Little Whitewater

  • GxL Day 7, April 8, Monday
  • Start Glenwood, Los Olmos Cabins
  • End Little Whitewater Trail campsite
  • Miles walked: 15

Well, I will need to get off the GxL in a few days, once my ride arrives on Wednesday. Until then, I had skipped a few trails getting into Glenwood, and now is a good time to go back and hike them. It looks like my trip this year may be broken into several sections, and my mission has shifted to “ground-truthing” the route, rather than hiking it all in one continuous trip.

East on Catwalk Road, the route crosses Whitewater Creek and then follows Little Whitewater Trail, roughly paralleling Little Whitewater Creek, but mostly much higher.

Along a ridge, looking back towards Glenwood, the trail is on the edge of two biomes, with juniper and bushes on the north slope and desert vegetation on the south slope.

The trail passes a wider flat area on the ridge, marked as a potential campsite for a trail project that I had planned to attend a year or two ago, but got canceled because of high water. Recent signs of trail work are visible, especially lopping.

The trail continues to climb towards the peaks, high enough to get to snow.

I had hoped to hike beyond Little Whitewater Trail, eventually getting to Holt Apache Trail, but the snow had a steep slide-slope, so I eventually decided to turn around.

The views of Glenwood below show how high we have come.

Glenwood

  • GxL Day 6, April 7, Sunday
  • Start just past Mogollon mining area private land
  • End Glenwood
  • Miles walked: 9

Morning views from the road to the land below is rewarding.

I divert from Bursum Rd to Mineral Creek Road, heading towards Alma. An RV park has a cool collection of tractors that I remember from my GET hike.

At the Alma Cafe, over breakfast, I strike up a conversation with Luke, from NM Wild.

After a 5 mile roadwalk south to Glenwood, I check in at Los Olmos cabins, which I also enjoyed from my GET trip.

After a green chile cheeseburger and pie at a nearby cafe…

… I repair gear, and confer with an expert on Gila trails. An anticipated warm spell melting mountain snow will cause rivers to be high for many days, so my planned route cannot be modified to continue safely to any of my resupply towns. This really is a case of “you can’t get there from here”.

So this is now renamed my GxL Practice Hike, to be continued in later months. I have learned a valuable lesson about Gila early season water levels, one that I really should have already known about but had to learn the hard way.

While in Glenwood, I will spend a few more days hiking nearby trails that I am unfamiliar with, and finally get a ride home.

Frozen Bursum

  • GxL Day 5, April 6, Saturday
  • Start West Fork Trail near Bursum Rd
  • End Bursum Rd dispersed camping area just beyond Mogollon private land
  • Miles walked: 14

Snow pelted the tent all night,  the sound amplified by the shelter fabric like a speaker cone. Two or three inches of fresh powder surrounded my campsite.

Toe trail, though covered in white stuff, was quite visible by the cut ends of logs and a clear corridor. I pass Iron Creek Lake.

Near Willow Creek Campground I crossed the creek, broad and not too deep.

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