Silver City, NM to Gila, NM

Photos - click here

We arrived at Silver City after dark and were misinformed by the “YOU GET A PIN” man as to the distance from the city limits and the nearest motel. We were told the motels were located as we first came into town, but it was actually a couple of miles further. Those last two miles were long, but we found a room, bolted to the restaurant next door, ate and returned to our room for showers and much needed sleep.

Leslie has done much to prepare myself and David for the trials and tribulations of the trail. Some of what she has shared with us we have experienced on our weekend backpacking trips and a few longer trips. The subject of blisters were now a reality in Silver City. All of us had the “thru-hiker” blisters that have been the topic of many of Leslie’s stories. Leslie has a large repertoire of techniques for dealing with the endless variety of blisters that are an inevitable part of this experience. Her techniques involve lancing, cutting, cleaning and bathing the feet in rubbing alcohol. We all treated our feet to alcohol baths this trip. The foot gets immersed in a gallon sized ziplock bag filled with rubbing alcohol. This of course can be a bit painful but it also kills any potential infection and dries out the blisters and foot. The result (after the pain) is hardened skin that holds up well on the trail. Eventually, feet develop calluses in all the right places and blisters present few problems.

Leslie’s feet were the worst of all of us. My feet were hurting and blistered and so were David’s. I believe at this point David had the fewest blisters. He was wearing a special pair of socks purchased before the hike which worked great for him. In previous hikes Leslie’s feet had gotten so bad that she had sent her boots home and made hiking shoes out of flip flops until her Chaco sandals could be sent. We chose Montrail Trail Runners for this trip and for David and I the shoes couldn’t be better suited for the hike and terrain. Leslie’s unusual foot shape however did not work with the Montrail’s.

In Silver City we found an outdoors shop where Leslie was able to buy a pair of Chaco’s that will remain her hiking “shoe” for the trip. This will be interesting during snow travel. It's probably a little risky, but she has over 1,000 miles of long distance travel in Chaco sandals, so who knows. We spoke with the owner of the store who hosted the Tour de Gila bicycle race. The race is a 5 day stage race and is sponsored by Outside Magazine. David was very interested in learning more and possibly participating sometime in the future. We took 2 days off in Silver City and David and I visited the museum, David called some of his friends and we planned the logistics for the next leg to the Gila Cliff Dwellings.

DAY 1
We left early morning for the Gila Wilderness. I was ready to leave and we were all looking forward to hiking in the mountains and on trail. As we left town we gradually ascended the mountains on a paved road, then a gravel forest service road and finally a trail. There was a slight breeze and the temperature was in the 70’s. Because we were surrounded by trees there was plenty of shade to keep us cool. After a couple of hours we found a CDT Trail Marker. This was the first marker that we found on our journey thus far and was very exciting. Our enthusiasm got the best of us because we started following the trail markers and after a mile decided that we were not following the planned route. We back tracked to the original trail and continued. That's one of the unique things about this "trail". First, it is only 70% complete. Second, there are actually two trails- the Continental Divide Trail Alliance’s trail (who uses the trail markers) and the Continental Divide Trail Society’s trail. The two are sometimes along the same route, or overlapping each other, and we are carrying maps and guidebooks for both, switching back and forth to the route that is the safest and/or most scenic.

We hiked until the afternoon and from the summits of the small mountains that we were ascending we could see a huge Monastery on the hill across the valley. The Monastery is the oldest active Benedictine Monastery in the country and represented one of the many interesting side trips that we will have to make some other time. We had our first bushwhack during the afternoon. Bushwhacking is essentially finding a direction or landmark and walking through the woods, brush, and various other obstacles to get to the destination. The bushwhack took several hours and with the help of the GPS, compass and maps we finally arrived at our destination- a creek we would follow until we rejoined the trail. We resupplied with water and saw the threatening clouds above. We continued for another couple hours until dusk when we came to our trail junction where we decided to set up camp.

Downhill from our camp was an old abandoned prospector’s log cabin with a collapsed roof. Below the cabin was a river and interesting, unidentifiable groaning-like sounds from the valley. Our guess is that they were probably the loudest frogs west of the Mississippi. After a cold dinner we went to bed and were awoken by a lightening and thunder storm that lasted throughout the night- fortunately our tents kept us dry. The next day the morning air was cool but the sun was shining.

DAY 2
We began the day hiking on an unused forest road which later turned to trail marked by cairns (“a mound of stones piled up as a memorial or to mark a boundary or path”). We then hit a beautiful area characterized by red spires and trees- it was lovely.Finally we followed a small stream up through the forest and our second bushwhack was upon us. Leslie asked me if I would like to head up the mountain and bushwhack now or further up the stream. I said lets go now. Our destination was to reconnect with a trail that skirted around the mountains.

The bushwhack was grueling – entirely up the mountain through cacti, bone dry gnarled branches from various trees, desert brush and dirt. We were all getting cut on our legs and arms from breaking through the brush. It was not possible to just walk, every step required branches to be broken and careful footsteps as to avoid the sharp cacti and desert plants. About 2 hours into the bushwhack David picked up a large stick (small log) and began whacking the brush – it worked well and we began to call him Ogre. Later he tore the skin of his finger trying to break the brush. It bled quite a bit and we put some duct tape on it. At one point an agave plant that has sword-like ankle to knee-high branches stemming from its base went into my ankle. This one hurt but we couldn’t stop. Tensions ran high from the stress of the bushwhack, and were heightened further when we discovered that we had climbed the wrong arm of the mountain- one arm too far to the west. Fortunately the trail wrapped around the mountain to the west as well and Leslie’s expert orienteering led us down the other side to a saddle, back up the next mountain about 100 feet and ta da! Trail! Our off-route adventure actually cut off a mile of trail and added about 30 extra minutes of bushwhacking, so it was a wash. We had a group hug, cleaned up some of the blood and continued through the late afternoon and into the evening.

The trail led us up to a gap where it began to hail. We pulled out our jackets and continued descending the mountain. The hail stopped as quickly as it began and we continued through varied terrain. Eventually it became too dark to hike without headlamps. We stopped and pulled out our headlamps and descended a very rocky trail. It became unsafe to hike on the unsteady trail so we decided to make camp. It began to rain, was very cold and our tent sites were on a slope with lava rocks. So much for a good night’s sleep….

DAY 3
We broke camp and began to descend into the Gila River Valley. At Sapilla Creek we took a break and Leslie and I went over to check out how reasonable it was to ford the Gila River while David watched our packs and took a break.

The next stretch required at least 20 river fords and a 15 mile hike up the Gila River to the Gila Cliff Dwellings. The river was high and seemed unsafe so we opted for another route over the mountains that surround the river valley. We spent about 6 hours trying to find the route, enjoyed some incredible views high above the valley on the steep rocky slopes and finally came to the conclusion that there was no safe way out for the alternative route. The trail was on an extremely steep slope was too faint to follow, and we didn’t have maps for the entire trail. We decided to go back to the Gila River and investigate closer. There was another alternate route about 2.5 miles up the river and would only require a handful of river fords.

The first ford was exciting – Leslie went first. She unbuckled her pack and walked across the swift waist high river water by walking horizontally to the other side. David and I followed. The fords became progressively more difficult. At one point Leslie was up to her chest in the icy river, her faced determined and I could hear her say “You will not take me!” She was right and made it across.

The last ford to our campsite next to the river didn’t look terribly challenging. I decided to go first. About half way across I thought I was going in – the force of the waist high water was almost too much. I leaned all of my weight forward and continued. It got more difficult but I managed to get across. I thought to myself, that I got lucky and if I did it again, I would go downstream for sure. The problem was that David and Leslie were on the other side. Leslie could tell from my crossing that there was no way she or David could or should cross at that same spot. We spent about an hour trying to find a more favorable place to cross and after many attempts we finally found one and were reunited.

We set up camp next to the river on a flat sandy campsite. We cooked hot food that night and even made a campfire. After dark David was exploring the area and said Dad there is something hanging from the tree. I thought it might be stick be he was a little startled when he told me. I went over and my headlamp revealed a head of what looked like a catfish about the size of a small child’s head hanging from a string tied to the tree. We have know idea why it was there and were grateful that no animals came to feast on it while we were sleeping that night.

DAY 4
We began our morning early. We were leaving the Gila River on a alternate route over the 8,000 foot Granny Mountain. We opted for this 20 mile route, adding 8 miles to our hike just to avoid the remaining 12 miles of the Gila. Since the map showed the river going through narrower areas than we already experienced, this was the safest choice. The stretch over Granny Mountain was not without its own caveats, however. First, we were lacking maps for about 10 miles of this stretch. We had our GPS and maps of the surrounding areas so we were hopeful that we could find our way. The climb up Granny Mountain was challenging and exhausting but the views of the Gila River Valley below and surrounding mountains were beautiful and great rewards for our work. The trail was fairly well defined and we were surrounded by trees that offered shade during the day.

For the duration of about one mile we encountered a burn area and lost the trail several times on top of the mountain. We had a strategy of the three of us fanning out and searching for trail, but always staying within voice range of each other. When we found it we came together and continued. This happened several times and we felt good about our teamwork- especially since the burn area was on the stretch of trail for which we did not have any maps. Later in the afternoon the trail flattened and the undergrowth disappeared. We were hiking through pine forests in what looked like a park.

All at once we heard an animal noise that indicated it was a big animal. A deep bellowing. I thought maybe it was an elk or bear and wanted to get ahead to see if I could take a picture. Leslie encouraged me to stay back because we didn’t know what it was or what might happen. I think David wanted to explore with me. The sound got louder and all of the sudden a cow ran very quickly across the trail into the woods. Then another two cows followed. We had just seen feral cows. These cows are the result of ranchers loosing track of a few cows and they become wild again. I was a bit disappointed but took a couple of pictures anyway.

Much later in the day we collected much needed water at Turkey Creek. There was an old Forest Service hunting cabin and signs of horses and cows along the creek fed by the lake above. The creek offered decent water and we filtered it first with a bandana and then sterilized it with our Steripen (UV treatment). After continuing another 30 minutes we crossed paths with two turkey hunters on horses headed to the cabin. They were friendly and curious about our trip as we were with theirs. We continued down the soft forested trail to until it eventually turned to rock. The rocks were cantaloupe-sized ankle-breakers and were tiring to traverse. When the night came we put on our headlamps and continued down the trail until we reached the parking area and set up camp.

The next morning we hurt as we do every morning. The feet are always painful and swollen for 10 minutes and the body is sore. This is even true of David. We began our 3 mile road walk to Campbell’s Trading Post where they were holding our mail drop and offered supplies and showers. This is the only store within 20 miles. We arrived 15 minutes before they opened and made phone calls home to assure everyone we were ok because this leg took an extra two days due to the route finding problems and the alternate route around the Gila River.

All afternoon we enjoyed eating warm food and cold drinks and visiting with Kathy who was working her last week at the Trading Post. The showers were invigorating as always and we washed our clothes in the laundromat. At the end of the day Kathy offered us a ride to the Upper Scorpion Campground where we enjoyed the luxuries of a picnic table, flat campsite, a few deer and another campfire.

As we looked through our mail drop we found that we had too much food for the next leg and instead of carrying the extra weight we offered it to a group of hikers from a local college. The group came over and rummaged through our food like ravens and scooped it up in about 30 seconds. We were happy that the food would be put to good use. That evening we walked a mile back to our original campsite to look for our missing food line (we hang our food every night to prevent the animals from eating our food). We also explored pictographs on the cliffs surrounding the area. When we returned our garbage bag was torn open and food and garbage was everywhere. We saw deer across the road and came to the logical conclusion. There were no trash cans at this campground, but we were fortunate to have the students take our trash since their support team was rendezvousing with them that night.

~Dave

Info on Silver City from: http://www.desertusa.com/Cities/nm/silver.html and
http://www.usacitiesonline.com/nmcountysilvercity.htm#history

Population
12,007

Elevation
6,142 feet above sea level

Climate
Silver City is noted for its clear mountain air, low humidity and four gentle seasons. The annual average temperature is fifty four degrees Fahrenheit, with mid-summer days in the eighties. Pleasant, above-freezing temperatures most of the winter provide near-perfect conditions for day and evening activities. The average annual rain/snow precipitation is just over fourteen inches. On average, the sun shines more than three hundred days per year, and there are at least one hundred seventy four growing days.

History
The Mimbres Indians (from "Mimbreno," the willow people) called the Silver City river valleys home around A.D. 1000. They produced remarkable black-on-white pottery, with a sophistication and intricacy of design seldom rivaled in all the centuries of Southwestern pottery making. Like their neighbors, the Hohokam, to the west, or the Anasazi, to the north, the Mimbres people vanished mysteriously in the early centuries of the second millennium

Silver City began as a rip-roarin' tent town in the spring of 1870, when a silver bonanza was discovered one half mile west of the present-day courthouse. Within less than a year, over eighty buildings had been constructed,, and in 1871, Silver City became the seat of Grant County. When the boom ended, the people stayed.

In those early years of development, all of southwestern New Mexico was plagued by Apache raids. Bands of these fierce warriors roamed the area, led by famous chiefs such as Chato, Cochise, Geronimo, Mangas Coloradas (Red Sleeves), Nana, Natchez and Victorio. Because of the rough terrain and strategic lookout points, the impenetrable Gila Wildness area was an important stronghold where the Apaches felt safe from US Army pursuit. Geronimo is said to have been born in the Gila Wilderness area.

In the late 1800's, Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch were familiar with every saloon and "soiled dove" in Silver City. Between robberies, they worked as cowhands at a nearby ranch. Billy the Kid spent his early years in Silver City, and his childhood home is now the downtown site of the distinctive Murray Ryan Visitor's Center.

Other Silver City notables include General "Black Jack" Pershing and Apollo 17 Astronaut Harrison "Jack" Schmitt."

"Grant County used to be known as treasure house of wealth with the great abundance of ore taken from its mines. Silver City survived the mining boom and has become an established city today. Originally the area was called Vicente de la Cienga. Travelers could get water from themselves and their stock at the springs. After silver was discovered on Chloride Flat nearby by James and John Bullard around the 1860's, the area boomed and became known as Silver City. More silver was found in places nearby which reinforced Silver City as the leading community in the area. It became the County Seat in 1871. Western New Mexico University was established here in 1893 just as the silver market dropped dramatically. Silver City was determined not to become another boom town turned ghost town and redirected its efforts to shipping and cattle. It is also known as the home of William H. Bonney, his childhood name. His more famous name was Billy the Kid.

Not only does Silver City has a great climate, but it also has great fishing, arts, history, museums and national forests nearby. In 1895, there was a flood that basically destroyed the Main Street, carving a trench down the road a mile long and as deep as 45 feet in some parts. The residents didn't let that get them down, they called it the "Big Ditch" and made a park out of it.