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| Backpack | 14.00 Miles |
850 AEG |
| | Backpack | 14.00 Miles | 2 Days | | |
| 850 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | Made it back to Jordan Hot Springs for the 4th time. It has so many of the elements that make a trip fun for me-- I just can't stay away. Plus, it was my first backpacking trip ever, so it's nice to go back and marvel that I ever thought this was a difficult hike 
I lead this trip for ABC and we had 9 people join us. Good friends Wendy, Tiffani, and Angela were among the happy backpackers. We had fabulous weather the whole time, with clouds sheltering us from the sun on the exposed uphill and a bright blue sky on the hike out. There was a bit of wind, but I think we were considering it free microderm abrasion 
Also, we found out that a campfire ban had gone into effect starting April 18th, so that was a bit of a disappointment, but not something that couldn't easily be managed without. All the better to gaze at the stars! And they are great here! Apparently there was very little precip this winter, and you could definitely tell that everything was dry. The river was lower than I have ever seen it, too. We were told that there had been a fire in The Meadows, about 6 miles away from Jordan, that had just been put out last week... started by a campfire... boo!
We drove over to Silver City on Friday afternoon and had dinner at Jalisco Cafe before finishing the winding drive to the Scorpion Campgrounds. Got to camp and wedged ourselves in between all of the other campers who had spread themselves across the sites. Saturday morning, we made a quick stop at the Gila Cliff Dwellings (free admission thanks to National Parks Week!), dropped off a vehicle at the Visitor Center, and then started hiking from TJ Corral. The uphill was a breeze with the cloud cover! Then we were heading down into Little Bear Canyon where we soon found a trickle of water and steep canyon walls. We had lunch at the junction with the Middle Fork of the Gila, took some silly group shots, and then continued on to Jordan Hot Springs. I always look forward to all of the water crossings on this trip, about 14 to the springs from the junction and at least 20 more on the way out.
We had notice that there were quite a few people on the trail, but once we got to the Springs, we saw that there were plenty of campsites. We chose a spot just across the river from the hot spring, set up camp, and then had a nice long soak. A couple of groups of people joined us as we enjoyed the water, and we had fun chatting with our fellow backpackers. Once we were sufficiently prune-like, we headed back to camp to start thinking about dinner... chicken/veggie fajitas. Yum! It was a bit of an adventure to get everything cooked up without a campfire, but we made do, and soon had wonderfully stuffed bellies. The margaritas and mango tango helped, too 
It was a very peaceful night, with the stars in fine form overhead. We woke bright and early, some of the group enjoyed the hot spring again. Once breakfast was taken care of, we packed up and started the "hike of many crossings" that would eventually lead us back to the visitor center and our waiting vehicles. We cleaned up and then packed into the cars for the ride back to Silver City, where we enjoyed a post-hike meal at Issac's.
Another thoroughly enjoyable trip under our belts.
Side note... I've decided that I need to do a longer trip into the Gila soonish. I need more time off! Where is the vacation time tree? |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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| In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. ~John Muir |
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