The drive up to Payson afforded beautiful views of mountains and cinder cones and wide open spaces, with the landscape dotted with lovely, colorful wildflowers. We were blessed with a bright, sunny, warm day, with a deep, clear blue sky disturbed only by a few puffy cumulus clouds, and with a nice, cool breeze which swayed the tops of the tall pines and graced us with its soothing sound. We could also hear birds singing merrily and a woodpecker drilling into a tree as we set off up the trail, surrounded by tall pines and the the bright green leaves of new growth on oaks, sycamore, and cottonwood trees. Soon we could also hear the rushing of the creek and were the gleeful witnesses of many waterfalls cascading over moss-covered rocks and into clear pools below (and Dave, the fisherman, observed that they had trout in them).

We proceeded uphill, choosing to spend as much time as possible on the trail in the woods and close to the creek, with as little time as possible on the rocky Jeep road. We delighted in seeing horny-toad lizards, large, yellow swallowtail butterflies flitting about, and the red-brown Kaibab squirrels with huge, white, bushy tails which Yu-Ling noticed. Chuck, our expert photographer, was snapping pictures (which we will have the pleasure of viewing at a future meeting), and we proceeded onward and upward, seeing waterfalls which each seemed more thrilling than the one before. We stopped to sniff the bark of a Ponderosa Pine and decided that it clearly smelled more like butterscotch or maple syrup than vanilla, and then we were all longing for pancakes. We noticed that some of the waterfalls ran over large slabs of red rock, with slanted embankments. The rock cliffs are of red and white limestone, which sit on top of precambrian granite.

The actual Horton Spring originates
from this rocky, moss-covered hillside.

The upper trail was quite an obstacle course in places, where we had to negotiate our way around, over, and under huge, fallen trees. We made our way up past pine trees and manzanita bushes, past elk droppings and evidence of bears, to a plateau partway up the rim. We had a spectacular view of the valley below, an icy cold breeze in our faces, and a view of remaining snow patches on the neighboring mountaintop. We reluctantly left that beautiful place but were happy to rejoin the gushing, playful creek. Even more beautiful falls awaited us, along with a lot of scrambling up and down the creek walls, around roots and trees.

Eventually we were back on the dirt trail and found our way back to the campsite. It felt wonderful to dip our tired feet into the icy cold stream. It was a perfect day with excellent company.