Month: May 2009

Payson

If you’re looking for somewhere nice to walk around that’s less than two hours from Phoenix, Payson is the place for you!

 

Rim Country
Rim Country

 

Payson and the Mogollon Rim country in general have always been favorite hiking spots of mine. Just the drive from Phoenix to Payson is beautiful. As you come up onto the tops of the hills, the sky gets bigger and bigger. The world seems to fall away and become nothing but clouds.

I try to find the spots near water for hiking, because that’s where you find the best plants and the coolest shade. To that end, I have done many hikes into the Tonto Natural Bridge (now closed to the public) and into Fossil Creek (which is thankfully still open!)

 

Fossil Creek
Fossil Creek

 

On my last hike, I was searching for something else. I hadn’t been there in years. It’s the kind of spot where teenagers go to get in trouble. It was off the Beeline Highway, and it was a long road that wound to cliffs with deep, clear pools of water below them. I had been there several times with friends back when I owned a truck and did a lot more camping, and I wanted to find it again.

 

End of the public road
End of the public road

 

I took a right on what I think was Flowing Springs Road, just outside Payson but not yet into the town of Pine. It’s not a long drive to the end of the road. All of a sudden you reach a place with huge signs that say “Private Property” and “No Trespassing, Keep Out.”

 I was devastated when I got to the end, because I had been sure it was the right road after driving past several things that I thought were familiar. I wanted to leave the car at the end of the road and keep walking, but I was with Rob, and he is one of those people who only break the laws he doesn’t like (and the trespassing law is not one of the ones he doesn’t like.) I can only assume I was on the right track and the land beyond what was public had been sold. It always makes me sad to find public land turned private and opportunities for exploration cut short.

 

Muddy Water
Muddy Water

 

But we got out and walked around anyway, and the part that you can still walk around is nice. The water isn’t clear anymore. It’s been damned up to make fishing holes. But it’s still pretty country, and there’s nothing quite like the sound of a babbling brook to sooth a person’s soul. I always feel like I didn’t even know I was holding my breath until I get up to the rim and let it out. *Sigh* What a great place!

 

The Local lizzard "Horney Toad"
The Local lizzard "Horney Toad"

 

So if you get the chance, head up to Payson. It’s still hot there, so bring lots of water and don’t expect it to be chilly. It’s Arizona in the summer, and it gets hot. And please, if you are a smoker, bring something to put your butts in. As Arizona becomes more well-traveled and crowded, I have been sad to see cigarette butts on a lot of my favorite hiking trails. So, as the guy in Jurassic Park says: “Hold onto your butts.”

Japanese gardens AZ

The Japanese Friendship Gardens in PHX are a far cry from the ones in other major cities, but they are peaceful in an arid desert kind of way.

The Japanese Friendship Gardens, PHX
The Japanese Friendship Gardens, PHX

I have been to Japanese Friendship Gardens in several cities, including the ones in San Diego and in San Jose, both in California.

 My grandpa used to take me to the Japanese Friendship Gardens in San Jose, because he enjoyed the atmosphere. He was in the navy in World War II, and he stayed to help re-build Japan after the war. I remember the Japanese things he kept; ink sticks for grinding to write, good luck charms, and scrolls. He said the purpose of the garden in San Jose was to remind people of San Jose’s sister city in Japan that had to be re-built after we destroyed it in the war. He said there were gardens in most big cities to remind us.

 

House for tea ceremonies
House for tea ceremonies

When I went to the Phoenix Japanese Friendship Gardens, there was a plaque from Phoenix’s sister city in Japan. But, it didn’t say anything about WWII. It felt oddly sanitized, as though the Phoenix designers thought it would be good to show friendship for Japan, but not good to tell our kids why it’s so important we do this.

 I know why it was important to my grandpa. He said we destroyed Japan in ways the country would never recover from. After the US occupancy the geisha districts where transformed into places for… less savory women in less clothes. And we changed their government, cultures, and attitude. Maybe it was for the better, and maybe it was for the worse; but my grandpa said the important part to remember was that it was changed forever, and we couldn’t take what we did back.

Water Lillies
Water Lillies

 

The Phoenix Japanese Friendship Gardens are pretty. They have nice bathrooms, and a house for tea ceremony and other Japanese traditions. They have koi ponds too, like most Japanese Friendship Gardens. But I guess we have a shortage of Japanese people in Arizona, because the gardens are not maintained by Japanese gardeners, and the fish aren’t even trained to come for food like they are in most cities. In San Jose you lightly clap your hands and all the koi hear the sound and come swimming from the many connected ponds. Then you feed them and they jump out of the water in excitement. The koi in Phoenix don’t come until you start feeding them, but they figure it out eventually.

The Koi
The Koi

 Another thing that makes the Phoenix gardens different is the complete lack of Japanese plants. It’s not their fault- of course. We are in Phoenix. As a gardener myself, I have full appreciation for the fact that when a plant is rated for “full sun” they mean full sun in Washington or something. Full sun in Arizona kills everything but a rare few plants, and so those few plants are what are cultivated in the Japanese Friendship Gardens. The gardens really are very pretty, all things considered. But the water is murky and they sun is hot, and they close in the summer because it’s simply too miserable out. I would say the gardens are worth checking out. But for the real experience, go to the Japanese Tea Gardens in San Francisco or the Japanese Friendship Gardens in San Jose. I suggest this for the same reason I would not suggest eating Chinese food in Rocky Piont, Mexico. It’s just not going to come close to the “real experience.”

 Usually, I am gung-ho about everything Phoenix. Those who know me know that this City is my home, and that I always come back, no matter where I roam. But I am willing to admit to the limits us Phoenicians bear. We don’t have enough Asian gardeners, and we don’t have the environment for gardens. What can I say? The Phoenix Japanese Friendship Gardens are just not as nice as the gardens in other cities.

Do leave a prayer if you go to the Phoenix gardens though, as it never hurts to ask the Buddha for a favor.

A Single prayer (traditionally rolled up in Japan).
A Single prayer (traditionally rolled up in Japan).
And look for the very peaceful spot in the back to meditate.
Peaceful Stream
Peaceful Stream