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| Hiking | 3.51 Miles |
456 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.51 Miles | 2 Hrs 21 Mns | | 1.50 mph |
| 456 ft AEG | 1 Min Break | | | |
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| Partners |
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[ show ]
| partners | | Ginny and I went to Safford on Thanksgiving to hike the Round the Mountain trail in the Graham Mountains but it was still raining there when we arrived. I had been looking at a hike someone did in Gila Box and decided to change our plans and go there. I had never been to the Gila Box so this was as good a time as any to give it a whirl. We headed to Bonita Creek at the Gila River. Took the road in to where it crosses Bonita Creek and hiked south to the Gila and then north to a concrete dam. I wasn’t sure exactly where to start the hike; I was kind of going on memory as to what I saw on Google Earth the day before. After a couple wrong turns I ended up at a good spot.
I didn’t know what to expect but I suspected there would be no trail as such and I was right. This is a walk along Bonita Creek, find your own route. The creek was running but not enough to hinder crossing, keeping the boots dry meant searching for the right spots to cross. Many crossings on the way down to the Gila, crossings were necessary when one side of the creek choked out against the cliffs or the growth got too thick. The Gila River was running pretty good (not sure what normal flow is), Lots of evidence that both the Gila and Bonita were running pretty high this last summer. From the Gila we headed back the way we started and headed north along Bonita Creek to a dam/stream flow gauge.
We saw lots of evidence of Mountain Lions, Beavers and Coatimundi. We saw the best viewing and most abundant Coatimundi I have ever seen. One of the coatimundi was crossing over a beaver dam heading toward me. I couldn’t help but wonder if this guy was crossing the dam to kick my butt, half way across it changed its mind and headed back. When in Safford someone told me that they will throw rocks, I heard this before but never witnessed it, not sure if it’s true. It would have been funny to watch me and this critter in a rock throwing contest. There were quite a few beaver dams along this creek and lots of sign of them cutting trees, some of them quite big. We didn’t see any beavers though. Past the peak of prime color The cottonwood trees looked to be about midway of losing their leaves.
This was a great hike in a new and different area. Don’t expect to find any trails though. We did not see but one other person in the area the whole day, it was Thanksgiving though. I will definitely come back here again.
Bonita Creek Video [ youtube video ] |
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Route Editor
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