May 25th, 2009 - Fossil Springs, Strawberry, AZ

On Memorial Day this year, Shirley and I decided to head up north and check out the cool swimming holes down at Fossil Springs.

We woke up very early so that we could be at the trailhead in Strawberry just after 8:00. This because we had planned to be out and at a family party in Cave Creek at 4:00. So, after a stop at the Wal-Mart in Payson to buy some cheap water shoes, we got to the trailhead early, made a couple peanut butter sandwiches, threw them in the pack and headed down the trail.

Did I mention that Shirley and I like to run the downhills? According to my watch, we made it down in one hour and seven minutes (1:07). Though I don't think i stopped the clock for the break where i retied my shoes and Shirley clipped her too-long toenails. And I'm not even sure where I stopped it at down at the bottom. If you've ever been to Fossil Springs, you'll know that you can be at the bottom but not actually to where you want to stop.

The bottom is much, much different than I remember. Well, not because I remember it wrong, but they've changed it. The hydroelectric plant a few miles down stream from the springs has been out of use for years and they finally took out any remnant of such. The flume and the damn have both been removed. As a result, the water fall where the Dam used to be is much larger, but the swimming whole down beneath the dam is now too shallow and rough-watered to be much good for swimming. Also, due to the removal of the dam, all the swimming wholes above the dam are too shallow for any rope swinging or rock jumping. It was kinda sad. But we got down to the bottom, changed into our sweet water shoes and climbed in.

We marched up and down a couple little stretches of the creek and found the deepest of the pools to be a bit farther up stream, near where we came down at. I think the deepest spot there was probably 7 ft in the center. We played there for a bit, ate our sandwiches, dried off, and then headed back out. And this was the amazing part. According to my stopwatch, we came out in one hour and twenty-five minutes(1:25). But if I remember right, I started it farther in at the bottom than I had stopped my watch on the way in, and also, we stopped for five minutes to check out a frog at the bottom. But the thing is, we were definitely truckin up that trail. I don't think we even stopped once. Just kept hiking. It was amazing. I always call Shirley a slave driver when we're hiking uphill because she makes me go pretty fast.

And that was it! It wasn't a hike from my cool book, but It sure was a lot of fun... even without all the cool swimming holes that used to be. And, we even made it to the family party before all the food was gone.