Oktoberfest and hike this W/E - 10/6 &/or 7

[hikeaz]

Oktoberfest- A few of us plan to head up to the Rim Country to experience Oktoberfest at its finest, by celebrating it at the Rimside Grill in Pine. The weather forecast looks AWESOME!

On Saturday, at Oktoberfest, (11AM-10PM) there will be volleyball, German food and German beer, stein holding contests, horseshoes, door prizes, a DJ & karaoke all day and a band after 6:00 PM (so pace yourself). We may start off the day by heading down the road to visit Tonto Natural Bridge before the Oktoberfest.



The Hike- After Oktoberfest and after camping nearby on Saturday night (likely at the Pine T/H, as it's walking distance from the Rimside), we will head up onto the Mogollon Rim on Sunday morning to start our hike - the Pine Canyon Trail, which will be substantially, but not entirely, downhill. The trail starts out by switch-backing off of the Mogollon Rim down to Pine Creek. It then meanders along Pine Creek for a few miles before climbing some to contour around Camp Lo Mia and then on to the Pine Trailhead. There is a possibility that we may hike a slightly different trail, but the difficulty level will not change much if we do.

You are welcome to join up with us, or just use this as a notice about the Oktoberfest.

[Dschur]

There is a huge 125th anniversary celebration of Paysons township. There is lots going on in Payson on Saturday the 6th. Just a heads up so that anyone driving thru the area will know. At least the parade won't be on the Beeline this time it is on main street. There could be lots of traffic in town.

[chumley]

I can't find any information on the AZ State Parks website, but the Tonto Natural Bridge state park was closed on Sun Sep 23rd, with a large barricade across the road.

Perhaps it's worth a phone call before planning on that trip?

[joebartels]

It's just a recording stating the hours to 6pm and that you must be on the trails before 5pm. What time did you drive by?

[chumley]

It was around 4pm. I had been "wasting time" around the Geronimo trailhead waiting for the Beeline to reopen after the tanker accident. I stopped at Tonto Natural Bridge to get a cell signal and call for the road condition update ... before heading back north to cut across to I-17.

Again, I wish I had paid attention to the sign, but it was a construction-type barricade with definitely no access.

In retrospect, perhaps it was related to the flooding/heavy rain that occurred on the previous day...?