Instead of Waterboarding

October 21st

What a brutal morning. I could not bring myself to get up and get going. It did in fact freeze along the river. I was glad I brought my water filter into the tent to prevent it from freezing and cracking. But that was the only thing to be glad about.

I got dressed slowly. I put my wet sock underneath me to try to at least warm them up a bit. I breathed warm air into my frozen shoes to create some flexibility before wedging my foot in them. In short, I stalled. However, eventually, I did the deed and slid on my wet, nearly frozen socks. I then wiggled and stomped them into my mostly thawed shoes. Finally, the shoelaces were wrangled into position, and I was up and going.

The thought of that first river crossing was almost too much to bear. I decided that terrorist suspects would fear putting on wet, frozen socks and shoes every morning until they revealed their secrets. I think we’d get some fast answers.

Walking along the Middle Fork of the Gila River was ok. Many backpackers consider it a highlight. The steep walls are interesting. There are often caves formed on the cliff and other times the sheer walls go straight up. Down below, along the river, there are sometime wide areas with intereting plants.

The dew had frozen on the grass in the valley.

There were few flowers, but this one jumped out with its red color.

There were some meadows. In the still morning air, the yellow leaves of this tree drifted down onto the frozen grass.

There are piles of debris 10 feet high 30 feet from the current stream bed, silent testimony to the power of the river when it rages. When you see those news stories about flash floods in the southwest, imagine all the water being forced through a narrow canyon. Just the sound must be intimidating. There is wildlife here as well. I surprised 4 mule deer that were wading in the river.

But the river can be tough. Due to its flooding, there is no trail. crossing a river can be tricky with the slippery rocks below the surface. Plus, sand gets in your shoes, silently creating friction within your wet shoes. There are some backpackers who report crossing the river 200 times in their hike. Me? I was ready to bail by noon. It just seemed unnecessarily tedious for the repetition of canyon walls. In fact, almost 18 months ago to the day I bailed out of the West Fork of the Gila River when I hiked the Grand Enchantment Trail and grew tired of the tedium.

The canyon walls had interesting caves. Here, the water had bored through the wall creating a portal to the trees growing behind it.

Trees grow on the sheer cliff face. It is hard to see, but there is a 50 or 60 foot ponderosa growing out of a rock just to the right of the center.

The climb out of the river canyon was on a seldom used trail that seemed to evaporate at times. Still, I was able to follow it to reach the mesa between the West and Middle Forks. From there, I knew where I was. And it was beautiful. I was surprised to find some small creeks flowing. I also came across the footprints of SBJ and MLL. Apparently they grew sick of the canyon even sooner than me. Near sunset, I lost their trail. I think they either tried to bushwhack or cut out to camp for the night. As I neared a small lake called the Woodland, I saw a beautiful bull elk. I scared it off as there were hunters in the area.

The door to Prior Cabin, a backwoods cabin for the forest rangers.

Eventually, I settled on a ridge top and had a nice little fire with a view of total darkness in all directions. I know it seems silly, but in this day and age, I find a lot of joy being able to look for miles in all directions and not see a single man-made light.