Iron Creek, Little Bear Canyon- Gila National Forest

       We camped at Iron Creek Campground on the first weekend of fall.  A snag lay had fallen across the highway as we neared the campground, but it was not a bad omen, as we had a lovely, peaceful weekend. The Iron/ Gallinas Creek corridor was mostly untouched by the Silver Fire. The damage came afterwards from the flooding as summer rains ran unchecked from burnt hillside gullies.
 The campground still has it huge oaks and towering firs.Box elders  on the creek were beginning to turn. Iron Creek flowed through its own massive piles of flood lain gravel and sand. Just a few inches of water a few feet wide, but its sound soothed us for a couple of days. We were able to snag the primo isolated single campsite on the east end of the campground.
A few travelers came and went from Friday night to Sunday morning, but only one other camper stayed. The stars and Milky Way were beautiful each night.Coyotes and owls were heard as we lay inside the trailer. Late in the afternoon wild turkeys by the dozens  marched on the steep hillside above us.

 We hiked in Noonday Canyon on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon I did a short hike up Little Bear Canyon across NM 152 from the campground. A mama and baby deer let me get very close before they bounced up the hill. Despite all that has happened, the Black  Range still vibrates with a unique intensity undiminished. We remembered that we love the Gila.

Noonday Canyon 2017- Gila National Forest

 We hiked along Noonday Canyon several years ago,  when it was just a little too hot to make the initial climb up the Rabb Park Trail ( FT 747). We only made it as far as the log cabin using the old road that stays high on the south bank  before turning around. That July day the creek was a raging torrent, but this past Saturday after taking an early detour down to the creek to get the dogs a drink, we could walk along and in the stream which gently flowed with a few inches of water.
At a waterfall  that spillled into a deep pool carved in dark volcanic rock, we were almost turned around, until we realized there was path up the south side which took us through a gate at the corner of the corral near the cabin. On top of the waterfall there was remnants of a small dam that  the stream flowed over. An old beer keg  on a rusty pole had apparently been part of a fresh water system when a pond existed behind the rock dam.

Now there was a good path to follow that crisscrossed the creek on grassy banks. Early fall leaves lay in still pools. Young alders crowded the stream, a good sign for this recovering riparian area which is tightly fenced  on both sides down stream of the cabin. I'm presuming this is to limit grazing, because none of this private property.
 At  a narrow  passage through the rocks a small waterfall flowed. At a second narrow passage, we had to go up on the hillside through a fence down into a dry side canyon and then back to the main stream.


 We ambled along most pleasantly as the clouds sped by above. Seamus went after some wild turkeys, with one deciding to perch in a pine above, until we had  walked a safe distance by.  After more than a mile from the cabin, the trail entered  areas that were thick with milkweed, which made it difficult to follow. Our doggies were now getting covered with seeds and burrs, but they were so happy to be out in the forest, they didn't seem mind much.
 As we continued on, we  could see severely burnt mountain sides above us, and eventually the effects of the Silver Fire could be seen in the stream valley itself, which brought the scenery values down considerably. We ate our picnic lunch and then headed back.
NOTES: It appears that the cabin may still get some use sometimes, so pass by at a  respectful distance if it appears to be occupied.
 I heard voices when we first approached the creek, but never saw anyone. It appears on
Google Earth that there are two large pools just downstream from the road crossing. I'm wondering if they are deep enough to be used as a swimming hole.
 You may come across a discussion that speculates that there are two Noonday Canyons; this one and the one that  comes through the little town of  San Lorenzo near the Mimbres River. While there is ample redundancy in canyon naming throughout the Gila, in this case it is all the same canyon.

White Gap Draw- , Las Uvas Wilderness,Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument

 I noticed the narrow little section of White Gap Draw back in the spring on my hike to Chivatos Canyon and Plateau. It looked interesting enough, that I told myself I'd get back there soon for little morning hike.Well the opportunity arose on the last weekend of summer 2017. I started out near the turn-off for the primitive road that ascends Chivatos Canyon. White Gap Draw is one of the large upland tributary arroyos along with Choases and Kerr that coalesce to form Broad Canyon. Its name derives from a peak of white volcanic ash that rises above on the north side.

 On my little hike I saw wildflowers and hundreds of butterflies.

 Cows and calves grazed in the abundant fading green of the bunch grasses. I looked for signs of ancient peoples in the cliffs and boulders, as well as the bedrock of the streambed,but found none.
 

When I got up out of the canyon I headed toward White Gap Tank on a bit of the old road that heads up to Little White Gap. I cut across  on top the mesa back toward my vehicle stopping under a tiny juniper to drink, and admire the green land of mountains and mesas all around me.