Gila National Forest - Pierce Canyon, Black Range

rugged country at the top of Pierce Canyon

 I thought I could the barest trickle tumbling over the bedrock

rock formations

 Looking down Pierce Canyon

 Another trip  to the far southeast corner of the Black Range. This time it was to the upper reaches of Pierce Canyon. We drove all the way to where the where the rough but not unmanageable FR 888 is blocked by a locked gate at a private property inholding. This was part of the Tierra Blanca Ranch for"troubled" youth which had a minor scandal many years ago when a few of the teens ran away.  It doesn't appear to be functioning in this capacity anymore, at least not at this location. In order to access upper Pierce Canyon, I felt obliged to walk around the private parcel which was little tricky because there is no fence, so I had to rely on On-X which isn't always reliable in these very remote areas. I think we did okay climbing over  a few hills and in and out of the intervening drainages, until we arrived near Lockwood Well, which is more or less right on the boundary between Forest Service and private land. We then headed up Pierce Canyon. There were some very stout ponderosa pines, abundant bear scat and and an old Sprite can  along the way

Lockwood Well

Sprite can from the 60's

The stream was dry, but I think it does carry water, like nearby Cottonwood Creek, in more reasonable precipitation years. After not much time we arrived at very back end of the little valley where bare bedrock cliffs and formations take over. Perhaps, they weren't as spectacular (at least the ones I could see) as the ones very close by to the west at Pine Spring Mountain, but they provided a nice climax to a pretty otherwise ordinary, and unseasonably warm hike in the dry PJ country of the east side of the Black Range.

Upper reaches of Pierce Canyon

 This area still merits a little further exploration. I can tell from  research with Google Earth that there are more  bare rock formations to see  which if I return I will use less complicated route along Cottonwood Creek

Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument - Sierra de las Uvas

Sierra de las Uvas

 Agate/chalcedony brought by crow or raven (or maybe a human)

Massacre Peak at right.

Florida Mountains in the distance

Cooke's Peak in the distance

There aren't many more places I want to explore left in the Sierra de las Uvas. Most of the ones that remain are difficult of access due to poor roads or private inholdings or both just to get to a point for starting off a hike.These planned hikes too, look to be longer and more difficult than what I've been used to these last few years. This one that I did a few weeks ago was not too bad. The roads were good up until a half mile stretch  that immediately preceded getting to my parking spot. This was a truly un-maintained, rarely driven little path that will cease to be a road at all in the not too distant future. We made it alright by driving very slowly and carefully.

 I was looking to explore a mesa and the canyon that cuts through it, at the very northern end of the Apache Flats valley. Neither has a name. The canyon is a tributary of the large canyon that runs to south of and is a tributary to Pine Canyon, the largest upland canyon on the west side of the Uvas.

 I started off to the east and then began the steep pitches to  get to the mesa rim. It's bit a strange feeling to feel like you've climbed a little mountain only to be looking at a  valley when you get to the top. Such is the topography of the Uvas.  I found some petroglyphs on isolated boulders a few years back not too far from this little canyon, and truthfully the hope of finding more, or other types of evidences of ancient peoples was the only driving factor in exploring this area (  and most of the other areas left to explore in the range) in the dead of winter.  I say this because the landscape is so desiccated, abused, forlorn and uninspiring right now it's stands almost in defiance  of deriving the those good feelings we all seek when getting outdoors.

 I meandered down the valley. Three young deer and I watched each other for awhile. There were a couple of playful calves and then their bellowing moms encountered as I marched down their trail as well. The side canyon cliffs had both living and skeletal junipers straightening toward the sun. In the main canyon  they grew large and globular. Every plant seemed to be an overcooked green. The dark cliffs and boulders were devoid of rock art. Every step was a scrape or a crunch. At one point I happened upon a colorful hunk of jasper, a tiny bit of joy for my heart in this sad chaparral. It didn't seem locally derived and I thought maybe I was onto something, but no such luck.

Eventually I used one of the side canyons on the east to make my turn and headed up to a saddle on the east rim of the mesa. Nice views up there. Would have been nicer if it were already spring time. 

I climbed south steeply up to the upper rim and then began my wandering on the ( mostly) flat lands while generally keep my direction towards where I had first come up on the west side. I crossed the upper part of the canyon and then began my descent more or less in my own footprints from several hours earlier. I then swung a little to north, still trying to cover a little more ground, hoping to find some artifacts in the sandy flatlands that gave me the impression they may have once bed an ephemeral lake bed. I did find three, artifacts, that is. A flake of carnelian, a toy motorcycle, and vintage intact Budweiser stubby bottle probably from the 1960's or 70's.