Gila R- Middle Fork-Day 1

Cappuccino and I got an early start, leaving Albuquerque about 5 AM with breakfast burritos in hand. The first half of the trip follows interstate 25 down to the town of Truth or Consequences where we grabbed an early lunch at McDonald’s. Shortly beyond T or C we took Highway 152 west through Hillsboro and up into the Black Range mountains. Fifty twisty turny miles later we turn north up the Mimbres River valley then up into the Headwaters of the Gila, eventually arriving at the Gila Cliff Dwellings visitor center about 10AM.

High overcast skies did not dampen our spirits as we set off along the Middle Fork of the Gila River. This would be new territory as we have always taken the overland route from TJ Coral to the Little Bear Canyon junction with the Middle Fork before. This time we would walk up the Middle Fork to Bear Canyon.

A half mile in and we have already crossed the river a couple times. Running only ankle deep, despite recent rains, we were reassured that the river would probably be safe to travel. We passed a hot springs with a couple of bathers. A few tenths of a mile later the trail went right through the middle of a beaver pond. Thinking that if it did that, the water was probably not too deep, I waded on in. But I stopped about a quarter of the way across as the water was already up to my butt by that point and it was obvious that the pond was pretty deep. Cappuccino and I walked up steam, but the pond continued, so we walked down stream to the beaver dam and crossed there without problem.

Our progress up the canyon proceeded in this manner for the next several miles, as we encountered several more beaver ponds across the trail.

The canyon itself was also changing. Starting out with broad rounded sides, it became increasingly more vertical as we worked our way up stream. The forested hills gave way to sheer walls of red rock and the stream crossings came more often as the canyon narrowed. Alders, brushy willows, hardwoods, and small stands of Ponderosa pines filled the bottomland.

Six and a quarter miles in, we reached Little Bear Canyon, our usual stopping point on the first day. But Cappuccino and I pressed on, as our proposed loop would require doing about 13 miles a day to finish in 5 days.

Now on more familiar and well traveled trailed we were able to move a little faster. We passed Jordan Hot Springs about 2 miles beyond Little Bear Canyon and pushed on. The shadows deepened in the canyon as the sun dropped toward the horizon. So a couple miles beyond the Hot Springs with less than a hour of light left, we stopped and set up camp. Even then, we ended up fixing dinner by headlamps. We had come 10.5 miles from the car. A good, but not great, start.

The first 6 miles with its beaver ponds and less well traveled trail was harder going than I counted on, and tomorrow we will be doing an even less travel section of the river. But tomorrow is tomorrow.

Until then, safe travels and happy trails…