This long stretch of miles had a ton of variety from road walks, to canyons, to ridges, to river crossings, to hot springs. What a nice reprieve from the, while beautiful, monotonous desert landscape in the bootheel of New Mexico. The Gila Wilderness really stole the show with its (sometimes brutal) beauty!
Silver City Zero
We arrived the evening before after Devin and I managed to lose each other a half mile apart. I thought he was ahead of me and kept walking past our designated spot (yeah, yeah bad move). My next bad move was not checking ahead of time to make sure our Garmins could communicate with each other. Since Devin is usually much quicker than me, my mind went to the worst- heat stroke, got lost, broken ankle, etc. Unfortunately, my anxiety forgot the fact that Devin is a completely capable human being with a rescue device/ the ability to get rescued as needed, and all I really needed to do was go back to the meeting spot. But a mind in fight or flight does not think rationally, so panic was what I decided to do.
Luckily, some wonderful trail angels came to my rescue with a yellow Gatorade and a ride in the truck bed. We scooped up Devin after a bit of a search and they convinced us that a night in a Silver City hotel room might be a bit more comfortable than setting our tent up in the cow pasture (I know, tough choice).
After a good night’s sleep in a real bed and an extra-large pizza, we hit the city! Silver City is a darling little town, and it was like we stumbled upon an oasis in the middle of the desert. The goal of the zero day is to relax, but we really did walk a bunch to do our errands. First stop was the post office to send some unneeded items including my gortex shoes home (who brings unbreathable, super stiff gortex into the hottest and sweatiest part of New Mexico? It looked good on paper, but it was terrible in practice). Stop #2 was to get the best breakfast burrito $5 can buy at Los Victors (10/10 recommend). Then, I picked up my new shoes that my mom so kindly had the outdoor shop set aside for me. I’m new shoe goofing and so grateful!
We happened to roll into town on a great weekend as the Tour of the Gila race was happening. This stage of the race had a track of about a mile through town that racers completed up to 42 times. The bikers flew by us in such a force that while we were eating chips and green chili queso at the brewery, our napkins flew off the table as they passed!
After the last race, we met Trail Angels Alex and Lauren who so graciously offered us a place to stay for the night. They have thought of everything a hiker might need including extra clothes while doing laundry. They also had the cutest cats! We were spoiled with an amazing dinner with blueberry pie for dessert!
Silver City to Gila Hot Springs
Day 9: 25.3 miles/ 4,300 ft gain
Alex hitched us the first 7 miles of road walk which allowed us to go a lot further than we anticipated. The first 6 hiking miles were vibey through the Ponderosa pine forest. We then trudged through sections of flooded/ blowdown trail which was very difficult to route around and resulted in super inefficient hiking. We hiked up the valley along the dry river bed until the trail switched to hiking up the ridge. Ducking and crawling over the logs turned into forging through the thorny bushes.
We crossed over the top of a super steep hill and found our favorite water source! At its core, it’s just a silver tank with a spigot, but it was magical, cold, clear water! We hiked a few more miles to camp on top of the ridge with a lot of volcanic rock (4/10 spot).
Day 10: 21.3 miles/ 1,400 ft gain
We woke up nice and early to ensure we could make it to Doc Campbell’s by 4pm to pick up our resupply box. The mornings have been chilly and require me to wear my socks on my hands. We had a few easy miles on a road following the ridge before dipping down into the canyon and our first glimpse of the Gila River (a natural water source at last)! Once down in the canyon, route finding for the first mile was super unclear and we followed the advice of some of the comments on Far Out to follow the right bank. This had us scrambling and scaling the sides of the rock just to avoid getting wet (we didn’t realize what was to come).
We said heck with that strategy and just started to ford the river and find areas that look like people might have forged through. Eventually, the trail became super maintained and straightforward which allowed us to make it 15 miles in about 5 hours. We crossed the Gila over 50 times, but loved it since we haven’t seen water like that in what seemed like forever!
Once we reached the highway, we had an easy mile or so until camp. Devin headed toward Doc Campbell’s to grab our resupply box while I set up camp at Gila Hot Springs. We got to camp next to the springs, meet more hikers and soak our tired muscles! (10/10 camp spot).
Gila Hot Springs to Pie Town
Day 11: 16.2 miles/ 1,800 gain
Since we made it to Doc Campbell’s a bit earlier than expected, we decided to do a day with more adventure and sight-seeing (which are my favorite days)! We milked our time at the hot springs and started a bit later than usual at 8:00am. We stopped by Doc Campbell’s to get propane as our Resupply box did not have any (yikes), but the store was well-supplied so we were in luck! Our luck continued as we began a 4 mile road walk to the Gila Cliff Dwellings. The first hitch we tried worked and a family from the Netherlands in their “See America!” RV gave us a hitch!
We had breakfast at the picnic area before the National Monument opened up. The Cliff Dwellings were spectacular! We walked through the cave as a ranger gave us a description of what each room was likely used for. The experience was well worth the small detour back to the trail. Once back to the trail junction, we hiked a few miles of the high route and then down Little Bear Canyon. As we descended, the walls of the canyon started to close in and expand on us while we followed the tiny creek down into the valley.
The canyon spit us out into the Middle Fork of the Gila. We were mesmerized by huge hanging cliffs and cathedrals of red rock and layers of greenery. This was a stark change from the desolate boot heel of New Mexico. Were we actually still in the desert? The rest of the day was spent meandering along side and through the Middle Fork of the Gila. The only downside of the day was that we tried to locate another natural hot springs, but passed the area they were at. We found a large, grassy meadow to set up camp near the river, and took our first river bath!
Day 12: 21 miles/ 1,900 gain
We awoke to frozen shoes on this chilly morning. Even some warm coffee and oatmeal didn’t to make much of a difference in warming us up. We left a bit later than usual again in hopes the sun would reach the canyon floor before having to cross the Gila. That wasn’t quite the case, and our feet were ice cubes for the first hour or so while we forged through the river.
Today was filled with more Gila magic mixed with a little Gila madness. The trail became more difficult to navigate and very easy to lose. Being a mediocre navigator, I lost the trail many times, but the most dramatic was around the beaver dam. Far Out showed the trail traversing the ridge when there simply was no trail to be found on the ridge. I followed the bank for a while until I saw an opening on the bank. Thinking this was totally it, I took my first step down the bank and both my feet flew up into the air as my bottom sank into the slippery mud. This was a tough hour for me to say the least.
We broke for lunch at a gorgeous rock formation and went for a midday swim in the pool below it. That made up for the mud-slip instantly! As we continued North through the canyon, it widened to a valley with gentle slopes and became much easier to navigate. We walked through meadows and pine forests and the river crossings became far and few between. At one of the last parts of the Gila before it became a trickle, we filtered water and ate dinner. About a mile or so farther, we set up camp at the campground on the ridge above Snow Lake.
Day 13: 28 miles/ 3,100 gain
When looking at this day mapped on Far Out, it seemed like it was going to be terrible. I was dreading the mileage on top of some elevation gain as I packed up camp in the morning, but it turned out to be easy, gentle road walking almost the whole way. Our first stop of the day was about 4 miles in to filter water at a cow pond. This was the only water on-trail for the next 24 miles and it was by far the grossest, most “cow” water yet.
We hit our stride around mile 6 and climbed out of the last of the valley and onto the grassy plateau. We then hiked for about 6 miles until heading back up into the woodsy hills until our break. My low point of the day was here as I found out I lost the ibuprofen bag- a minor breakdown ensued.
We hiked mostly downhill for 5 miles until we got to a solar well. We decided getting some better water was necessary, and Devin did bonus miles (about .6 in total) to get our water- yay Devin! I also found the ibuprofen bag which felt like a miracle as that has been my lifeline up until that point.
With cleaner water and a few ibuprofen in the system, we felt refreshed and ready to push the 9.5 miles until the next water source. The gradual uphill challenged our strength- mental and physical, but we pushed it and made it in about 3.5 hours. We filtered at a cistern with buggy, but otherwise clear water and then hiked the last .9 miles up to the top of the ridge to make it an even 28 mile day.
Day 14: 20.2 miles/ 2,800 gain
We started a bit later to give our bodies some more time to rest (we were feeling the previous day’s efforts) and for the sun to warm us up. We also chose to do a little bit of a shorter day at 20ish miles to the next water source and stop shortly after that. The first 7 miles were filled with PUDs (pointless ups and downs) as we crossed over the tops and the saddles of the hills rather than traversed with them. My body was not loving the added elevation, but at least the views were nice!
After about 7 miles, we chose to take the Govina Canyon alternate to shave a couple of miles and a few hundred feet of elevation gain/loss off our day. The alternate was very gradual and effortless until we got a little off trail. Far Out, while it often is, isn’t always reliable in route finding. Once we bushwhacked our way back to the main trail, we passed the 300 mile marker near the top of the ridge.
Our descent down the mountain was uneventful until we encountered some lightning and thunder while crossing the grassy plains- a good reminder to be diligent about the weather. Additionally, I rolled my ankle earlier in the day (one of the many times I have rolled it on trail) which became a real nuisance in the last few miles. But hoping to out run the next storm clouds, we pushed through and found a spot under the pines and away from the well. Devin went to filter water as I set up the tent and we settled in for a night filled with the howls of the coyotes.
Day 15: 27 miles/ 2,800 gain
Originally, our plan was to just hike past the next water source, about 22 miles North. However, our phone batteries were beginning to dwindle, and while I have a solar panel to charge our devices, the cloud cover over the last few days did not allow the panel to preform very well. It’s much easier to navigate with the Far Out app than it is with a paper map and compass. So, with a CDT “rest stop”, called the Davila Ranch, only 27 miles away, we made the choice to push big mileage with some hefty elevation to get to some outlets as well as showers, laundry and WiFi.
The hiking for the first 11 miles was mostly mild on a Forest Service road through the forest. We got to a junction in the road to follow a pipe to the next water source when we spotted some trail magic in the form of a water cache- no cow water for us! YAY! We lingered a bit longer than we should have soaking in the water and the last of the sun before the storm clouds rolled in. We started our 4 mile climb to the top of the ridge with a fire tower as our target. The climb was much more gradual than the elevation profile made it seem (not complaining), and we made it to the top just as it started to precipitate.
At first it was a chilly drizzle, and then it became sleet which morphed into snowflakes. The thunder clapped above us and we took shelter under the tree canopy until the thunder snow storm moved past. With about 10 miles left, most of our elevation gain was behind us. We made our way slowly down the rocky road over the wet stones and eventually mud that stuck to the bottom of our shoes. It was like we had strapped ankle weights to our feet as we trudged forward.
The sun peaked out behind the clouds with about 4 miles to go. Our legs were spent, but we were so close. As the wind whipped and the promise of the next storm closed in, we continued forward quickly in hopes of missing it. Once we rounded the corner to Davila Ranch, we knew the decision to push was the right one! Another oasis in the desert! We put laundry in, showered, watched the Avs game and ate a mix of eggs, beans and potatoes with a few other hikers to make company with.
Day 16: 13.9 miles/ 650 gain
We had another round of our 5-star egg, bean and potato dish at the rest stop and headed out for an easy road walk to Pie Town. We walked quickly, knowing it was a shorter, easier day and because we wanted to grab a meal from one of the two restaurants in town before they closed at 2:00pm. It can be tough getting into towns on a Sunday as a lot of things close earlier or don’t open at all (like the post office).
The road was flat, the weather was cloudy and windy, the desert stretched on for miles and we just walked. Devin headed to grab us a spot at the Toaster House, the iconic hiker hostel, while I grabbed food at The Gathering Place. I ate with a few other hikers which was lovely, and rounded out my meal with a very berry pie slice because it is a requirement to get pie in Pie Town! With a full tummy, I grabbed Devin a to-go meal and headed to the hostel.
Filled with hikers and bike-packers from across the world, the hostel has been running for quite some time, even after the passing of the owner of the house a few years ago. The CDT community is phenomenal, and it is amazing that the house, with all of the traffic it sees, is taken care of by the masses that roll through. It was a wonderful night of trail stories, gear and hiking advice, games and conversation. We love you, Toaster House!
