Cacti in silhouette

Cacti in sillouhette
Originally uploaded by shermans.

This past weekend we went to Payson, about an hour and a half north of Phoenix. The small town is a good base for exploring the Tonto National Forest and the Mogollon Rim. The Rim is where the Colorado Plateau begins, a fairly imposing cliff miles long across Arizona. South, the water flows south. North of the Rim, it goes north.

We were rained out our first day. We arrived arround 11:30am, checked in with the Ranger's station and our hotel, but by the time we had lunch, the thunderclouds had moved in. They stayed for the rest of the day and evening. Another interesting fact about the Mogollon Rim is that this is where the storms arise during the monsoon. The build over the mountains and then drift south over the desert valley. Usually, the storms start in the mid to late afternoon. We were unlucky to catch an early riser. Instead, we watched a cubs game in the hotel room and then treated ourselves to a nice Italian dinner with wine and two desserts. Saturday was better, with three hikes: along Tonto Creek, around the suspected trail blazed by an army general to supply Fort Apache, and up and down Tonto Natural Bridge to see...well, the natural bridge. The storm caught us on the way out of Payson to go home.