[Cdt-l] Which Route N of Sliver City, NM?

[Jim and_or Ginny Owen]

Pay attention to snow levels now and over the next two months.  They'll let you know whether there is a lot of snow to melt and how quickly it is vanishing.  You might also contact the rangers in the Gila.  The only really difficult spot in a high snow year is where Sapillo Creek meets the Gila River.  We were there in a low snow year and it was only shin deep, but it can be much deeper.  
 
You have at least three routes north:  the official route which has very very little water in the spring (some hikers who were out in 2006 went several days without finding any water on the official route between Mimbres and Pie Town except a 5 gallon container that had been left behind by a fire crew - they carried that water for 3 days and still ended up hitching out to Pie Town because they were out of water). Then there's Jim Wolf's route which passes the cliff dwellings - worth a visit or a side trip.  Finally there's Jonathan Ley's route that takes you past a really good hot springs (a little off trail).  
 
As to quicksand:  generally the quicksand in the desert isn't like what you saw a kid in cartoons and very old movies.  It is a very slow moving sand that doesn't swallow you up.  Just keep moving steadily and you probably won't even notice.  Two hikes through the Gila and we never felt any quicksand.  Our issue was the slimy slippery rocks underfoot that sometimes caused us to fall.  
 
Ginny

http://www.spiriteaglehome.com/
 
 		 	   		  
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