Bull Trap Canyon, Silver Creek- Gila National Forest

 This hike ended up being a fulfillment of  the hike I had planned and only partially executed back in July, plus a wonderful surprise.  In the summer I had planned to hike down to the Gallinas-Silver Creek confluence then up Silver Creek to Bull Trap Canyon. I would've then continued up Bull Trap and back over the ridge to the now closed Lower Gallinas Campgroud. Well I only made it down to Silver Creek that July day and with storm clouds threatening, thought it best to come back the way I came.
 So now I was back at Lower Gallinas a little over a week ago on a perfect October day. I walked down the old road, now almost completely concealed  by tall grass. Finding the trail that goes up a side canyon on the south,  I started up through pines and lichen covered boulders. All was going well. This was definitely a human created trail, and was in pretty good shape for not being maintained or used much (by humans) in many years. Unfortunately, at a crucial juncture, there was washout with abundant debris that concealed that the trail headed off to the left. I stayed straight, and now made my way very, very steeply up a gully and then  began weaving my way through trees up to the top of the ridge. It was so steep  that I was resting about every tenth step to catch my breath. When I got to the crest of the ridge, I was not surprised in the least to see that I was much higher up  than I had planned to be. In fact it was the exact mistake I was trying to avoid when  I was researching on my maps and Google Earth.

Well, I got over to the drift fence up there and started taking myself down towards Bull Trap. I found a pretty good trail on the other side for part of the way and then continued in the creek bed southwest until I was in the main canyon.
 Bull Trap was big and wide with tall ponderosas and no sign of fire damage whatsoever. Water trickled from puddle to puddle. I had to climb around a well constructed  rock dam, and sunk into a bit of quicksand when I got back down to the stream. Luckily I had already planted my lead foot on solid ground so I was able to pull out quickly before sinking in too far in the deceptive mix of gravel, sand and water.



 Further down, past the cliffs on the south side Bull Trap gets very narrow. There are small waterfalls, boulders and stretches of bedrock. One of the falls which pulses through a chute  in the bedrock about as big around as baseball bat, I decided to name Peashooter Falls.

A few ash trees,  five leaf ivy vines and walnut trees provided a bit of fall color. Willows and locusts crowded the stream. Just as things were opening up a bit I realized I was coming to the confluence with the Silver Creek.

Silver had a lot more water than Bull Trap, and I thought if Bull Trap had some small falls, maybe Silver Creek would have some bigger ones. I began marching upstream, with the anticipation providing the extra energy my legs needed.
 Soon I was in a bare rock little box confronting the steepest of several water slides. I put down my gear and went scrambling up, encountering more slides punctuated by small falls. At the very back of the box was waterfall of  at least 40 feet in three tiers. The different drops were at angles to each other, so it was impossible to get all three in the same photo, It was even hard to get bottom two in the same shot, even as I climbed up the rock face to do so.

 

This was another of those magical spots in the Black Range that, though not far from NM 152 as the crow flies, is magnificently remote, unknown and unspoiled.

 On the return I flushed out the same spotted owl from his perch that I had disturbed on my way in. I saw what I'm pretty sure was badger down by the rock dam as he headed back up hill after getting a drink.  Earlier on in the hike I had seen tracks with claw impressions in the sand at this same spot, and  assumed  they belonged to a small bear. Now it made more sense that they belonged to this seldom seen forest carnivore.
  I found the trail leading up to the saddle easily where there was actual gate in the fence. I then followed the real trail all the way back down, placing a cairn in the spot where I had gone astray on the way up.
 I ate my snacks at old picnic table under one of the many giant alligator junipers found in the abandoned campground, and then I was on my way with my spirit changed for the better, as almost always, by spending a day in the Gila.