[Cdt-l] Miller Fire relo

[Andrew James]

I just finished that segment.  It was pretty hot coming up from the road but
we found some water up high past Reeds Peak then at Black Canyon where we
walked down the side trail a short distance and found some pools where we
camped.  The spring at Diamond Peak didn't look too good but we probably
could have gotten something.  We found some good pools at Chloride Creek but
the creek itself wasn't running.  There is a kind of water trap thing just
after crossing the road going to the lookout in Segment 11 which has some
not so nice water in it but we filtered some.  We stopped at Highway 59 and
came back here to Albuquerque so I don't know about anything north of that.
There wasn't a lot of water but it was enough if you were careful and
stocked up.  It sure beats bushwhacking through a forest fire. The hike is
pretty spectacular - it's right on top of the divide most of the way and
that's what the "D" in CDT is all about. If anyone has been north of Hwy 59
I'd like to hear about that.

longhiker

On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 1:26 PM, Brett Tucker <blisterfree at yahoo.com> wrote:

> With it being such a dry year hikers are reporting less water than usual
> along the official route in the Black Range. For example Adobe Spring and
> Dry Time ("Day Time") Tank were both reportedly dry as of several weeks ago.
> Chloride Creek had just a few small pools. And the rill beneath the
> footbridge north of Diamond Peak may not be a usable source at this time.
> Diamond Peak Spring is easy to miss but is typically just a damp spot, hard
> to use even in the best of times. And the terrain northwest of FS land
> around the Plains of San Agustin is largely without water. Doubtless some
> resourceful hikers could make the official route work for them, but
> admittedly the challenge curve would be steep for a nobo just starting out.
>
> The Wolf route is really your ace in the hole especially in a really dry
> year. I might suggest trying to get back on route asap, watching for where
> the Miller Fire perimeter stabilizes and then improvising a canyon-oriented
> route that circumvents the closure area.
>
> As of last night the Miller Fire was at 50k acres and had burned through
> the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument and headquarters area, nipping at
> the West and Middle forks of the Gila in this area. Flame lengths were
> reported at up to 4 ft with some tree torching, probably a lot of pinyon
> juniper that burned. No structures had been lost.
>
> Brett
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