The Gila River Trail

Our five-day trip into the Gila Wilderness was all Kevin's planning. He planned where we ate for lunch in Silver City, where we hiked, and when we camped for the night. For the first time I did none of the planning. It was five days of rest and relaxation I haven't had in years. He planned everything greatly. He chose the Gila River Trail from the Falcon series "Hikes in the Gila Wilderness." The guide, which rates this trail as "strenuous" due to the length, also mentioned the "numerous" river crossings. This was no joke. We did about eight miles up this 34-mile trail.

"It's nice to finally have the money for this" he said one night during our trip.

We brought all separate gear as this trip was also to test out the tent, sleeping bag, clothing and cooking set that I will be taking with me during the three-week backpacking adventure along the JMT next month. (Everything worked out greatly! The Big Agnes tent is awesome and the GSI Soloist pot with Brunton stove a super-lightweight ensemble.)

We left Friday morning at 7:20am, after an early reveille which prompted me to deep-soak the garden and walk the dogs before sunrise. We stopped in Huachuca City to eat breakfast at Sunny D's and then were on our way.

A massive eastbound semi tractor-trailor had overturned and spilled its cargo of Spanish onions along Interstate 10 just east of Benson. But other than that, we had an easy drive to our destination.

But before we hit our trailhead, Kevin wanted to stop in Silver City and eat at Jalisco's Cafe in downtown, on Bullard Street. Some co-workers recommended the place. He ate red chicken burritos, I had green chicken enchiladas. Both plates were delicious, but I didn't finish it all and took my left-overs to go, just as I had my breakfast.

We drove north on Hwy180 to the small community of Gila, then turned east on NM211 and then FR253 which dead-ends at the river.

We arrived at the trailhead to the Gila River trail at 2:20pm. A few holiday relevers were already recreating in the water and we parked slightly off the dirt road.

I started the hike carrying a plastic bag containing my leftover breakfast and lunch meals...no easy feat while fording a creek that at times got up to my knees. I didn't want to waste the food and I'm glad I took it along, as I ended up short one breakfast meal.

The time out in the wilderness was heaven. We met a few kayakers and canoers the first day. One group seemed to be a family of five, all steering separate boats. The kid told us they had been on the river for five days, averaging about ten miles a day. A few days later we met two more men who had managed the river from its source 34 miles upstream, and on the second day we passed a small group of campers, but we were mostly to ourselves. We were not bothered by screams, boom-box music or barking dogs.

Cans of BudLite and Keystone Lite littered the banks along the first two miles. Memorial Day weekend had already started here, but the further away from the main trail head we hiked, the cleaner the trail became.

The Gila River Trail is no easy trail to follow as the low points have been washed away from monsoonal floods and erosion. The hardest part was finding the trail after fording the river; cairns weren't always visible and the blazes were intermittently carved on trees along the trail. Some of the prettiest sections of the trail were uphill and away from the river, as the single-track meandered along low ridges, past aligator junipers, oaks, sycamores, pines, firs, elms and ash trees.

The hard, dry clay along the river was hot for Sadie's paws. She'd run ahead of us and wait in whatever shade she could find. The prickly brush along the banks were laden with poison oak. I must admit I wasn't too impressed with the "trail" on that first day as it seemed to be mostly bushwhacking, and my legs were getting cut open by the catclaw acacia and bitten by carnivore flies the entire time.

A trekking pole for support through the creek was an absolute neccesity. Even three feet of water at times pulled me and I needed that third leg for support.

Sadie carried her own pack of food and treats and didn't seem to be slowed down by the added weight. And boy could that girl swim! She was fording the river with confidence by the time this adventure was over, beating Kevin and me across the water.

The river meandered past impressive granit cliffs, overhangs and steep banks. Bear prints and scat were everywhere, yet we never spotted a bear. Various birds, buterflies followed us along, but we didn't see much wildlife. Some of the cliffs were spattered with bird shit, but we didn't see or hear falcons or hawks. We did see ravens, vultures and cliff swallows.

That is, until sunset. We had a fullmoon on our first night under the stars and the frogs went crazy croaking lovesongs to each other. On the second night the moon was so bright it kept Kevin awake. But on the final night the sky was calm and the waning full moon didn't rise above the peaks until 3am, and I watched it crest high into the sky. A falling star added to the celestial beauty. The river seemed so tranquil last night, as it also seemed to take a rest from cascading downhill. When the sun arose every spider web in the trees glistened as they danced to the morning breeze. Early birds thrilled us with their song.

Kevin spotted a mountain lion gazing at us from above a cliff as we rested along the small slot canyon called Springs Canyon.

"I love this place" said Kevin. "I fell in love with it the first time we were here (September 2004)."

We hiked two days out, two days back. Weather was beautiful the entire time, with sunny blue skies every day and calm nights.

It wasn't a very long hike any day. We took our time and rested often. I think I had the bug the first day as my throat and back were sore and my nose kept running. I didn't have much energy. But by Day Three I felt energized and could have gone many more miles both days. Instead, we stopped after 3-4 hours, then rested at a campsite where we took out books to read while enjoying the scenery. (I read Barbara Tuchman's 1962 "The Guns of August" about the first month of WWI). When I tired of reading I closed my eyes and listened to the calls of nature around us.

For five days we had no cell phone, no internet, no radio. The world could have come to an end and we wouldn't have known it, although we both wondered what natural disaster, famous person, or next global conflict had started in our recluse from the technological world. We would get our answers on the drive home...