Tonto Creek Meets Rye Creek
A visit to a gated cattle community
This is a spot where I’d be content to sit all day on my porch and contemplate my good luck. It’s a pretty area located in the eastern foothills of the Sierra Ancha Mountains in what’s known as the Tonto Basin of Arizona.
The photo above was taken from a bluff near a ranch house and looking down at the confluence of Rye Creek and Tonto Creek (photo site-Tonto 15). I had attempted to take this photo in a previous year but was met by a locked ranch gate. This time I was met by the ranch owner and some Forest Service personnel and allowed to take photos from the ranch property for the Riparian Photopoint Program. The Riparian Photopoint Program is a volunteer project managed by the Friends of the Tonto National Forest. I’m a big fan of the project because it gets me outdoors with a goal in mind. This is a welcome difference from my usual aimless wandering. The volunteer project involves finding established sites along or overlooking streams and taking consistent photos for comparison of riparian sites over time.
Tonto Creek begins in pine forests along the Mogollon Rim then meanders through Hell’s Gate Wilderness and finally the Tonto Basin before meeting the Salt River in Roosevelt Lake. I haven’t strayed as far as the Tonto Creek headwaters but the photo below from the Riparian Photopoint Program shows that I’ve missed a very pretty section of stream.
Rye Creek flows south from the eastern slopes of the Mazatzal Mountains and through, not surprisingly, Rye Arizona and eventually into Tonto Creek. The most southern Rye Creek sites involve a short rough ride down FSR 1446 and then some hiking and rock hopping along the creek.
Of course the road ends at Jake’s Corner Bar. There’s nothing like a big bowl of bean soup to finish a morning spent strolling around looking for photo sites along Tonto Basin creeks.
The cattle guard across FSR 184 marks the beginning of a bumpier Arizona where the marked lanes end. My heart rate goes up when I cross over onto the dirt. The excitement is partly due to driving into the scenery instead of just cruising past. However, to be honest, it’s also my pacemaker reacting to the rough road.
Walk slowly and look around.
Tim