Category: Grand Enchantment Trail

Saturday Apr 10th, 2021, 0830-1800 Gila Visitors Center to MeOwn complex, end segment 22, mm 425 23 miles It got very cold overnight…the thermometer read 27 degrees F in the morning and my partly wet skirt was frozen stiff. Luckily my socks and shoes had mostly dried. I packed in the dark and snuck into the RV trailer to charge my phone and get good wifi. It wasn’t much warmer in there so I drank lots of coffee and hot water. Too bad you can’t combine hot pools and device charging very easily. Just as planned, Tinman was at the hot springs to take us to the trailhead at 0730 am. I still can’t get over just how wonderful people[…]

Friday Apr 9th, 2021, 0715-1000 West Fork Gila cliff dwellings to Doc Campbells and hot springs, end segment 21, mm 400.6 3 miles I slept very well in my humble nest under the trees, like a little squirrel cradled in the pine duff. I really am becoming feral I think. We had a short walk to the trailhead and cliff dwelling monuments. But we immediately had to cross the river, over and over again. It’s always pleasant in the hot afternoons but the mornings, when it’s in the 40’s, not so much fun. Where we slept seemed to have trapped some of the warm air from the previous day but as we walked down the valley, it became even colder.[…]

Thursday Apr 8th, 2021, 0715-1900 Mogollon Baldy to West Fork Gila cliff dwellings, segment 21, mm 397.5 25.5 miles The wind howled all night, sometimes even shaking the metal container. It was a bit drafty, doing little to trap our body heat. But far better than our tents would have been at keeping out the cold! And we were well protected from flying objects, bears, and vampires. The sunrise on top the mountain was beautiful, if a bit frigid and blustery. I was glad we spent the night up there but also ready to get down to lower and less burned climates. The notes indicated that the trail ahead was even less maintained, so we were prepared for an additional[…]

Wednesday Apr 7th, 2021, 0700-1800 Mogollon Ghost Town to Mogollon Baldy, segment 20, mm 372 20 miles I joked before we went to bed that the Mogollon towns folk might come alive as vampires at dusk, preying on innocent hikers that have wondered into the area. Or maybe they are simply straight up ghosts that would haunt us. An axe murderer to boot? When you’re camped in the woods next to a ghost town, these things go through your mind. But there were zero disturbances overnight and I slept very soundly. Maybe the ghouls and vampires just couldn’t find me in my camo tent. We hit the road and made 7.5 miles in just 2 hours. The road was dead[…]

Tuesday Apr 6th, 2021, 1300-1900 Alma to Mogollon Ghost Town, segment 20, mm 353 14 Miles This day was all about dragging our feet and being tourists. In fact, it was my favorite day yet! We started with a lovely and relaxed breakfast in the garden followed by more play time with Mocha the dog. I didn’t want to leave this refuge but didn’t really have an excuse to take a zero. It’s always good to take a break but I find it hard to relax in the middle of a hike. Town days are usually more stressful for me. Plus, we’d only committed to one night and preparing meals for guests takes a lot of prior planning in an[…]

Monday Apr 5th, 2021, 0600-1900 New Mexico Border to Alma, NM, mm 341 9.5 miles We had a short road walk into town where we planned to have a big breakfast and again lunch at the Alma grill…the only restaurant around for miles. Just as we set out, we saw a herd of elk and immediately after another herd of mule deer…like they were all hanging together. Oddly, a lone cow was running after them, comically too slow to keep up. Town was as expected: a few houses and trailers with their requisite junk collections and the Alma General Store and Grill. Top priority was breakfast then checking out the store. It was a proper general, with some livestock supplies,[…]

Sunday Apr 4th, 2021, 0600-1900 Pigeon Creek to New Mexico Border Seg 18, mm 331.5 24 miles We had made camp in a wash after reaching a graded service road. We’d passed one guy car camping the night before but would see no one else the rest of this day. We got another early start and decided to make it easy on ourselves by just following the service road all the way to the Blue River. The official route left the nice road for some more cross country stuff. After the previous day, I needed a little break. Plus, anticipating a dry stretch of up to 25 miles, we planned to carry water from the river to last us the[…]

Saturday Apr 3rd, 2021, 0600-1900 Cottonwood Springs Corral to Pigeon Creek Seg 16, mm 306 24 miles I was a bit restless overnight. While most nights are normally dead quite, this spot featured a series of weird sounds. I think most were birds but just as I was falling asleep, I heard a loud snort followed by a nicker. Wild horses…I knew I’d seen horse poop in the canyon earlier. They apparently smelled us and were afraid to pass, eventually going by in the nearby wash based on the sound their hooves made on rocks. Ironically, in all this time we’ve never been disturbed by cows overnight, save for the occasional distant moo. During a recent Florida backpacking trip, we[…]

Friday Apr 2nd, 2021, 0615-1800 Bonita Creek to Cottonwood Springs Corral, mm 282 21.5 miles I love waking up to dry tent, even when camping near a stream. And did I notice even one mosquito the night before? Not a one. Arizona hiking. We talked to our fellow GET hikers a little more, since we doubt we’ll get much of a chance again. As such, we were off just a bit later than usual. We started up a side canyon and were shortly in a fabulous box, way cooler than even the day before. Huge chunks of rock had come down to wedge between the tight walls. It was so cool but also terrifying passing beneath. The box ended all[…]