Jack's Peak

This was the last of our longer hikes in the Silver City, New Mexico area.  Jack's Peak is a 9 mile out and back trail to the top of a mountain distinguished by a large set of antennas.  The trailhead is about 20 miles southwest of Silver City along Hwy 90.  There is a large parking lot for Continental Divide hikers, and there is also dispersed camping here.  

Compared to earlier hikes at higher elevation north of Silver City, we did this hike on a warmish day without very much shade.  Additionally, the gnats were driving us (especially Julia) crazy.  It was one of those hikes where reaching the top seems impossible because the antennas were looking too far away for the trail mileage indicated.  However, just as we were thinking that the trail was going to end before the top, a shoulder appeared, and up, up, up we went for the final push.  

We are now back home in Tucson, enjoying a wonderful May with comfortable temperatures and desert blue skies.  At the same time, we are planning our summer trip to the Upper Midwest, which will be mostly spent with family and friends in Iowa and Wisconsin.  I'll blog about our travels from time to time.  Hiking in the Gila is something that we hope to repeat next year.  

Twin Sisters Creek and Dragonfly Loop

This trail was very close to our RV park in Silver City, so we hiked it several times.  It's a 5.8 loop trail east of town.  Very little elevation gain, but a great spot for Callie to burn off some energy.  There were also petroglyphs to find.

The signature petroglyph is the dragonfly but we didn’t find it on the first go-around. We did find others.  We weren't sure if more recent humans may have contributed in some of the cases.

Finally, on our third time through, just about when we were ready to give up, there it was off the trail on a little side trail.

Of course, Callie had no interest in what we were looking for.  Most of the trail was dry and hot, and she thought we were wasting our time.  Most of the creek was dry, but just past the petroglyphs there was a section that had some water in it, which was her favorite part of the trail.

Little Cherry Creek

A few miles north of Pinos Altos, New Mexico, the Little Cherry Creek trail begins.  Distance is 8.4 miles (in/out), and elevation gain is 1450 feet.  

Parking at the trailhead is limited.  There are a few pull off spots where a car or two will fit, but the road grows worse as one heads uphill.  Initially, for the first two miles, the trail follows an old two track forest road.  After that the trail narrows and heads off into the big pines and multiple switchbacks.

About a mile past the above photo, I was rounding a switchback when I encountered a full-size bear about twenty feet away.  I felt like I jumped two feet up in the air, but I doubt that I cleared two inches.  Meanwhile, the bear, which was a beautiful blonde/gold color, was running up the mountain as fast as it could.  And Callie, mild-tempered Callie, began barking furiously but couldn't run off after it, being on-leash.  No camera was involved, but Julia will confirm that it was a beautiful light color.  After the hike was done, we learned that black bears come in many colors, and this was a very light one.  

The trail continued to climb until it met the intersection of the Continental Divide Trail (CDT).

As a former Appalachian Trail thru-hiker (Quid Pro Quo, GA>ME '96), I was pretty excited to be walking along the CDT and may have skipped and hopped between a few blazes before we headed back down. The hike down the mountain also had its share of excitement when a group of javelinas ran across our trail.  Thankfully, they didn't mistake Callie for a coyote, and no harm was done.  

Afternoon Entertainment

After our hike at Catwalk Recreational Area, we were both hungry, so we drove up to the Alma Grill for lunch. It was a bustling place with lots of characters, staff and customers. I had the best chile rellenos ever, and Julia loved her huevos rancheros. There was delicious melted Mexican cheese on everything. 

As we finished up, an old rancher asked if their coffee was fresh. The waitress said with a big smile: “No, it’s not fresh, but we have coffee.” The old guy thought for a moment and ordered it anyway.

I was ready to head home for a nap after our filling meal, but Julia had other ideas. We were headed to the ghost town of Mogollan. This was a booming mining town in the 1890’s, but only a few people remain. It’s all private property so one can’t really explore the buildings. Two or three businesses remain but none were open during our visit. 

Understatement: Road narrows

Now, the real reason for including the ghost town in this post is to remind myself never to go visit this place again. The road up and down is a one lane road that is falling off the side of the mountain for significant stretches. There are few places to turn off, which means that someone is going to have to back up if meeting traffic. 

We only met one car going up and none going down. If there was a pot of gold waiting in town, it might be worth it. But you can see from the photos that there is no pot of gold. Did it for Julia. Won’t be back again. 

Catwalk Trail

A few miles northeast of Glenwood, NM is the Catwalk Recreational Area. There is a $5/day day use fee, although the old geezer pass avoids it.  The trail is only 2.4 miles, and the first part is mainly flat, following a mining pipeline through Whitewater Canyon.

Callie wasn’t too excited in the beginning to walk on the catwalk but quickly learned that she wouldn’t fall through

The end of the catwalks is where most visitors stop their hike, but we continued on through three stream crossings to the end of the trail defined by Alltrails. 

Eventually, the trail began climbing steeply, and we took a photo at the apparent top. 

In fact, someone thoughtfully wrote on a rock that we had reached the end. 

Alas, it only appeared that way because, with a short rock scramble, the trail continued on. 

Not that there were any great things to see after that point, but I hate false summits.

Signal Peak

 

Sunrise, Pinos Altos

We were up at dawn to tackle our steepest trail of the trip: Signal Peak, a 4.7 mile trail with elevation change of 1700 feet. At the top is a manned lookout tower during fire season. 

The first mile followed a rutted forest road before turning off on to a dirt path which quickly became a series of switchbacks.

Signal Peak is just shy of 9000 feet in elevation. We were wandering around on top around the base of the fire tower when we heard a loud voice from the heavens. “Hey there, how’s it going?” 

It was the guy on the lookout tower and he asked us if we wanted to come up!  After tying Callie off at the bottom, we joined him on the high platform. He works 11 days on and 3 days off. I asked him how he slept up there. He said the tower doesn’t sway but it groans and makes other noises. But otherwise, he sleeps just fine. 

View from the Top

Callie impatiently waiting at the bottom

I’m pretty sure we were at 9000’ from the tower platform.

Gomez Peak

Gomez Peak is a four mile hike just outside of Silver City, NM with 780 feet of elevation gain. It was a wet, cloudy day after a night of wind and rain. We did not see another soul on this hike. 

At the bottom

Fog starting to roll in

The summit

After coming down the mountain, we had an important task. We were headed to Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery. 

Monastery from Gomez Peak

Not for confession but because I had read that it was the only place that roasted coffee in the Silver City area. It was a long and windy gravel road up another mountain, and the place was only open from 11am to noon.

 I found a bag of Brazilian whole beans that had been roasted the day before. 

We might have picked up a few other things at their gift shop.

The bread was freshly baked by the monks that morning, and it tasted amazing.

Hiking, Beer and Music

 We got up early and drove to the Dragonfly Trailhead. 

Julia  picked out the hike for this day, which combined the Twin Sisters Creek Trail with the Dragonfly Trail to create a loop. 5.8 miles with a modest 341’ elevation gain. The cool temperatures made Callie an enthusiastic dog, and she took the opportunity to drink and lay in the creek.

We dropped Callie back at the camper and headed to Open Space Brewing in nearby Santa Clara. 

I had a new-to-me beer, a red IPA “Aldo’s Dream.” It was malty with nicely balanced hops. The brewery was started by two Continental Divide Trail thru hikers who combined their love for the outdoors with making great beer.

Next we were headed to Whiskey Creek Zócalo for wood-fired pizza and live music.  We knew we had found an eccentric place when walked through the parking lot. 

The guy on the left is from Alaska, and the guy on the right said he performs at a lot of motorcycle clubhouses.  They combined their tours to give alternating performances this night, and they were good. Some was folk, some was country, and a lot was outlaw country. 

Hiking, beer and music. Three of my favorite things.

Gila Cliff Dwellings

This is the first time we have spent any length of time in the Gila National Forest, and we’re loving it.

On our first full day in the Silver City, New Mexico area, we drove north of Pinos Altos and entered the Gila. Man, there were a lot of deer early in the morning. Fortunately, they stayed just off the road. 

Once we made it to the Cliff Dwellings, we were pleased to see that we basically had the place to ourselves. 

Just north of the Cliff Dwellings is a short 1/2 mile hike to wild hot springs.  Again, there was nobody around although we did see some people arriving at the parking lot on our way back. Life is good.

The water behind Julia was scalding hot. The water on the lower edge of the photo was tepid bath water. But the water in the middle was just right. There are several places along the road where a person could pay $5-10 for a hot soak, but there is something about working through a couple of stream crossings to be able to enjoy the experience for free. Besides, I’m cheap.