HikeArizona.COM

The Whitewater Canyon and Whitewater Baldy area of New Mexico's Gila Wilderness is on fire.

( dead link removed )

>> > Whitewater Bald Complex Perimeter Map

Well, Jim, I am planning on going over there over July 13,14,15 driving back on the 16th. Will be in the high country if there is access. This will be a solo but you are welcome to join me. Not sure which trail system yet. Have to look at my map and plan a loop trip.

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/ftp/InciWeb/NM ... 052-0.jpeg

Hmm, doubt I can make that. According to the fire's BAER page on the inciweb, it will probably be fully open by then. I prefer the mid to low elevation stuff, generally below 8000'. I would like to make it back there, but monsoon season is not the time of year I would like to go. I prefer reaching the ponderosa pine when I did in 2010, late spring early summer dry season, or in the late summer early fall. Generally, I want warm but dry conditions. The summer flowers would be nice, but I expect they aren't really blooming until August.

Where in the forest do you expect to go?

Might go in at Rain Creek, need to see what connector trails I can use to make some sort of loop. I've been out of the Sandy Point, Bursum TH several times and really don't have any interest unless to survey the burn damage. Monsoons can be pretty nasty over there, but mostly just make driving some of the roads a mess. I would prefer not to bake, and I like the lush look if it's been raining. It'll be too early for flowers and I haven't seen much over there unless at higher elevations as part of the understory in the forest.

http://inciweb.org/incident/2892/ Now Ruidoso's Burning....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47754113/ns/weather/

@Outdoor Lover
That makes me mad as I was planning on going over there next week.

@RWStormI know...I guess it started out as a very small fire and just blew up on them overnight. Now they're having to scramble to save structures in town.... Oh well, if they treat this one like the Whitewater Fire, I guess we'll have some pretty commanding views from the AZ/NM Border all the way to Central NM.... plz:

I hear they are calling for volunteers to go to Ruidoso and help out the Red Cross, etc., in case anyone is interested.

An incredible photo from Whitewater Baldy fire---
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gilaforest ... otostream/

Great Photography. Alot of those photos were very good. The one before that is a nice photo of what a Backburn looks like...

Dismantling the Catwalk to prevent flood debris from damming up.

RedRoxx44 wrote:An incredible photo from Whitewater Baldy fire---
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gilaforest ... otostream/

I shared that one on my facebook page. It's incredible!

writelots wrote:

RedRoxx44 wrote:An incredible photo from Whitewater Baldy fire---
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gilaforest ... otostream/

I shared that one on my facebook page. It's incredible!

Wendy, do you know how much of the area we hiked last fall has been affected by this fire? Just curious. I can't read the maps that people keep posting. The print is too small.

azbackpackr wrote:Wendy, do you know how much of the area we hiked last fall has been affected by this fire? Just curious. I can't read the maps that people keep posting. The print is too small.

It looked to me like the entire area we hiked in past the top of the catwalk is in the fire zone. Of course, we don't know how intense the fire was in those sections yet. This link should get you to a map you can read: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/map/2870/1/

azbackpackr wrote:I can't read the maps that people keep posting. The print is too small.

http://youtu.be/CjjAJfiJBhc

writelots wrote:

azbackpackr wrote:Wendy, do you know how much of the area we hiked last fall has been affected by this fire? Just curious. I can't read the maps that people keep posting. The print is too small.

It looked to me like the entire area we hiked in past the top of the catwalk is in the fire zone. Of course, we don't know how intense the fire was in those sections yet. This link should get you to a map you can read: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/map/2870/1/

I can't see a thing on that map, especially not creek names.

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/ftp/InciWeb/NM ... 052-0.jpeg
Liz, tell us where you went, if you can't read it. Try to use trail numbers, but some canyon and creeks are visible.

Hmmm... Try looking at the rough permiter on the google map on the main incident page: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2870/ If you find the Catwalk Road, you'll see where we were hiking.

Usually I will save the pertinent map then blow it up using Windows or a photo program. Only problem is sometimes the clarity is poor from the resolution posted so ya can't fix that by enlarging it.
The BAER mapping is better for the bad zones, which looks to be at the heads of Whitewater Creek, etc. Lipsey fried, so I wonder if the Apache Fire cabin survived.
Again, glad I've seen a lot of it before it burned.

So glad that I was able to finally backpack the whole Crest trail last year. We made it to Hummingbird Saddle a bunch of times (great place) but hail, thunder and lightning turned us back early on previous trips. I can't imagine (or want to see) those huge old growth pines looking like burnt match sticks. I never thought that could happen to such tall and stately trees but 60mph winds and fire did them in. Its sad that 100's of years of tree growth was killed in a matter of hours (maybe minutes) which would be the equivalent of a split second of those trees lives. I know its nature but this one really hurts. Any unburnt Crest trails left in the Southwest now?

terricita10 wrote:Any unburnt Crest trails left in the Southwest now?

A few but not many at higher altitudes - Galiuros come to mind. Glad you got there last year - lucky you.