The Mogollon Rim forms an unbroken wall of cliffs and hills in this part of Arizona, overlooking the pleasant city of Payson. There are trails and campgrounds in abundance above and below the Rim, and on summer weekends, the whole place is extremely crowded. In winter, snow shuts access to the top of the Rim (except along state highways). Two points directly on the cliff edge - Promontory Point and Myrtle Point - reach an elevation of 7,920 feet. As the Gila-Coconino County line runs on the cliff edge, these two points are thus the highest points in Gila County.

Gila County started small back in the 1880s, encompassing the region around Globe. At the time, Pinal Peak was the county's highest point. In 1889, the county was enlarged to include the south-facing cliffs of the Mogollon Rim. However, it was long believed that Mazatzal Peak was the county highpoint. The discovery of these two points as being the county highpoint only came about in the 1990s. Suddenly, two non-descript points along a cliff now get the honor of being the highest of something. Lazy county highpointers catch a break, as getting to these two points is cake compared to the notorious brush- and thorn-fest that is Mazatzal Peak.

I had no idea these points were the highest points in Gila County until I met Ken A. in late 1999. He had the maps and the lists. I was intrigued enough to team with him for a visit in November of that year. I came back again in 2003 with my wife. We've been here many other times, but always to explore somewhere else. The Gila County highpoints are fun to do once, maybe twice.

First visit, November 1999: Ken and I had hiked together for the first time about six weeks back on Browns Peak. I had driven on that trip, so it was Ken's turn this time. He was an hour late in getting to my place, despite mapquest maps and alternative directions provided by me since there was major freeway construction going on at the time around my home. Ken had left those directions back at his place. We get into his vehicle, and get a few miles up the Beeline Highway (AZ-87) before it starts to run funny. We decide to return to my home and take my truck instead.

Getting back was an epic. We got to the freeway area (The Loop-101 and US-60 in Tempe-Chandler). They were building the southern extension of the Loop-101 at this time, so the whole area was a war zone. But Ken would not listen when I gave him directions where to turn, and he got us off-track three or four times. Finally, we got back to my place, taking about 45 minutes to do what sould have taken 15 minutes, got the stuff into my truck, and drove up. Fortunately, we weren't looking at a long hike. It was close to noon when we finally arrived on top of the Mogollon Rim.

We followed Forest Road 300 west from its "start" at AZ-260 near Woods Lake. Eleven easy miles later, we arrived to a smaller, rougher dirt road called FR-76, and followed it south about four miles toward the rim's edge. The road was rough but not bad, but I did get a flat. I had to change the tire right there, with Ken providing some assistance. With all the action leading up to the actual hike, it was anticlimactic to reach Promontory Point, an easy mile walk in moderate forest. We looked around, tagged rocks, signed in the register, then returned to my truck.

For Myrtle Point, we got back onto FR-300 and went west another ten miles, passing through more open areas and old burns, plus thick forest in spots. We found the side road to Myrtle Point and made the quick walk out to tag the various rocks. The weather had been nice and warm, and we had good success with these two points. Gila County's highpoints were now in the books for the both of us.

Back to my truck, the battery light blinked on. It still had juice and the truck seemed to run alright, but I was concerned enough to not waste time. We exited back to the paved highways and into Payson. So far, no problems. I drove home and again, no problems. Maybe there wasn't a problem and the light was on for no reason. We got back to my place, shook hands, Ken drove off and I drove to get a dinner. Now dark, with my lights on, my truck lost all power and I had to be towed to a mechanics that night. I'm just glad the truck didn't die on me up on the Rim.

Second visit, November 2003: Originally, Beth and I were going to hike up a peak south of Interstate-8 called Table Top Mountain, but Beth woke up that morning feeling not 100%, and the weather was sort of unsettled, so we opted against Table Top for now, and sat around trying to decide what to do instead. Beth asked if there was an easy highpoint to do, and I suggested the Gila County liners on the Mogollon Rim. So, without any advance planning, we simply hit the road, stopping at the Wide World of Maps shop in Mesa to pick up the necessary maps. We left Chandler around 9:30 a.m. and made the 80-mile drive to Payson in a little over an hour, where we had a nice breakfast at the "Knotty Pine" restaurant, a real locals hangout. After getting gas and supplies we made the drive up AZ-260 to the Rim and began our quest.

We essentially followed the exact same road net as I did with Ken in 1999. We hit the point on Promontory Butte first, and made the quick side trip out to the benchmark that I'd ignored 4 years earlier. The weather was getting sort of nasty, with fog and drizzle and temps in the mid-30s. Unfortunately the views from out over the cliffs were occluded by the fog. As a result we didn't dawdle, and made the round trip hike in about 30 minutes.

The point on Myrtle Point was second. We came to it in much denser fog, with sections along road where I could only see 20 feet. We drove in the little access road (FR-300C) and made the quick walk out to the high area along the cliff. I was concerned when I didn't see the cairn I recall from the last time... then I found it, kicked over, rocks strewn about and the register just flung in the brush. I reconstructed everything, then hightailed it back to the truck. The mositure was really coming down, almost sleeting, and in the 10 minutes or so we were out hiking we both got soaked and downright cold. From here is was just a long slow drive out to the highway and back into Payson, where we ate a dinner and headed for home. The next day: NASCAR! We went to the race out at the Phoenix International Raceway. Lots of fun and a great weekend.