Silver City - Pie Town

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This section covers a large 165 mile section that includes the 45 miles from silver city up to Doc Campells general store resupply point wthin the Gila Widerness. In addition to the undertaking of hiking up through the heart of the gila middle fork river some 39 miles. This is a highly anticipated section because of the majestic huge canyon walls. Not to mention an abundance of fresh running water in the desert southwest, that requires fording the river some 85 times. This year was even more anticpated because the class of 2014 where the first hikers to experience the canyon after last fall's devistating flash flood that ravaged the canyon floor, including the trail itself. Accumalating too the most massive, tangled
debris pile's of trees one could possibily ever experience. Resulting in a duanting obstacle course over and around all of this. Not to mention now crossing the river some 200? times, from the count of other hikers keeping track. Also sludging through deep, thick sand now exposed on the shores and floor bottom of the canyon. A very challenging and exhaustive mixed terrain experience.

 However within all of this, we still had a fabulous experience through the Gila. This is a jawdropping, enchanted place.There is alot of power here. One can feel the vibrancy of life thriving here in these canyons. An abundance of plant life growing in these riparian corridors. Sustaining an active wildlife population that frequent these rivers. Including the fresh mountaion lion and bear prints we came across. Loads of bear scat, deer and elk coming down for a drink.

bear

lion

One of the highlights for ourselves was also finding an array of wild edibles and medicinal plants we were familar with. Picking sample tastes as we walked up the river. The best was making a salad out of watercress, mustard greens and dandelion leafs. A delightfully bitter array. Something my body was craving, veggies full of vitamins and minerals. A source of extremely clean nutrition.






Other plants included canyon grape leafs, lambs quarter, cattail root, wild geranium, cordanopsis, lemon berry/buffalo berry, horestail seed heads and fern fiddle heads.

horsetail

mustard

fiddle heads

wild grape

Also within this stretch includes the gorgeously wild Jordan hotspring along the gila middle fork.

















And also unimproved native ruins up in the canyon walls.















Beyond the relief of clearing the river and the northern boundary of the Gila wilderness, included three more days to actually reach Pie Town. Climbing through the Tularosa and Mangas Mtns with a mixed variety of single track trail and mostly forest 4WD  roads. And now back to finding water was a legitamate concern.
Manageable but with a variance of 10-15 miles between sources.

road to Pie town

 Finally arriving at our in town hiker hostel

Nitas Toaster house