Ceder trail and Woods Canyon Lake hike

It's been awhile but we've finished moving into our new house and feel we have time to start hitting the trails.

Monday, we decided to get out to a local hike, built and maintained by the city of Payson Parks and Recreation service. Called a Payson Area Trail System (PATS) hike, we drove about 3 miles out and found this trail, Ceder Trail. The landscape is pretty dry, more of what people think of when they think Arizona.

We had a great morning for a hike, about 73 degrees and breezy. Randy stopped to take pictures all along the way. The hike was only about a mile to the junction with another trail and that junction is actually in one of the outlying residential areas of the town of Payson. On our hike yesterday, Dave (I'll talk about him later) said that there is a trail juntion from there that goes to the next town of Star Valley. Very cool.

Anyway, we had to get back home to meet the tree surgeon who was coming to take down a dead pine tree. So we hiked back. The terrain is very rolling. It's not that steep but I still gasp some on the uphill slopes. Eventually I'll get used to the altitude (Payson is about 5000 feet).

On Tuesday, we hooked up the the local hiking club, the Payson Packers. This club is so large, they break into groups based on how fast/far they hike. Since we're still acclimating to the environment, we chose the C group, slow hikers who stay pretty much to the easier trails. We met the contact, Dave, at the parking lot and he introduced us to several of the hikers and organized a ride for us.

We met in a local mall parking lot about 0715 and shared ride with some nice people. In this club, each rider pays the driver $3 to cover gas. We were in a van that could carry 7 so we had a nice ride out with Dave and others to the Sitgreves National Forest where Woods Canyon Lake is located, just a few miles east of Payson.

There were about 27 people in this particular hike. We all arrived at the parking area within the park by about 0830. Note this is a large park and there is camping available in several locations. Also several other trails within the park. Anyway, we debarked the vehicles and headed off to circum-ambulate the lake.

A man-made lake, it is nevertheless very pretty and has a well maintained trail around it. It is also surprizingly like hiking in the Adirondacks. Randy and I felt right at home. The total milage for the hike is about 3 or 3.5 miles. We were finished by 1030 or so. We saw bald eagles, people fishing in the lake, lots and lots of wild flowers. Some I could recognize, like aster and blue eyed grass. Others were new to me. This is a columbine!

We had a great time and will do our best to reserve Tuesdays so we can hike with the club.