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Mogollan Rim

We doubt that any of you who don't live in Arizona have any idea what the Mogollon Rim is. We certainly didn't when we first set out from Phoenix on July 1st to drive northwest into Indian country. What we did know was that there were a couple of campgrounds not too far from Payson and decided that we would try to get a place in one of them.

We got to Payson around 3 p.m. and both felt so sleepy that we found a parking spot under a shady tree and just enjoyed the cool afternoon breeze and took us a nap. Payson is a couple of thousand feet higher than Phoenix, so the breeze was a real breeze. You know, the kind that cool you down? We were beginning to miss them already.

Well, by the time we got through napping and found our way out of Payson onto highway 260, we were lucky to arrive at the Kohis State Park ranger station just ten minutes before they closed. We asked about campgrounds and were given a strong recommendation for Upper Tonto Creek, with a backup name just in case. The ranger didn't think we would have much competition and happily he was right.

Upper Tonto Campsite

To get to the campground we drove off the main highway about 3 miles then turned up a dirt road to climb up the 50 feet or so to the campground. There were all of 9 sites total at Upper Tonto and we got the pick of the lot! We picked the site furthest from the entrance, which meant also that it was at the highest point and furthest from the highway. A half hour later the camp host showed up and was real friendly and helpful, especially about relieving us of our money.

A short while later, we had a bad moment when a large group of people in two pickups with dogs and children in tow started pitching tents in the site next to ours. We were more than thankful when they discovered that the tent site was too small for their BIG tent and so decamped to another site, which just happened to be about as far away as it could be. That left us in peace and quiet for the rest of the night as they were the only other people in the campground that night.

As we often do when camping, we set up the tent first, blow up the air mattress, collect everything we'll need for the night, eat whatever supper we have to hand, and then read until dark. This particular evening we were still within reach of civilization and so spent an extra half an hour after dark listening to some classical music on our car radio watching the new moon set. Then came our real treat. Once the moon had set, the night sky became a veritable cornucopia of stars. We found a gap in the trees and enjoyed just being out in the forest.

But what, you ask, ever happened to the Mogollon Rim? That came the next day after we left our campground and were drivng towards Show Low (honestly, it's a real place) en route to the Petrified Forest. The rim is just that a long, hundred-mile mesa about a thousand feet high. We could see it from the highway, but alas couldn't find the road that supposedly would have allowed us to drive along the rim itself. Not to worry. We have added it to the list of things we'll do next time we pass this way.