impact on the booming chub population in Fossil Creek. Game and Fish biologists say the recreational fishery for the native fish The recovery of five native fish in the spring-fed waters of Fossil Creek repwill enable them to increase law enforcement, build public support and bring resent one of the great endangered species triumphs since the decommission of an Arizona Public Service hydroelectric power plant returned water to the responsible anglers into the canyon to help report problems. Game and Fish biologists in supporting the fishery said that after handling creek in 2005 after a century-long absence. thousands of trout and hundreds of chub, they’re convinced that chub are Biologists captured nearly 300 native fish before putting the full flow of the spring back into the creek and moved them to nearby holding tanks. They then much hardier than trout. Numerous studies suggest that 5 to 7 percent of trout poisoned and removed all of the non-native fish, before returning the native caught and promptly released will die from wounds and the stress of the experience, so the toll on the chub may actually prove lower than that — providing fish to the creek. Biologists now estimate the creek harbors some 15,000 chub. They had anglers follow the rules and release their fish promptly. ROUNDUP EDITOR

PAYSON ROUNDUP

FALL/WINTER 2015

Color contact

High BY PETE ALESHIRE ROUNDUP EDITOR

So I’m just sitting here on the banks of the East Verde, my brain sparking from a contact high with yellow. And brown. And gold. And orange. And the faintest flush of red. All somehow conjured from a background of fading green. Fall has burst out on every hand, like some gaudy, sequined drag queen shedding his tear-away three-piece suit. I’m perched on my rock on the edge of the creek’s babble, punch drunk on shades of yellow. The sycamores and willows have already rioted now flutter with exhaustion. The great-turned cottonwoods have watched the revelries for a week, but have finally lost their restraint. Every year, I marvel and need and wonder at this extravagant display. But this year, I’m determined to sit right here until I figure it out. Why does fall always make me feel half drunk and twice alive? Why can’t I feel like this all the time? ’Cause I’ll confess it to you right now: If fall was a drug, I’d mainline it. I’d hock my grandmother’s jewelry and my grown kid’s collectible Star Wars toys so I could get another fix and fall down in a stupor outside the rescue mission. Like any addict, I can’t explain myself. It’s just, so, well, yellow (and red and gold and sometimes purple — oh, Lord, save me from leaves with a whiff of purple.) A barely chilled wind rustles through the trees, stirring a chromatic flutter. I want to confess my sins, give away my worldly goods, study at the feet of a druid, roll naked in the damp brown earth until I am covered with yellow sycamore leaves. I’m utterly lost. Color. Must be color, something in the tran-

sition from summer’s green to fall’s yellow/ orange/red must account for my fits and trembling. So to prove it, I looked up “color + psychology” on the Internet: I think we’re on to something here. So, start with summer green, the sly hat trick of chlorophyll, the compound that makes it possible for leaves to produce energy from sunlight. The tree pumps chlorophyll into its leaves all summer long, constantly replacing that vital element as sunlight breaks it down. The leaves get so loaded with chlorophyll in the heady days of summer that everything looks green. Come fall, the dwindling day length prompts the tree to seal off the leaves. Once the careless chlorophyll breaks down, compounds tinted yellow, orange, red and brown dominate. Now, green’s very easy on the brain, calming all those excitable neurotransmitters. That accounts for the “green rooms” in which talk show guests linger and the reassuring green medical gowns donned by surgeons. Western cultures associate green with fertility, intelligence, luck, wealth and generosity. So now, let’s say I’ve been strolling along the East Verde River through luminous, leafy green all summer and bingo, everything turns yellow/orange. What’s the psychological effect? Well, psychologists (and color consultants) say yellow provokes feeling of happiness — cheerful optimism. It symbolizes joy, sunlight, happiness, earth, optimism, intelligence and idealism. Yellow improves concentration, hence the yellow tint on legal pads. Also speeds up the metabolism. But this is odd: too much yellow makes you irritable. Babies cry more in yellow rooms. People get more short-tempered. Go figure.

FALL/WINTER 2015

Now add a dash of orange. A favorite hue of the Buddhists, orange evokes energy, enthusiasm, playfulness, aggression, arrogance, gaudiness, danger and desire. Finally, slip in a hint of red, the prima donna of colors. Love. Danger. Red boosts heart rate, respiration and blood pressure. So people supposedly have more confrontations in red rooms. Red things look bigger. The color is associated with passion, strength, sex, speed, heat, ambition, courage, masculinity, power, danger, blood, war, communism, martyrs and states that vote Republican. Does that account for it then — the emotional shift from green-room summer leaves to a blaze of joyfully irritating yellow? Doesn’t seem sufficient, somehow.

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But then, happiness has always mystified me. I’ve never really understood why it sometimes sweeps me up like an amorous supermodel only to suddenly cast me aside. Best, I suppose, to simply sit and wallow when she turns her golden eyes on you. Don’t move — just memorize the feeling as best you can before the bare limbs of winter. So I shall, sit a while longer, although this piece was due hours ago. I shall simply let myself be calmed by the verdant cottonwoods, energized by the orange shifted sycamores and rendered happy just sort of crying by the yellow willows. Settling in, I look up and note the startling blue of the sky. Blue. My, oh my. Don’t get me started.

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Keith’s favorites

FALL/WINTER 2015

When not covering sports, Keith likes to take his dogs out for a walk and visit the local sports bars to watch a game.

ne of the reasons I decided to move to Rim Country is the mild winters. OI spent most of my life enduring harsh Michigan

it as a camping activity until buying a fire pit for my backyard in Linden (near Show Low), where I owned an acre of land. I don’t have as much land here but bought some winters. Then I moved to Show Low and found it really wasn’t much different with cold temperatures stones and an insert with a iron cover and every now and seemingly constant winds that made it even and then I’ll gather some wood, light it and relax near the blaze, usually with the colder. gas grill cooking a nice So I’ve really enjoyed my two Hiking with my dogs ribeye and adult alternawinters living in Star Valley. And I’ve always loved autumn, tive rock music playing ne of the best aspects of the whether it’s in Michigan, Show Low through the window. change from summer to fall or here. And here are some of my is I can take my dogs on hikes in Going to the movies favorite fall and/or winter activithe middle of the day as I prefer ties. hile I enjoy going to to do on weekends and not worry the movies throughabout them dying of heat stroke. Watching football out the year, fall is one I’d never have been able to of the best times to visit ootball and fall just go togethhike in the winter in Michigan, Sawmill Theatres because er. It goes with winter, as well. but in my first winter here two that’s generally when the Now, being a Michigan State alumyears ago I took my furry budbest films are released. nus and die-hard Spartans and dies on a New Year’s Day hike I’m not talking about Detroit Lions fan, I’m usually home with temperatures in the 60s. the summer blockbusters, watching games in my home theWith so many trails in Rim which I guess I’ve sort of ater on my projector that fills an Country, there’s always a new outgrown. No, I’m talking entire wall with glorious gridiron choice to avoid the same trek about the Oscar-worthy action. day after day. works that usually hit the I spend enough on the NFL silver screen this time of Sunday Ticket package to watch year. most Lions games there. But I do And you’ll find me munching on popcorn getoccasionally make my way to a local watering hole to take in an ASU or Cardinals game. ting lost in film several times during the winter, as With the opening of the Native Grill and Wings last well. I almost always wind up catching a movie on year, there are now even more choices for thirsty Christmas Day. fans to have a cold one, perhaps a bite to eat, and watch the game. And I’ve visited most, from the Raking leaves Buffalo to El Rancho and Native Grill. hile I certainly love sitting in my recliner and relaxing, as my dad said, “Those leaves aren’t Backyard fires going to rake themselves.” Yes, I spent pretty much every fall in Michigan itting beside a crackling fire has always been one of my favorite things to do. I’d always thought of raking and bagging leaves. Sometimes my sister

Keith Morris photo

Bear and Baily love the Payson Area Trails System even more than Keith.

would help. I remember making a house with the outer walls and rooms outlined in leaves once or twice. But mostly I remember raking leaves into piles and running and jumping into the biggest of them. It was fun as a kid. It’s not exactly fun raking leaves as an adult, but I feel good when I’m doing it because it simply needs to be done or I’m going to be stepping in dog poop I can’t see because of the leaves and my two dogs are going to drag in leaves into my clean house daily. And I can’t help but reflect on some of those fun times raking as a kid. Of course, I now have a leaf blower to help.

A rainstorm creates enough of a lake for coots and ducks to make the most of the moment along one of the Payson Area Trails System (PATS) routes through Granite Dells.

Keith Morris photo

FALL/WINTER 2015

PAYSON ROUNDUP

Thrifty Pleasures BY MICHELE NELSON ROUNDUP STAFF REPORTER

The crew at Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore thrift shop awaits the Christmas rush.

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For some reason, the Rim Country has some of the most prolific donors to the more than half dozen thrift stores in the area. A thrifty shopper can outfit a whole house or fill a closet with clothes some people have never even worn. For furniture or things to remodel the house from tiles to sinks and light fixtures, the Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore simply cannot be beat. The store carries things contractors rip out of houses from cabinets to plumbing materials, flagstones, and granite countertops. Cans of unused paint and varnish line the shelves. Sometimes, people drop off beautiful antiques or lamps that would normally cost hundreds of dollars. Best strategy to find the perfect thing, stop by often. Another great store for furniture or home decorations? The St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store. Housed in three beautiful cabins originally designed as models for a developer, the volunteers of the thrift store have decked out the places with furniture, lamps, paintings, tablecloths, china, curtains, clothes, and kitchen knickknacks.

The store even has three rooms devoted to women, men and children filled with clothes, shoes and outerwear. The challenge with St. Vincent de Paul? Limited days of operation. The shopper must stop by from Wednesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., but the effort is worth it. Some donors have never taken the tags off of the merchandise. Some of the furniture used to sit in the high rent districts of Rim Country. Another fun place to wander, the Time Out thrift store that recently moved to nice digs in the Bashas’ shopping center. The store also carries furniture, dishware, home decorations, clothes and toys for the kids. For a double whammy, head on down to Main Street to wander through the Humane Society’s and Senior Center’s (now The Center) thrift shops. They sit next to each other — no need to move the car to visit both. Another good place around for clothes is the MHA Foundation’s Thrift Shop tucked down Aero Drive in Payson. All of Payson’s thrift stores can easily fill a Saturday finding treasures that don’t break the pocketbook.

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FALL/WINTER 2015

Tonto Natural Bridge

The world’s largest natural travertine arch at the heart of Tonto Natural Bridge State Park soars 83 feet high.

Rim Country’s best-known attraction delightful in any season

The world’s largest natural travertine bridge represents Rim Country’s best-known tourist attraction — but it has also offered a heartening example of how a community and Arizona State Parks can join forces to protect a natural treasure. The Town of Payson and a band of residents who love the soaring, cavernous arch that forms a grotto through which Pine Creek ﬂows have provided both money and volunteers to keep the park open year-round, despite budget woes that have forced the closure of many other state parks. The 83-feet-high, 400-foot-long tunnel through the cliff face was created by the inconspicuous Pine Creek as it chewed through the layers of ancient rock, thanks to the intricate marvel of time and chemistry. Prospector David Gowan discovered the natural phenomenon in 1877. He tried to make a go of farming in the area, although he had to sometimes hide in the caverns and caves to escape raids by Apaches. The once torturous road leading to the bridge has been paved and widened for easy access, and the century-old lodge has been converted to include a gift shop. The ﬁne crystals of travertine are a form of dissolved limestone, comprised of calcium carbonate. Natural acids in groundwater dissolve the calcium carbonate as water seeps through fractures in the limestone. Once the spring water bubbles back to the surface, dissolved carbon dioxide escapes like gas from popping open a bottle of carbonated soda. As the water evaporates, calcite comes out of the solution and creates travertine. The world’s largest travertine arch offers a startling lesson in geology — and the way in which living things shape the world as surely as the world shapes them.

Pete Aleshire/Roundup

The steady drip of water loaded with dissolved limestone has created the formations on the inside of the tunnel-like cavern at the heart of Tonto Natural Bridge State Park. The same process forms stalactites in limestone caves. For one thing, the great travertine arch that formed from an unlikely series of events remains one place. Comprising 10 percent of all sedimentary rocks, limestone creates a living landscape — proof that rocks have family trees and souls. Limestone is made of calcium carbonate manufactured by long-dead sea creatures, mostly corals or foraminifera. The calcium carbonate in their skeletons settles to the bottom in shallow seas, mixes with other debris, then sinks beneath its own mounting weight. Eventually, the mounting heat and pressure fuse the sea bottom layers into stone. Limestone dominates the topography of Rim Country, including the Mogollon Rim itself. That 1,000-foot-tall layering of ancient sea bottoms bears mute witness to millions of years of Earth’s history — including two enigmatic layers deposited in the throes of mass extinctions — when up to 95 percent of Earth’s living species died out in a geologic eye blink. Limestone has some pretty remarkable properties, besides the neat trick of recycling coral reefs into the Mogollon Rim. Harder than almost any other sedimentary rock, limestone nonetheless dissolves readily in acidic solutions. That means things like acidic groundwater — and acid rain — can readily sculpt limestone into strange formations. Most of the great underground caverns in the world form when groundwater dissolves buried, fractured limestone. Dissolved limestone turns into travertine carried by streams, which have created both the travertine dams of

FALL/WINTER 2015

PAYSON ROUNDUP

tions of dissolved calcium carbonate — limestone — picked up as the water seeped through the rock. Under great pressure while in the rock, the calcium carbonate precipitated out of solution. This formed ever-thicker layers of travertine. Eventually, the springs formed a travertine dam across the canyon. The travertine-rich waters of Fossil Creek are doing the same thing today. If you hike the canyon, you can even see travertine deposits 100 feet above the stream bed — the remains of travertine dams blasted by floodwaters. But in the case of Tonto Natural Bridge, Pine Creek dissolved a bore hole through the face of the dam — leaving behind the cavernous tunnel through the soaring wall of travertine. The travertine is generally white when first deposited, but turns gray upon weathering. Trace minerals like iron can turn the deposits red, brown or yellow. The drip castle decorations of travertine in the great cavern and other places along Pine Creek show an array of colors. So the cavern offers a lesson in the power of time — and of life. First life created the limestone layers, then it shaped the creation of this surreal cavern — with roots creating the fissures and guiding the deposits of travertine — which coat the roots and moss and tendrils of life to assume fantastic shape. Finally, we living things wandered back into the cavern 300 million years in the making. These marble-smooth boulders offer profound lessons. Seas come and go. Volcanoes inflict catastrophe then melt away. But life persists, evolving and adapting through it all. Pete Aleshire/Roundup Until it comes to sit on a boulder in an ancient Water saturated with travertine created the drip castle formations cavern and marvel at life itself. inside Tonto Natural Bridge.

Fossil Creek and the soaring arch of Tonto Natural Bridge State Park. Take a certain quality of limestone, bury it again, reheat it, let it cool — and you’ve got marble suitable for carving the Pieta. Clever people going back thousands of years have also discovered that limestone can make a paste good for sealing boats, enhancing ground corn and making cement, soil conditioners, glass, iron ore, toothpaste, livestock feed, medicines and cosmetics. Most of the great cathedrals of Europe are made of limestone blocks as are the great pyramids of Egypt. The great limestone cavern at the heart of the state park has a long and dramatic geologic history. Way, way back a volcanic outburst laid down a layer of volcanic rhyolite you can see on the west side of Pine Creek. The restless earth uplifted, tilted, fractured and eroded this layer of volcanic rock. Next, a shallow inland sea covered this volcanic layer, laying down thick layers of mud, rich with lime and calcium carbonate, completely covering the tilted layer of rhyolite. Next, another period of volcanic activity covered this sea bottom, with its layered rock made of the remains of living things. You can still see this layer of basalt on the top of the hill before you hike down into the cavern. In the next stage, erosion and earthquake faults fractured this basalt layer forming the narrow Pine Creek Canyon. Pine Creek went to work cutting the canyon deeper. Rainfall that fell on the top of the canyon long ago seeped through the limestone layers on the east side of the canyon, emerging in a network of small springs. These springs had large concentra-

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FALL/WINTER 2015

A wimp discovers winter camping BY ALEXIS BECHMAN ROUNDUP STAFF REPORTER

From red noses to frosting toes, the idea of snow camping at first appears to hold little appeal. For me, a Tucson-native, doing anything below 60 degrees makes me want to go inside and put a sweater on. But camping in the snow amid the towering ponderosa pines, bedded down in a sleeve of goose feathers on a pillow of fluffy snow held a few surprises, mainly how comfortable you can be with just a little planning. Waking up to the absolute stillness on the Mogollon Rim, not another person around or a bug in sight, we had a snow playground all to ourselves. Solitude. That is what winter camping offers that summer camping cannot beat. When thousands from the Valley haul their campers and families up from the heat to Rim Country, you miss some of the natural beauty amid the noise and dust. If you can muster the courage and the money for a few good supplies, winter camping is worth a try. I might even consider doing it again, so long as I have a good sweater. There are a number of places to camp around the Rim area during the winter, with varying degree of difficulty to access and needed R-value, the value given to heating pads for their thermal resistance. People can camp anywhere in the national forest during the fall and winter, but one of the most popular campgrounds, Houston Mesa, is located just north of Payson and stays relatively warm because it is in the Payson basin. According to the Payson Ranger District website, the campground is open through Nov. 30 and re-opens Feb. 1. The campground, which is at an elevation of 5,200 feet, is on the north side of Forest Road 199. On the south side of the road is the Houston Mesa Horse Camp. Both sides are developed and equipped with coin-operated shower facilities, grills, rest rooms and a dump station for recreational vehicles. The campground also has a half-mile self-guided nature trail. Fees, which are charged year-round, are $20 a night for family units. Along Flowing Springs Road is a dispersed camping area situated next to the East Verde River. From Payson, head north 3.5 miles, turning right on Forest Road 272. Travel half a mile and it is on the left side of the road. The site is open year-round and is free. Sit back and take in the quiet pools of the Verde, lined with large shade trees and sandstone rock formations. The first campgrounds to close for the winter are usually those on top of the Mogollon Rim in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. Some, however, are still open and will remain so until the Rim Road, Forest Road 300, is closed due to snow. The most popular campgrounds during the fall months are Crook and Sink Hole, just off Forest Road 300. Other camping areas visitors might want to check out include Horton Creek (17 miles northeast of Payson on FR 289), Flowing Springs (3-1/2 miles north of Payson on Beeline and FR 272 and Christopher Creek (21 miles northeast of Payson) on 260 and FR 159).

ARM, TO KEEP W .D.” KEEP “C.O.L

n , keep insulatio dead air spacesthose air spaces by ed pp tra is an n heat at down “C” - Cle piration can m ly effective whe Insulation is on d fluffy. Dirt, grime and pers layers clean an warmth of a garment. Wear e body heated. and reduce th ting l parts of your maximum insulaal ep ke to ea l rh ia w nt will allo is esse “O” - Ove of warm blood d footgear that A steady flow fitting layers of clothing an yseveral loosel peding circulation. mt the outside te tion without im yers clothing to meedampen your garur yo of La rs e ye os g can g the la “L” - Lo ing by adjustin cessive sweatin Avoid overheat e exertions of activities. Ex perature and th e chilling later on. frostibly leading to ments and caus ol quickly, poss sorb moisture. co to dy bo e ab ry that use th “D” - D cotton clothes and skin can ca ated area. Damp clothing ermia. Keep dry by avoidingothes before you enter a he oisture can th bite and hypo away snow that is on your cl ed so that body heat and m Always brush ng around your neck loosen clothing. Keep the clothi of soaking several layers of d escape instea

Winter camping tips and tricks • If you have room, keep the clothes you plan to wear the next day at the bottom of your sleeping bag. They’ll be toasty when you put them on in the morning. • Toss a few hand warmers in your sleeping bag to warm it up. Or fill a water bottle with hot water and stash it at the bottom of your bag for warmth. • If you don’t have a sleeping pad, use an exercise mat. • Use a sleeping bag liner for extra warmth. • Open at least one vent in the tent to prevent condensation. • Once in your sleeping bag, stick your feet into your backpack for added warmth. • Wear synthetics, not cotton. • Before setting up, pack down the snow around the campsite either by stomping around in boots or snowshoes. • Store water containers upside down since water freezes from the top down.

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, water hydran sh ts, toilets and ade ramadas, fire rings w ater. showers, play ith grounds and an grills, picnic • Indian Point amphithe- 13 miles north picnic tables an west of the Roo d fire rings with sevelt Dam; 54 • Cholla - The grills. camp units with 206 camp unitslargest all-solar powered ca m w pg ith ro un sh ad d in the U.S.; th e ramadas, fir ble water hydr ere e rin fish cleaning stants, toilets and showers, pl gs with grills, picnic tables are , pota ay at gr io n. ounds, paved • Bermuda Flat boat launch an A To d nt o Pa shoreline here , seven miles ss is required, but it is free to site provides sp north of the da ca m p al ong Peaks Wilderne ectacular views of the Sier m. The Forest Service says the ra Ancha Mou ss. ntains and Fo the ur

FALL/WINTER 2015

Teresa’s favorites

PAYSON ROUNDUP

Teresa enjoys the holidays staying close to home – reading a good book and the smell of home cooking

OK. I am not one of those get out and about people, so my favorite things to do with fall and winter keep me pretty close to home.

Raid the Payson Library t is probably the time of year I most enjoy wrapping up in a quilt on the sofa and reading a book with my cat curled up beside me — or sometimes a couple of books — from cover to cover — sometimes starting at a little before noon and continuing on until first light the next day. Stopping from time to time to fix a cup of chai spiced tea or cocoa. While I get most of my reading material from Amazon, I have been known to raid the shelves at the Payson Public Library and check out a whole series of books by a single author — or as many in the series as the library has. If I really have the reading bug, I will carefully peruse the bargain table of the Library Friends of Payson Bookstore in the library lobby or spend a good 30 minutes to an hour going through the shelves in the bookstore. The LFOP Bookstore always has great deals on the books in their little store, located next to the circulation desk at the library.

Joys of a warm kitchen his time of year nothing beats the smell of baking bread mixed in with the scent of a pot roast wafting through the air. More often than not, should the mood for this olfactory festival strike, I will put a roast (or sometimes round steak with cream of mushroom soup) in the slow cooker and turn the oven onto warm and when it’s heated up enough, pop in a sheet of Rhodes dinner rolls. By the time the roast is ready, the rolls have risen and are ready to bake. They take only 20 minutes at 350 degrees, so they come out just about the same time as the meat has properly rested. So, to have what is needed when I want it, I pay close attention to the grocery ads and get the meat I want when they have a special sale and stock up.

Pete Aleshire photo

Payson stages a wonderful Festival of Lights Christmas Parade, but the fall and winter holiday events come at regular intervals leading up to Christmas. Residents also love the wildlife, including elk that move down off the wintry Rim and eagles that frequent the Green Valley Park lakes.

Enjoy the wildlife While it is not something I do for the sake of doing it, going into work at first light, I always look forward to seeing the world of the Rim Country wake during the fall and winter. I might see an elk or two driving in and more often than not I can catch sight of a flock of Canada geese lifting from their waterside roosts and winging their way to favorite feeding grounds around town. In the afternoon, coming back from work by the big lake at Green Valley Park chances are pretty good of seeing one or more of the bald eagles that winter here. No matter how many times I see these birds, it is always a thrill.

Don’t forget the gingerbread nother scent celebration I enjoy this time of year — making gingerbread cake (not cookies). The mixes have returned to the store shelves by now and it is a great taste treat as well as aromatic feast for the whole house.

Holiday Celebrations s the autumn and winter holidays approach, I sometimes will take twisted routes to and from home to see how some of my “neighbors” are welcoming the coming celebrations. More than a few folks around town make an extra effort to decorate for the seasons and their offerings are a delight to see.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Roundup file photo

PAYSON ROUNDUP

FALL/WINTER 2015

Bruised ego; Cracked ribs BY PETE ALESHIRE ROUNDUP EDITOR

Years ago, I resolved to act my age. I had resolved to accept Reinhold Niebuhr’s advice and summon the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can — and finally, dear Lord, the wisdom to know the difference. Face it: You get old. You can’t change it. Got to accept it. So for years upon years, I did not ski. Mind you, once upon a time, when I was young and had thick, resilient bones, I loved skiing. But years of newspaper salaries and the demands of raising a family mostly ended my skiing career, save for the occasional vacation with my lawyer brother — who owned a cabin in Mammoth Calif. Then I discovered while matching bounces on a trampoline with my 12-yearold nephew that knees bend only one way. So I gave up skiing for good, so as to avoid knee surgery and pain. Yet here I stand atop a 10,000-foot mountain in the midst of the Sunrise Ski Resort, begging for one last run. A friend had lured me into trying Sunrise. She’s one of those effortlessly graceful skiers, flowing down the slope like a long streamer in a gentle breeze. I looked more like the comic relief sidekick. Turns out, skiing hardly hurts the knees at all, especially when mounted on the new, broader, shorter skis they invented in my absence. So off I went, wobbling along as the muscle memory from all of those years ago seeped back into my limbs. I managed to not humiliate myself on the beginning and then intermediate run. So we decided to ski one of the ungroomed runs, in thick, heavy powder — largely unbroken by other skiers. The unbroken snow immediately converted me into a floundering fool. My skis wandered off in different directions and I promptly face planted. This opened

an intensely humbling 15-minute phase of my life as I struggled to my feet, skied five feet and face-planted again. But that was the first trip this season. Now, on the last run of the last day I’d regained my modest mojo. So I wanted one more run. I skied off ahead, pointed straight downhill, determined to finally beat her to the bottom. And it went so very well, turn upon turn, the wind whistling through the helmet she’d delicately suggested I wear. We didn’t wear helmets back in my day. But that’s fine. It’s the thing now. And I’m cool. The snow grew ever more slushy as we descended, losing 2,000 feet in a mad rush. I don’t know precisely what happened, even in retrospect. It involved some conspiracy hatched by the tips of my skis. I just remember a moment in the air when the horizon spun from its proper place. I crash landed, first on my fashionable helmet, then on my ribs. The wind went rushing out of me and I stared into the snow pressed against my goggles. I found myself on hands and knees, somehow facing upslope toward my skis laying six paces uphill. I’m pretty sure I broke a rib, as I couldn’t cough without weeping for a month. So I guess, we’ll classify this as a story about the childishness of men. But then, I must confess that mostly I remember the thrill of that rush down the slope, the cleansing, focusing fear at the top of the mogul field, the serenity of the chairlift, the mounting joy of the day. And it’s true that bones grow brittle and the muscles weaken and age whittles us down to a nub. But I think that perhaps fear does not count on the list of things you must have the wisdom to accept. I think instead it should find its place on the list of things you must summon the courage to change. That said, I must also agree with her in retrospect. We really should have stopped one run sooner.

Skiing through the midlife crisis (and beyond)

FALL/WINTER 2015

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Pete Aleshire/Roundup

The Arizona Game and Fish hatchery at the head of Tonto Creek (above) makes a great day trip from Payson — especially if you throw in a hike up Horton Creek (right) — one of Rim Country’s most popular hiking trails.

Heck of a hatchery time One of the Rim Country treasures is the Tonto Creek Hatchery. The hatchery, located about 21 miles east of Payson on Highway 260, is the most visited of the five Arizona Game and Fish Department hatcheries in the state, according to the AZGFD website, producing and stocking trout into state waters, including local streams and rivers. Fishing is a big attraction for Rim Country visitors and the hatchery’s stocking of fish into local waters is a big reason they continue to flock to the area. According to the website, the hatchery produces and stocks approximately 140,000 catchable size (9-1/2 inches) rainbow trout each year, along with a smaller number of brook trout. The hatchery also hatches and annually raises approximately 100,000 native Apache trout, provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Williams Creek National Fish Hatchery, to fingerling size (3 inches) before transferring them to the Silver Creek Hatchery to be grown to catchable size. The hatchery located on U.S. Forest Service land began operation in 1937. It was renovated in 1993 and features a visitor center, restrooms and a show pond

where visitors are allowed to see and feed some of the largest trout at the facility. Visitors are welcome to tour the hatchery, which is open from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. seven days a week except for Thanksgiving and Christmas, although it is frequently closed because of weather and road conditions. Although it isn’t required, it is advised that visitors call ahead to schedule a tour. Call 928-478-4200 to confirm the hatchery will be open if you are planning a visit. Each of the hatchery’s tanks hold about 12,000 fish, according to www.azgfd.gov. The AZGFD stocks waters around the state from April-September. Tonto Creek Hatchery fish are stocked into local creeks and rivers, as well as Woods Canyon Lake every week. Fish remain at the hatchery for about 15 months, although about 2 million are stocked out as fingerlings in the fall. Fishing isn’t allowed at the hatchery, located at the headwaters of Tonto Creek. However, fishing is allowed in Tonto Creek downstream from the hatchery. The hatchery is located in the Tonto National Forest and wildlife-viewing opportunities abound. The area is excellent for bird watching.

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To reach the hatchery, turn onto Tonto Creek Road off State Route 260 near Kohl’s Ranch Resort and drive four miles. The road ends at the hatchery.

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PAYSON ROUNDUP

FALL/WINTER 2015

Rim Country’s wealth of holiday events While things quiet down some with the arrival of fall and winter in the Rim Country, there are still a variety of special events taking place throughout the area.

entry fee is $40. Pre-registered participants receive a long-sleeved sweatshirt. Day-of registration is available, but there is a not sweatshirt guarantee for day-of registrations. And there is no sweatshirt guarantee after Nov. 13, 2015.

Tonto Basin Halloween Festival The 32nd Annual Tonto Basin Halloween Festival is from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 30 at the Tonto Basin School near Punkin Center. For those 13 years and older admission is a can of food. Proceeds go toward the purchase of shade for the preschool playground. Learn more at www.lcmemorialfund. com

Pine Strawberry Festival of Lights The Seventh Annual Festival of Lights, craft show and Christmas Tree Lighting takes place in Pine at the Community Center and Cultural Hall on Saturday, Nov. 28. To learn more, contact Sheri Earp at 602-399-7267.

Payson Trunk or Treat Festival Rim Country celebrates Halloween with the annual Payson Trunk or Treat Festival from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 31 on Historic Main Street at the Oxbow. This year’s theme is The Super Hero Experience, with the chance for youngsters to come face-to-face with such icons as Superman, Batman, Ironman, Captain America, Wonder Woman, The Incredible Hulk, Cat Woman, The Joker and more. Children 12 and under can collect candy from the decorated trunks/booths in the parking lot and then everyone can tour the Oxbow and meet the super heroes for $3 each, or $2 plus a can of food for area food banks. Call the Payson parks office at 928-472-5110 for details about the event and to arrange to rent a space. Veterans Day ceremony The Payson Patriotic Events Committee’s annual Veterans Day ceremony is at 11 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 11 at the Payson High School Auditorium. A variety of special presentations and music are part of the ceremony along with recognition of Rim veterans from all branches of the service. Turkey Trot 5K Go to Thanksgiving dinner feeling a little smug after participating in the Payson Parks and Recreation Department’s Turkey Trot 5K Saturday, Nov. 21 at Green Valley Park. Check in begins at 8 a.m., with the race starting at 9 a.m. The

Town of Payson Electric Light Parade This annual event welcomes Christmas to the Rim Country and transforms Payson’s Historic Main Street into a magical wonderland. The theme this year is based on the “new” holiday classic, “A Christmas Story” — you know, the one with Ralphie and the Red Ryder BB gun and that “leg lamp.” The entry deadline is Saturday, Nov. 28. The parade is at 6 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 5 on West Main (rain or shine). Holiday house lighting The Ninth Annual Rim Country Regional Chamber’s “Light the Rim” House Lighting Contest is part of the community’s holiday celebration. Please call the Rim Country Regional Chamber of Commerce for details at 928-474-4515. Contest application forms will be available at the Payson Roundup office, 708 N. Beeline Highway, and the Chamber of Commerce office, 100 W. Main S. Applications must be received at the Rim Country Regional Chamber of Commerce or at the Roundup by 2 p.m., Dec. 4, 2015. Judging will be on the evenings of Dec. 8 and 9. The location of the winning entries and other applicants will be published in the Payson Roundup. Payson Choral Society Christmas concert The Payson Choral Society’s annual Christmas concert is at 4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 12 and 2 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 13. The cost is $8 for tickets purchased in advance or $10 at the door.

Perfectly Pitched: Pine Bearfoot Trail BY MICHELE NELSON ROUNDUP STAFF REPORTER

Volunteers spent thousands of hours lovingly building the Bearfoot Trail that connects with the Tonto National Forest routes Pine Canyon Trail #26 and Rock Wall Trail #608. The Fire on the Rim organization built the Bearfoot Trail as part of its efforts to Firewise the communities of Pine and Strawberry. The beginning of the trail is a bit hard to find. The parking space for the trail lies uphill from the pull out between Pine and Strawberry on the right hand side of Highway 87 going north around milepost 270. The trail follows a ridgeline the Forest Service used to Firewise the community. To find the entrance, walk up the fire road that follows the power lines until a single track veers off to the right.

From then on the trail is easy to follow. The volunteers spent hours painstakingly building perfectly fitted rock retaining walls and water flows for runoff. Despite the traffic noise present at the start of the trail, the views of the valley down through Pine offer picture perfect scenes of the Mazatzal Mountains, the Mogollon Rim, trees and the quaint town of Pine. As the trail moves off up the hill, the traffic noise disappears, while the silence envelops the hiker — or bike rider. Volunteers built the trail according to the International Mountain Bike Association. As a result, the elevation change is barely noticeable, while the trail offers numerous places to stop, catch a breath or take a sip of water under a tree, on a rock slab or overlooking a particular view.

If the hiker wishes to complete the whole trail between the two Forest Service trails, its 5.6 miles one-way, but it is not necessary to complete the whole distance to have a lovely hike. Once finished, head over to THAT Brewery for a beer or glass of wine and hearty pub food or try the Sidewinders Bar and Grill, Pine Deli, Randall House or Rimside Grill. A perfect end to a perfect hike. Elevation — 5,690 feet to 6,050 feet. To get there: Go 20 miles north from Payson on Hwy. 87. At milepost 270, pull over to the right in the pull out. The parking lot has room for about four cars, but there are more spaces a few yards up from Trail #15. For more information, please see the Fire on the Rim website at: http://www.fireontherim.com/trailwork/

FALL/WINTER 2015

PAYSON ROUNDUP

Pride before a fall, (or winter for that matter) BY PETE ALESHIRE

I crunched through the snow, my smug sense of superiority waning. Wolves have long hunted happily in the snow, taking advantage of the distress of deer and elk. One study I read found that the deeper the snow, the better the Lobo bounded across the frozen meadow joy personified. hunting for wolves that live on deer. The wolves bound through the snow more He rose up out of the white depths with each lunge, spattering snow on all readily than the fleet footed, sharp-hooved deer. sides, then plunged back into the snow to his chin. Recalling that conclusion, I stopped to watch Lobo cock his head alertly, then I stood easily atop the snow, thanks to my big-brained cleverness and my bury his cold, pointy nose in a snowdrift. He burrowed in, rooted about, but brand new snowshoes, as he plowed through the drifts with a brute force unducame up empty — his face frosted. He has lation. a two-layer coat, which leaves drifts of hairThe sight of him laboring along gave balls in my living room twice a year — but me a guilty, but savorable pleasure. that serves him well in the snow. Recalling that conclusion, I stopped to We mushed on for a couple of hours — all watch Lobo cock his head alertly, then bury his cold, pointy nose in a snowdrift. the way to a snatch-your-breath view from You must understand this about Lobo: the edge of the Mogollon Rim, a perfect day He’s solid muscle, but graceful as a ballet in the unbroken snow. I stood in the buzzdancer. He can match paces with a greying silence, in the company of the dog that hound, he can skip lightly over six-foot had followed me and my kind the 100,000 block walls. He makes me look like an years since Homo sapiens departed Africa animated sack of wheat. I’m jealous and and set out to claim the world. pudgy and in my little wizened heart, not Then we turned and headed back to the a generous person. car, Lobo as eager as ever, me growing So I will admit this right up front: For tired. the first time in our relationship he looked I crunched through the snow, wondering like the clumsy blunderer — and I had the whether he would ever get tired. undisputed advantage. At just that point, he came up behind Of course, this seemed not to bother me and stepped deftly on the back of my Lobo a whit. snowshoe. He went bounding this way and that I pitched head first into the snow. as I slogged along. He found the snow a I came up sputtering. I put my arm out to source of endless discovery and fascinarise — and sunk in the snow to my armpit. I tion. For he had access to the secret world floundered like a drowning man with brain of snow, lost to me in my nifty snowshoes, damage, struggling to get my oversized feet with my dull ears and my useless nose — under me. I got one foot half placed, but the good only for dripping in the 15-degree edge of the snowshoe slid into the snow at cold. In truth, a whole world scurries and an angle as I rose and I lurched sideways squirms beneath the snow — which insuinto a snowdrift. I rolled over on my back lates everything beneath its shroud from like a beached whale. I stared a moment the bitterness of wind. Snow remains at the startling blue sky, without a hint of mostly air, which hoards the heat in a upward leverage. So I flopped over onto my lattice of ice crystals. stomach. But when I kneeled to rise, my A whole ecosystem thrives beneath knees and hand plunged into the drift and that insulated layer. Specialized algae, I did another face-plant. Lobo must have bacteria and fungi go about their secret figured I was looking for shrews. Finally, business in the snow — which breathes somehow, I rolled into a crouch, rose by in and out — a constant process of vapor sheer force of will and accumulated humilexchange. These organisms hum along all iation and floundered a couple of steps winter, decomposing buried plant matter through the drift, flailing for my balance. I and sustaining an ecosystem of mites and shivered, finally unsteadily upright. spiders and species of insects blessed Lobo sat at a distance with his head Pete Aleshire/Roundup with natural antifreeze. cocked, trying to make sense of the game. Forest Road 300 atop the Rim makes the perfect spot for snowshoeing or cross country Those fungi, algae, insulated plants skiing once they close the dirt road to Woods Canyon Lake and the snow comes. “What are you looking at?” I demanded. and insects in their turn sustain mice He grinned, but said nothing. and shrews and squirrels, which live in Then his nose twitched and he went bounding off after some scent on the burrows and tunnels along the underside of downed logs. And those squirrels chilled breeze. and mice in their turn sustain foxes and coyotes and other eager creatures that So I lay in the snow, gathering the strength for the struggle to my feet, and pad through the snow — stopping to sniff and listen for the furtive signs of life watched the clouds drift by overhead. beneath the surface. ROUNDUP EDITOR

PAYSON ROUNDUP

FALL/WINTER 2015

Quivering arks go golden BY PETE ALESHIRE ROUNDUP EDITOR

All along the East Verde River and other streams fed by springs in the face of the Mogollon Rim, the giant cottonwoods have turned glorious gold — trembling on the brink of dropping their leaves. The giant poplars go glorious gold in the fall, and then shed their heart-shaped, quivering leaves in the winter, to prevent frost damage. Waiting for the right combination of light and warmth, they awaken in the spring to unleash an outburst of luminous green leaves. Studies show that this prodigious burst of growth has created the most productive habitat in North America, as measured by biomass and species diversity. These river bound ribbons of green serve as the migratory highway for most North American songbirds and play a crucial role in the life cycle of hosts of animal and insect species. The big trees once dominated riparian areas throughout Arizona. However, after a century of dams and water diversions have largely eliminated the floods and wet sandbars on which they seed. As a result, the once plentiful cottonwood-willow habitat has vanished or dwindled in about 90 percent of the state’s riparian areas. And that has resulted in something of a genetic holocaust, according to startling research by an interdisciplinary team of scientists from Northern Arizona University. They discovered that trees that dominate an ecosystem like these giant cottonwoods play a far more complex role in shaping thousands of other species than scientists ever imagined. The insight grew from an odd observation made

30 years ago by NAU Regent’s Professor Tom Whitham. He was studying aphids — tiny green insects that live by sucking the juice out of leaves and often doing great damage in the process. He noticed that aphids might cover one cottonwood, but not bother the cottonwood next door. He theorized that some genetic difference between the neighboring cottonwoods must account for the difference. That started a decades-long quest that eventually drew in a whole, interdisciplinary team of scientists, now gathered together as NAU’s Cottonwood Ecology Group. The researchers found that thousands of creatures adapt themselves at the genetic level not just to cottonwoods — but to individual trees. The study eventually encompassed 700 distinct insect species, microbes in the soil, lichens on the trunk, fungi in the twigs, birds that feed on the insects. So the genetics of an individual cottonwood tree affect a complex cascade of other species. This suggests for every tree creates its own world. It also means that scientists who study the genetics and variation of crucial “foundation species” like cottonwoods or beaver, are really studying the echoing transformations of thousands of related species. Something to think about, on a walk along the East Verde beneath the quivering shimmer of fresh-minted cottonwood leaves with the return of spring. The luminous leaves of the cottonwood trembling in the spring breeze aren’t just a fresh start after a bleak winter; they’re a world unto themselves — a Pete Aleshire/Roundup Cottonwoods turn gold along the East Verde River in the fall. rooted ark, each and every one.

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