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<DIV>You've read that right - thru WINSTON. Anyone who's perused the <A
href="http://www.grandenchantmenttrail.org">Grand Enchantment
Trail website</A>, and maybe this lonely corner of New Mexico, knows the
town of Winston is the Bermuda Triangle of the route. What goes in, maybe
doesn't come back out! It's nearly the truth, as I'll explain.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>First a disclaimer. I left Clifton on March 29, and have been off the
route since April 12. So as updates go, this one is more of a history
lesson. We're moving toward post-season along the route now, and it's
doubtful anyone is out there anyway, but if anyone is or has plans to go, take
the following with a pinch of salt, especially with regard to water.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Segment 15</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>At <A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grand-enchantment-trail/message/79">last
report </A>I'd been holed up in Clifton with gear issues, and gazing with some
concern upon a boisterous San Francisco River through town. I'd attempted
the <A
href="http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2021075040038317822hNMbIU">practice
ford </A>as shown on the <A
href="http://simblissity.net/get-topo-cd.htm">GET map set</A>, and didn't
like how it went - either shallow with cobbles and quick, or waist/chest deep
and still not slow, and usually some of each between banks. As I
expected, the <A
href="http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2047868260038317822pZFInS">sand bar
</A>mentioned in the guidebook, visible from the bridge along FR 212, was
submerged. This is a good indicator of fording prospects; when the sand bar is
exposed, all should be well, otherwise attempt the practice ford before
heading eastbound along the route.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Leaving town the next day (3/30) the river seemed just a bit lower, but I
wouldn't know anything for sure until reaching Segment 16. Meanwhile I followed
the main GET route up Limestone Gulch to the Hickey Spring Trail, which I
reblazed with a more durable flagging tape. This should last a couple seasons at
least, and along with my recent brushing work along this heretofore neglected
trail I expect the hiking throngs will be pouring in any day now. Meanwhile
Segment 15 remains one of my favorites along the route, big on solitude and
high desert grassland scenery.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Segment 16</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>This segment now begins where the "pack trail" shown on the map meets the
San Francisco. I reached the river here on the afternoon of 3/31, and decided to
bushwhack around the first two fords, arguably among the most difficult. As I
was making up my mind, two guys floated by on double-hulled kayaks. "The Blue
was kind of scary," one of them shouted back, meaning shallow for the boats, but
scarier for me was that they had made it at all. My first ford, the third
of 14 in series, seemed more difficult than it had in the record-wet spring of
'05. So did the next ford. But farther on, the deeper fords that I remembered
were above my waist that year seemed to be lower now, and not as fast. I <A
href="http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2483446490038317822wxSusP">camped</A>
half-way along, and by next morning (4/1) the <A
href="http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2166407620038317822KTmWUt">remaining
fords</A> seemed easier still. I became convinced that the river was dropping by
the hour, and at some point had dropped below the levels of two years ago.
Checking the USGS streamflow stats now, this does indeed appear to have been the
case. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>San Francisco River this spring: <A
href="http://tinyurl.com/345bx5">http://tinyurl.com/345bx5</A></DIV>
<DIV>Spring of '05: <A
href="http://tinyurl.com/2lkte6">http://tinyurl.com/2lkte6</A></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV>So the threshhold for manageable fording appears to be around 350
cfs. More volume than this, and it'll be at or above the waist at
the cut-bank of almost every ford. Less than 300 cfs, and only the legs get wet,
current shouldn't demand too much strength or concentration. Below 200 cfs,
it's a creek slosh. (Below 100 cfs, the ATV's show up!)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The Blue River was fairly easy by comparison - knee deep or less - and the
trackless walking not as rough this year due to scouring of the banks during
last summer's floods. I found some nice obsidian pieces scattered at creekside,
and farther along, I sighted my first ever band of coatimundi! About a
dozen of them in and among a grove of sycamores scattered upon my approach, huge
brown tails raised in their distinctive arc. One curious fellow approached me
for a better look, as vaguely witnessed <A
href="http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2271829190038317822weQfnn">here</A>. I
was surprised to encounter coatis this far east in Arizona, though I later
discovered that their range extends into SW New Mexico as well.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Segment 17</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The Wild Bunch Trail over the Blue Range was in decent shape, with water
available in all the usual spots. I reflagged a bit along the higher ridges,
where a spotty old burn continues to fell the odd ponderosa. "Weed-thorns"
(the woody, higher elevation variety) need removal where the Horse Canyon
Trail runs along the exposed east flanks of Maple Peak, but it's not a
job I intend to tackle solo with loppers! Cattle should probably be kept out of
the burn area toward Charlie Moore Mountain, where the impact of hooves is
taking a toll, though I tend to doubt the distant Apache NF district
offices lose much sleep over the border region here. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I ran into a real-life backcountry cowboy, with his teenage son, both on
horseback looking for wayward cattle up among the pines. The two were
based out of Alma NM, and I received an earfull about everything from the Forest
Service to environmentalists, wolves, mountain lions, and whatever else
that might seem to stand between a rancher and his big fat bottom line. I was
left with the however-accurate impression that ranchers and cattle are
persona non grata in much of the Gila NF these days, thus the need for
his backwoods travailles across the border into AZ. Mexican gray wolves, he
asserted, now number "in the hundreds," despite official figures claiming only a
few dozen. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Segment 18</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>After an amazing night hike, walking into a rising full
moon framing the Mogollon Mountains, I found good water in Vigil Canyon and
made a late camp. Reliability unknown, but this is the only natural surface
water in the segment, save for the San Francisco River when flowing. To find it,
eastbound follow the roadwalk route across the dry drainage, then as it
parallels it on the south. The drainage heads away from the road, then returns,
now in a shallow gorge. Find a way the 25ft down into the gorge and look for
pools in the bedrock bottom, among sycamores. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In the morning I heard a roadrunner. *Heard* is the operative word
here. A deep, staccato, "whoop," if I recall correctly. These birds
are generally silent. I had absolutely no idea what animal was
making the sound until I emerged from my tent to find him glaring at
the object of his interest from a rock a few yards away. Then
the two of them were off.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>A typically diminished river here, the San Francisco was flowing
ankle-deep where it crosses the county road just west of Alma. I made it into
town in time for a late breakfast at the efficiently-named Alma Grill. This was
my first time in, and I suspect it won't be my last. I informed
the waitress that she was serving up the best food in Alma, to which she
laughed, before I assured her that I meant Glenwood too! Too bad neither the
Alma Store nor Glenwood Trading Post have enough trail food to make trail life
so comfy, or Glenwood and its P.O. might be entirely skippable. Unparticular
hikers (like me this time) might be able to get by. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The cultural disparity between Clifton and Alma/Glenwood is remarkable. The
former, though itself a small remote town, nonetheless feels linked to the
modern world - even Phoenix - by the industrial mining trade at Morenci.
One can see it on faces in town, hear it in the conversations, and in the music
blaring from car radios during the orderly procession of traffic at
"quittin' time." Alma, by contrast, is pure southwest New Mexico cowboy
country, the anglo conservative base to Clifton's more
liberal multi-cultural leanings. Quite unintentionally, the two towns have
absolutely nothing to do with each other, and the folks don't comingle.
Most have likely never been to the other; the towns are separated by many
miles of forking 2-lane highways and no good reason to go. Only the
backcountry traveler bridges this gap in time and space, and in 3
days along the GET moves between worlds apart, a lone vessel for this
awareness.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Segments 19-21</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The Mogollons Mountains still appeared to hold a lot of snow up high, so I
opted to detour widely around them, first via the <A
href="http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2735472830038317822ZfLDtl">Mineral
Creek Trail</A>. I'd been wanting to explore this route as an alternative to the
snow-detour advice detailed on the GET maps, namely entering the Gila
Wilderness at the Catwalk, then bailing out of Whitewater Creek at Redstone Park
and up to the Bursum Road. The Mineral Creek Trail by contrast would offer a
more direct approach to the Bursum Road and the continuation of the detour
around the Mogollons. And it might be nice and scenic in its own right.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>It is. It's also a lot of work following the trail, at least along the
first few miles of Mineral Creek where last summer's floods scoured the drainage
from wall to wall. It's a narrow canyon through here, not unlike the Catwalk but
without the crowds or elevated pedestrian walkway. It's easy to lose the trail
where it's washed out along the banks, and searching through the brush is
work here. Finally conditions improved a bit, though the trail seemed
endless, fording back and forth with few good bearings or signs to indicate
progress. Scattered throughout were numerous old mining operations and
encampments - curious piles of stone, <A
href="http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2884852660038317822efDAmg">heaps of
timbers</A>, and occasional iron works wherever the creek banks accommodated.
One huge <A
href="http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2757807100038317822MAcskY">iron
relic</A> had been constructed in Indianapolis, of all places. Mineral Creek
Canyon is surely a wilder place now, and is certainly more difficult to travel
than Whitewater Creek. I'd recommend it to those who've already seen the latter,
and who have reason to avoid the Mogollons and make time.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I continued up South Fork Mineral Creek Trail to the Bursum Road, where
water was available in snowmelt pools at roadside, the snow largely clear
from the roadway and forest here at 8800'. Farther down the road I entered
the perimeter of last summer's Bear Fire, which burned with varying degrees
of intensity over a large area just north of the Gila Wilderness. I also
believe I heard a wolf in this stretch, a brief howl from somewhere a good
distance away to the north, deeper and more liquid than a coyote's, without
the barking introduction. The possibility seemed more tangible when I came
across a set of large <A
href="http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2959480110038317822PVYRAO">canine
tracks</A> the next day. These were along the Middle Fork of the Gila River,
which I opted to follow instead of the GET's preferred West Fork, mostly out of
curiosity. I'd also bypassed the Middle Fork during my CDT hike in 2003, and was
eager to experience it and compare the two. Both canyons have outstanding
beauty, the Middle Fork seeming to spend extended miles in a scenic but
milder, more expansive topography, while the West Fork is more hemmed in,
featuring more tall spires and stuff to gawk at but it's limited to
fewer trail miles. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I found no other human footprints along the Middle Fork so early this
spring, so the canine tracks surely were not those of man's best friend.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The Gila's Middle and West Forks were each flowing at 70 cfs or less,
fordable without issue, although the beds of each creek can be slippery where
solid rock. I linked the two creeks using the CDTS route, the trails of
which are very popular with equestrians in this stretch and
getting wider and rockier each year. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Segment 22</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Day before Easter at Doc Campbell's Post, and I arrived to live
entertainment, compliments of a local guitarist and artist who was serenading
passersby, his wares on display out front. Hearing original folk songs about the
Gila River after hiking it is neat! Otherwise, Doc's was its familiar self
- not much to eat but the ice cream was good. A dozen or more yellow bottles of
HEET were on display by the front window. Paul the owner stepped outside
briefly, explaining to an incredulous motorist how to inflate his car tire
by mouth, because the air pump (functional, on premises) "will run for half an
hour." It was a good time.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Easter morning while breaking camp near Little Creek just outside
Gila Hot Springs I thought it odd to hear a white-winged dove calling.
According to the Gila National Forest "bird handout" I found at the Cliff
Dwelling's Visitors Center, white-winged doves - the familiar
"who-cooks-for-you" doves of metro Tucson and Phoenix - are considered uncommon
in this area.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The GET heads up the Middle Fork for a few miles, then over North Mesa to
the East Fork. This was the easiest of all, just a single ford, a quick
splash across its gentle flow, as usually it seems to be. The Black Range
from which it drains just doesn't receive snowpack like the taller Mogollon
Mountains. <A
href="http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2291077180038317822KWBNWj">Diamond
Creek</A> also presented easy fords, and the social trail along it was better
defined than a year and a half ago, likely due to increased equestrian use by
"Links Ranch" as shown on maps.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I added to existing flagging, showing the way over to Tom Moore Canyon
via the GET's little-used trails in this remote part of the Gila. A herd of a
dozen elk were grazing in Tom Moore, unaware of my presence some 200 yards
away. Although I remained motionless in the gathering dusk, I was standing
upwind of them. A head went up, signaling unease. It went back down and grazing
continued. Up again, then another. Without actually spotting me the
group instinctively bounded away from my scent, then bunched
together partway up the hillside, watching with seeming relief as my
movements betrayed me as human. This was springtime, after all, not hunting
season. They moved on at length, more casually this time. I was not a wolf, or a
<A
href="http://www.amazon.com/Stalked-Mountain-Lion-Uncertain-Cougars/dp/0762743158">mountain
lion</A>.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Tom Moore Canyon had water, starting just above the box, then again as a
flowing creeklet a few miles farther up-canyon. Incongruously, I found
a small notepad in the road along FR 150, full of names and phone numbers
and written in Spanish. It appeared to have been lying there for some
time. This would be my one vestige of humanity between Gila Hot
Springs and Winston; no people, no vehicles the entire way. (More on GET
prospects for solitude in a follow-up note.)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Segment 23</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Into the Aldo Leopold Wilderness, just beyond the Me Own Helitack Site,
then around Me Own Hill following Me Own Trail, but accidentally dropping down
to Me Own Tank, which was full. Some of the signs around here list "Meown," as
if to be extra clever.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2515002170038317822osDBIK">South
Diamond Creek</A> presented chilly but generally ankle-deep crossings. I
was reminded again of the widespread effects of last summer's floods, noting
places where the creekbanks had eroded into the trail, leaving steep little
dropoffs to maneuver around. Approaching the Black Range I entered the burn zone
in Burnt Canyon, which historically hasn't always been burnt. The latest burn is
fairly recent, but the trail here has seen a crew and is in fine shape
approaching the Divide.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Segment 24</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thus ends the GET's own unique route through Gila country, here joining the
CDT official route north along the crest of the Black Range. This whole stretch
through the Gila is arguably the highlight of the GET experience, mile
after mile of nearly seamless travel along established trails, with plenty
of water, wildlife and shade, but few road crossings and even fewer
people.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Diamond Peak (9800') held no snow to speak of, though it offered <A
href="http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2993501830038317822TMcgPh">views south
to taller Reeds Peak</A> which did. Diamond Peak Spring was meager but usable,
and could certainly stand to be improved before the trail that slabs across it
finally causes its demise.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I found water south of Fishermans Bluff, where the trail crosses a small
wooden bridge over a minor drainage (near the T in 'Continental' on USGS
maps). This creeklet seems to flow in springtime during and following
the snowpack melt. North of Fishermans Bluff I added fresh flagging in the burn,
which has now felled most trees over a trail distance of half a mile, not
presenting a blowdown hassle so much as a routefinding issue. The standing trees
seem well-anchored and the flagging will hopefully keep for a couple of seasons
or until crews can perform rehab. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Chloride Creek and the drainage feeding it from the south both held plenty
of water; in three hikes, both spring and fall, I've never seen these dry.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I left the CDT / GET before the end of GET Segment 24, at the crossing of
FR 226. As usual, I wanted to keep going but had run out of time. Down to
Winston, I decided. I hadn't yet been there, despite its being a
genuine GET Trail Town, listed in the <A
href="http://simblissity.net/get_town_guide.shtml">Town Guide</A> along with all
sorts of unverified hearsay about it. From Winston I'd try hitching out to Truth
or Consequences, where I could catch a bus.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Less than a mile east of the Divide on FR 226 I came to <A
href="http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2293292690038317822efCtCq">Monument
Park Cabin</A>, operated by the Forest Service, locked but available for rent,
apparently. The covered front porch was accessible, and the setting was
beautiful. Even a regulation FS toilet sat across the road. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Farther down the road, a strange thing happened around sunset. An elk
emerged from the brush and walked across the road, back into the brush. Not so
strange. But then as I continued on a few feet a group of 4 or 5 cattle
spooked from the same area. Not as casual, the cows bolted down the road
away from me. Looking off the road, down where the cows had been, I saw a large
bull elk standing idly by, gazing at me indolently. Obviously the cows and
elk had been feeding, or possibly watering, in a group of sorts, each accepting
the other's presence. And possibly benefiting from it, I imagined, in terms
of scouting for danger. Maybe the elk knew the cows
would play the canary in the coalmine, singing at everything - my
presence in this case. In any event, the bull elk finally turned and trotted
off, probably more annoyed than concerned.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I camped back at Chloride Creek, then the next morning followed the 4WD
road without traffic for the remaining long miles out to civilization. (12 miles
total, 3000'+ elevation loss) This is no resupply route for GET or CDT hikers,
for sure. The town of Chloride would be a ghost town, I knew, but no! People
here, habitable structures. Even a <A
href="http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2500270490038317822WlRXxN">functional
storefront</A>, aimed at the occasional auto tourist heading here on
the so-called "Geronimo Trail." I spoke with the proprietor, a
lifelong resident, who told me about cabins for rent in town, and also more
about Chloride Creek, which she said ceased flowing year-round in 1978. Now it
runs only sporadically, as the snow melts in spring and whenever it rains
enough. I liked Chloride, virtually serviceless though it was. The nearby
Cuchillo Hills looked inviting, a remote island of a range only tall enough
to support a sea of lion-colored grasses and the occasional juniper.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Winston, by contrast, appeared to be in a slump. Many of the yards I passed
were stockpiled with unknowable junk. I found the Winston Saloon, right in the
midst of this setting, then across the street noted the now-defunct Winston
Bed & Breakfast. Main Street appeared vacant except for a gas company
worker running about reading meters. He pointed me up the road to the <A
href="http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2213867760038317822geGmEa">Winston
General Store</A>, the meat and potatoes of town life. Here I found mostly snack
foods, along with fresh-made microwaveable sandwiches and burritos. Better still
was the Winston General Store Official Merchandise: I scored a namesake camo
ball cap, which I assured the bemused clerk would improve my chances of catching
a ride out of town.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>It didn't. But then I didn't care to walk, knowing it was 40 paved miles to
T or C, with little public land or water en route. T or C now has a taxi
company, but the driver won't run beyond city limits. Out with the thumb. How
hard can it be to get a lift? Actually I'd had a fitful night's sleep, worrying
about this hitch. I'd even formulated a plan to buy a used bicycle in Winston,
if available. None were. "Some days the road gets traffic, other days not much,"
the clerk advised me. "How has today been?" I'd asked. "Kind of slow," she'd
replied. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>NM Highway 52 runs through Winston, a straight shot from T or C. Almost all
traffic heading east goes to T or C. So it's not a problem once the vehicle
pulls over, it's finding one to hail. I stood around for about an hour,
during which time a total of 3 cars passed, all heading the other way. Little
did I know how remote the DIVIDE was, I now thought! </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Finally a large van pulled over, miners carpooling home from the nearby St.
Cloud mine. Thanks, miners. I learned a bit about the operation, though never
did figure out what they were mining. It wasn't copper. And in any case, I felt
overwhelmed just being in a moving vehicle, speeding down the rollercoaster
highway at a commuter's pace, my first car trip since my shuttle had dropped me
at the foot of the Superstitions, some 40 days prior.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>It was a fun, rewarding, and as always, a challenging trip. I
hope to return to the GET this fall, heading westbound from Albuquerque. I'll
probably bypass Winston, though.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>- blisterfree</DIV>
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