On a whim with my brother and nieces, and our new dog Millie - headed out to Payson to see Scout Cave and try and find some Diamond Quartz Crystals. We knew ahead of time that we were likely to run into some snow, but weren't expecting this;
The road up from Beeline went smoothly and it wasn't until the Control Road turnoff that we started to see lots of snow. The girls didn't bring a lot of warm clothing, but we were prepared, and the dogs had a great time running around. Stopped briefly at the Quartz Collection site, but you really need clear ground to find anything, and the snow became the draw;
Headed down the side road from the Watch Tower Rd. to see Scout Cave and this was a fun trail, as we were making fresh tracks and it was hard to guess what lies beneath the snow. Took us about 30min to navigate the 3/4mi to the cave entrance, and we all crawled down inside to have a look around. My brother had been in this cave back on 11/24/2012 and decided not to venture too far in, but this time he had time and a spelunking buddy to go in much further than before. The entrance looking up;
Pretty rocky to get down into it, but once inside, was fairly easy to navigate, and a lot of side passages which led to other areas of the cave you could see. We signed the guest-book and headed back out to the main road to stop for lunch;
Had a good time, got to spend some time with my nieces, and our new dog got to spend some time in the snow, which she loved.
Would like to make this trip again in the summertime when the snow won't cover the quartz (surface picking only after Feb28), and bring a better flashlight for more cave exploration. Surprisingly, the cave was actually pretty warm once you got down into it, and offered good shelter from the cold.
The road up from Beeline went smoothly and it wasn't until the Control Road turnoff that we started to see lots of snow. The girls didn't bring a lot of warm clothing, but we were prepared, and the dogs had a great time running around. Stopped briefly at the Quartz Collection site, but you really need clear ground to find anything, and the snow became the draw;
Headed down the side road from the Watch Tower Rd. to see Scout Cave and this was a fun trail, as we were making fresh tracks and it was hard to guess what lies beneath the snow. Took us about 30min to navigate the 3/4mi to the cave entrance, and we all crawled down inside to have a look around. My brother had been in this cave back on 11/24/2012 and decided not to venture too far in, but this time he had time and a spelunking buddy to go in much further than before. The entrance looking up;
Pretty rocky to get down into it, but once inside, was fairly easy to navigate, and a lot of side passages which led to other areas of the cave you could see. We signed the guest-book and headed back out to the main road to stop for lunch;
Had a good time, got to spend some time with my nieces, and our new dog got to spend some time in the snow, which she loved.
Would like to make this trip again in the summertime when the snow won't cover the quartz (surface picking only after Feb28), and bring a better flashlight for more cave exploration. Surprisingly, the cave was actually pretty warm once you got down into it, and offered good shelter from the cold.
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