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| Fishing in the West Fork Gila River |
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| Smoky skies throughout the trip |
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| Rock pinnacles on the West Fork |
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| Alcoves with ruins |
We did this backpack one summer (or late, late spring) in the early 2000's. There were fires burning out in the western part of the Gila Wilderness, which made for smoky skies, but I don't recall any other ill effects. The first day we only made it a short ways past the little cliff dwelling ruins that are about 3 miles from the parking lot. The second day we did a dayhike that got us at least to somewhere between Ring Canyon and Hell Hole Canyon tributaries. I know we got past White Rocks Canyon, well, because of all the white rocks we saw. We may have made it a little past Hell Hole Canyon because I distinctly remember the trail going well up on the hillside, and the place where it cuts off a bend at Hell Hole Canyon is the only place where it does that on that on the south side. I wanted to make it to White Creek, but that would have been a really long hard day. I did some fishing on the way back. I remember catching one really nice rainbow, and one big roundtail chub. I was still really a beginner fly-fisher back then, and probably made all kinds of rookie mistakes, but I was pretty happy. The weather was warm and we got into some of the deeper pools of the cold river to swim without too much hesitation. I only recall seeing one other group the whole time we were out. Note: Pictures taken on little Kodak film camera, so forgive the quality.
I love reading your blogs. I'm don't even remember how I stumbled across them. I'm from Pennsylvania visiting my mom in Chaparral. and wish I grew up in NM. There's so much exploring to do and now that I am in my 40's my years are limited. I try to visit different places the on or two times a year that I am out here for a couple weeks. It's one long drive from home.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had more time out here to do some exploratory fishing. I would love to catch Rio Grande cutthroat and Gila trout. I been to the Gila and East branch briefly but only caught small mouth and what we would call suckers back home. I also fished Grindstone and Alto with the kids.
One issue I have out here are rattlesnakes. It really makes me nervous. We have the timber rattlesnake, eastern massasauga rattlesnake and copperhead in PA but it never phases me. I'm not sure why it bothers me so much out here but I wish I knew.
I'm from back east originally. I saw a few copperheads over the years in Connecticut, but never a rattler. All I can say about rattlesnakes is that the odds are with you. I've seen quite a few since I moved here both in the lower elevations of the forest and of course here in the desert. I even stepped on one coming back from fishing on the Gila River. I try to limit my desert hiking to the cooler months for sure. In the forest too, I don't take my dogs past April, unless I'm at higher elevations( >7000). The good thing about rattlers is they rattle about 99% of the time. You've got plenty of time for exploring, I didn't move here until I was almost 40( I'm 62 now). Rattlesnakes don't want to have anything to do with you, so don't let it stop you from doing what you want.
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