Opting out of the crowded tiny trout hunt, I figured I could have him drop me off below the rim and I could spend the day hiking up to him. There are several hikes that allow a rim topping, with Horton Creek and See Canyon being the prettiest on account of the creek hopping and greenery. Horton's supposed to be more crowded so I printed out a map of See for both Bob and I so we could hopefully connect later. I had at first believed that they would be fishing until around 5 so I had packed and planned to hike around 8mi to the lake once I made it to the top. In Payson I found out that they were just going to quit around noon so I had more time to piddle around longer in the creek before climbing out to the opposite trail end where Bob could find me easily with less miles on me.
While I was hiking I took the spur over to See Spring to add a mile of bubbling creekage. There's a great camping spot right below the head of the spring that would be worth a short backpack in.
The main trail is nicest at the beginning along the creek and then at the top where it's deeply wooded and shaded. There's some deadfall in the middle and the creek disapears until you make it topside. Before I reached that section I rewatered up with some nice cold spring water at Nappa Spring.
I passed an elk near the top and then two people who thought about hiking down until they hit the steep section. At the other end, I only had to wait about 20min until Bob showed and picked me up :)
6.5mi
1900ft elevation change
We then spent a good deal of the day driving around exploring. Took the 84 down to Paul's Crossing, back down along Willow Creek, the 300 down to 115 to a spur before the lookout and found a nice camp spot that had some nestle appeal. I put my hiking shoes back on and logged a few more miles in the grassy Gentry Canyon.
Back at camp we fired it up and cooked some doggers and we got creative trying to cook bacon with out a skillet. Wrapping it on the hotdogs secured with small sticks and Bob's redbull spatula creation worked well.
We slept out under the stars until a horny squirrel woke us around sun up.
We took our time and then loaded up to drive some more roads neither of us had hit before. Around noon we found ourselves headed down the Young HWY for a nice long scenic route home. I took Bob over to Workman Creek and the Falls for some radioactive creek dippin and great Wilderness Area forest views.
Hiking through the tall grass
Redbull Bacon
Young
The cloud maker
Thanks Bob