Grand Enchantment Trail

I’m back on route for the fall season, heading westbound. I’ll be posting updates on water and trail conditions to Twitter at http://twitter.com/blisterfree – or one could just follow the feed here, within the sidebar at right. Frequency and timeliness of the “tweets” will be contingent upon cell reception, which based on past experience usually becomes quite spotty toward Monticello and stays that way until after Glenwood. (This is not necessarily a bad thing!)

Happy trails and safe travels to anyone out and about this season…

Brett Tucker aka blisterfree

As promised, an updated version of the Topo Map Set CD (version 1.6) is now available. This is mostly for the benefit of fall ‘09 hikers. Anyone else who owns the current version (1.5) probably doesn’t need to worry about updating at this time, as changes are fairly minimal overall, and an even newer version will likely come down the pike by the end of the year.

http://simblissity.net/get-topo-cd.htm

As always, existing map set owners may upgrade to the latest version for just the cost of postage.

The new CD will also include several additional maps that should hopefully allow fall hikers to walk around a current Forest Closure area without too much inconvenience. The Main Fire is burning near Albuquerque, west of the GET (segment 37) in the Kirtland Military Withdrawal land. Although the route isn’t directly threatened right now, and fire activity is minimal, the closure order – which affects all of the public and withdrawal land west of Hwy 337 – won’t expire until December 31, unless rescinded. My best guess, having spoken with the USFS info contact, is that it will eventually be rescinded, but possibly not until after fall hikers have come through. The additional maps included with the CD show a verified workaround – actually a former routing of the main GET – that remains on the east (open) side of the highway.

A number of fires are burning in the Gila National Forest right now, most of the creeping and smoldering variety. Of these, only the Moore Fire has been confirmed to have impacted the route, in this case in Tom Moore Canyon (segment 22). Although the fire remains active, however minimally, the trail remains open and there are no closure orders currently in place anywhere on the district. As well, the Diamond Fire has been burning through grass and understory for several weeks, and is reportedly now backing toward South Diamond Creek (segment 23). Although this fire is expected to remain active, it is considered to be under control and is being used for resource benefit. Again, there are no closures posted at this time. One other fire that may bear watching is the Turkey Fire, which I believe is burning west of the GET (segment 24 / Continental Divide) in Turkey Run. This one is being monitored by the nearby Lookout Mountain fire watch, and was likewise showing minimal behavior at last check.

Several recent lightning fires in the Mogollon Mountains (segment 20) – Whitewater and White / Cub – were reportedly extinguished by wetting rains last week. Neither directly impacted the route.

Refer to http://inciweb.org for the latest word on these fires, as well as anything else that might pop up in the coming weeks.

It’s proving to be a rather unimpressive monsoon season this summer. As it currently stands, Arizona looks to be in a less favorable position than New Mexico. If things continue on the same general track, and we move into the fall dry season as normal, then I suspect the GET will be “in drought” by the time thru-hikers reach the AZ border, though the effects may not be as pronounced until after the Pinalenos, due to the nature of water sources (more reliable rivers, creeks, springs, and stock sources east of there, with less reliable sources in the Santa Teresas and especially along the AZT corridor).

One theory about why the monsoon is off this year is that El Nino is making an early return, which could eventually be good news once the winter storm track moves in. Too early to say just yet.

Speaking of good news: ongoing, professional trail maintenance is planned for at least two areas of the route this fall. This is long overdue maintenance that should go a long way toward improving the overall trail experience, if not in time for fall ‘09 hikers then hopefully by spring of next year. The Coronado NF dispersed recreation manager (roving trail crew leader) confirms that the upper half of Ash Creek Trail in the Pinalenos (segment 10) recently saw a crew. Work included rerouting the main trail in its middle miles onto the equestrian bypass and away from Slick Rock. Apparently they’ve removed what was left of the metal work holding up a sketchy section of trail in this area. As it turns out, the suggested GET route uses the equestrian bypass anyway, so hopefully the red line on the map set will continue to describe the best route through this area. In addition, the lower portion of Ash Creek Trail will see a crew in October. (The USFS contact mentioned also having a small budget for Clark Peak Trail (GET), but that they’d like to get Ash completed before starting on that. See the recent archives for more on Clark Peak Tr. conditions.)

In any case, those who’ve hiked Ash Creek Canyon would probably agree that the lower portion is in rough shape, with debris flows frequently burying most evidence of the tread in the drainage, and frequent nuisance blowdowns to contend with. The work crew will undoubtedly have a full plate this fall, but the canyon is beautiful and the trail an important link between the crest of the Pinalenos and Gila Valley. Rescuing it from the verge of oblivion is absolutely a worthwhile goal, and we wish them well.

Much-needed maintenance is also coming to the Apache Kid Trail (GET segments 28 & 29). The Cibola National Forest, Magdalena R.D. tells me that a Colorado-based corp will be working the upper portion of Water Canyon, on the north slopes of Blue Mountain. This part of the trail is currently an alternate route of the GET that had burned a while back and now features matchstick-style blowdowns that have all but obliterated the trail corridor. The main GET instead now uses Coffee Pot Canyon / Trail, which also enters the burn near Blue Mountain but with somewhat less severe blowdowns to contend with. Trail work on the alternate GET will take place sometime this fall, and *may* make the alternate a preferable route option, depending on how much progress is made. (Only cross-cut saws will be used due to the Wilderness designation, and there is a LOT of heavy, fire-hardened timber to cut through.) If this pans out, then hikers could remain on the Apache Kid Trail throughout, westbounders starting at Grassy Lookout and continuing all the way to Cyclone Saddle. Although the trail needs – and will eventually receive – maintenance throughout – the portion being targeted this fall remains the only genuine impasse to travel right now.

It seems we’re seeing an up-tick in funding being made available to land management agencies of late, and a renewed effort to cut through the backlog of deferred maintenance and construction projects. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is surely playing a role in some of this, as is broadly outlined here:

http://www.fs.fed.us/fstoday/ARRA/FS_ARRA_Projects_announced_as_of_090721.pdf

and click on Arizona and New Mexico in the table of contents to see what may be pertinent to the discussion here.

Just a heads up to anyone interested: we’re currently adding chapters to the GET guidebook in advance of the fall hiking season.

http://www.simblissity.net/get/guide.shtml

The new material begins at Chapter 21 (West Fork Gila River). All of the new stuff is currently in draft form, meaning that we haven’t yet delved into the reams of hiking voice notes from over the years and are working by “foot memory.” (This isn’t a reflection of any particular brain power but more of a warning to anyone thinking of spending too much time hiking any one long-distance trail!) In any case, the idea is to get as much basic info out into the ether as quickly as possible, so it can hopefully do some good beyond what the map CD alone could offer.

Here’s an example of what’s new, actually one of the more complete entries among the recent batch:

CHAPTER 27: MONTICELLO BOX

Monticello Canyon is truly one of southwest New Mexico’s hidden gems. Flanked by colorful rock formations, rugged cliffs, and occasional narrows, a ribbon of verdant splendor unfolds through the heart of an arid grassland. Sustained by the year-round flow of Alamosa Creek, this nearly 20 mile long riparian corridor is home to the familiar Fremont cottonwood, the common assemblages of willows and ashes found elsewhere along the trail. The chatter of songbirds fills the air on spring and summer mornings, while birds of prey watch cautiously from leafy roosts, or indolently, high overhead. Yet despite such obvious similarities with other desert-bounded creeks, much about Monticello Canyon feels unique as well; this place would not be mistaken for Aravaipa Canyon, the Blue River, or Eagle Creek. At an elevation of 6000 feet, Monticello Canyon is unmistakably a high valley, much higher than its counterparts to the west. The surrounding landscape is distinctly New Mexican: austere, the scene contemplative, the terrain self-evident yet somehow unknowable, full of mystery. And a riparian community of this nature and extent, set against this high desert backdrop, is a rare thing indeed. Javelina roam this canyon at the very limit of their geographic range. Large herds of mule deer are often seen, while the smaller coeus variety of Arizona is not. And nowhere along those distant canyons to the west are Rocky Mountain elk as at home – if home at all – as here.

Monticello Canyon is unique in other ways. Scattered ranches and homesteads – the canyon was named by pioneering Irish settlers – dot the valley in its broader expanses, as they have for generations. A dirt track threads the canyon, tumbling back and forth along the nourishing creek. This is a landscape whose natural and human histories still coexist in harmony, each somehow complementing rather than competing with the other, a place little influenced by the outside world, so far removed and unseen as even now it remains.

The canyon’s creek is artesian, born of a cluster of springs that surface just above the canyon. These perennial waters, including Ojo Caliente – “warm spring” – made the area a favorite of the ancestral Apaches, including Chief Victorio and even Geronimo. During the Apache wars of the 1870’s the area tribes were moved here by the US Army. Yet with white settlers increasingly drawn to the region, the Warm Spring reservation never flourished, and the tribes were eventually relocated to the larger San Carlos reservation in Arizona. Today the only evidence of the old Warm Spring reservation, once occupied by some 3000 souls, are the remnants of a few adobe walls, crumbling and all but forgotten.

This segment of the Grand Enchantment Trail also serves as a linkage between the vast Gila National Forest to the west and the scattered, island-like districts of the Cibola National Forest to the east. The route first descends out across rolling foothills at the edge of the Black Range, where pronghorn antelope are often spotted along grassy hillsides dotted with soaptree yucca. Easy cruising along lonely dirt roads leads to a few sections of cross-country travel in open terrain, and navigation remains relatively straightforward. The route enters the old reservation boundary and crosses NM Highway 52 within sight of Monticello Box, the dramatic, and seemingly improbable, cliff-bound entrance to the water-blessed canyon beyond. Hikers with a maildrop waiting in Winston can try their luck hitchhiking via the sparsely-travelled dirt highway, while those who’ve sent supplies to Monticello first continue along the GET through Monticello Canyon. (See the Town Guide for more about the pros and cons of resupplying in either town, and why it’s a good idea for thru-hikers not to forego a maildrop altogether.)

Alamosa Creek is most often an easy, gentle slosh, no more than calf deep. Flood events can occur following heavy summer storms, when hikers would be well advised to keep a backup plan, but the high water tends to subside fairly quickly. A primitive dirt road in Monticello Canyon fords the creek repeatedly, such that wet feet are unavoidable (eastbounder thru-hikers are old pros at this by now), yet little about the experience here suggests a slow-go challenge, at least on foot. (Passenger cars, however, do occasionally get stuck in the sand, apparently lured in by the legal, county road designation.)

Six miles down the creek the main GET exits Monticello Canyon and climbs via 4WD road toward segment’s end at the edge of the San Mateo Mountains. Hikers intending to resupply in Monticello would instead continue down the canyon via the Monticello Canyon Alternate Route. They can then return to the main GET in this segment by following the Burma Road Alternate Route, or can use this alternate to reach the San Mateo Peak Alternate in Segment 28. The Monticello and Burma alternates together form a scenic 31 mile loop that avoids the need to backtrack after visiting town, and this will hopefully make Monticello a more appealing resupply option, so useful to hikers as it is given the remote nature of this country.

Because Monticello Canyon is mostly private land, camping is not allowed along its length, nor within the old reservation boundary to its north. As such, the distance between public land camping opportunities in this segment is about 11 miles. See the route details at the link below for more info.

http://www.simblissity.net/get/guide-seg27.shtml

GET Topo CD v1.4

Ah, July: another month, another version of the GET topo map set CD… or so sometimes it may seem!

Yes, map set v1.4 – in fact its 5th incarnation since v1.0 debuted in 2006 – is now available. (We don’t revise because we want to, but because we have to. Change is progress in the decidedly not-for-profit trailblazing business.)

Find the new CD here:
http://simblissity.net/get-topo-cd.htm

Existing map set owners will note a special Add to Cart button intended just for them, which will charge precisely one penny (plus shipping) to the credit card of their choice, in exchange for all the love and promise in the world… or at least as much as the CD would hold. So if you’re thinking of heading out anytime soon – perhaps this fall, what with promising monsoon rains currently about – this virtually-free upgrade could be just the thing.

Don’t own a prior version of the map CD? That’s okay, we hope you’ll agree the purchase price isn’t too outrageous. And then, just like that, you’re in the free upgrade club.

PSA: I’ll be leaving on a little trip in about a week, returning in early August, so CD’s will ship both before and after but not during.

So what’s new this time?

+ The route keeps getting better. A number of noteworthy changes to the individual segment maps reflect these latest changes, especially in AZ. These include the eastbound descent from the Pinaleno Mountains toward the Gila Valley, which now uses Ash Creek Trail and also includes Cluff Ranch wildlife area. This is a vast improvement over the old route through the burn zone of Frye Creek, both in terms of navigability and scenery. (The old route here should now be considered “closed” for GET-related purposes.)

+ Other changes to the route layout reflected on the new maps include portions of the following areas: Superstition Wilderness (Segment 1), Picketpost Mountain to the Gila River (Seg 3), Aravaipa Wash (Seg 6), Santa Teresa Wilderness (Seg 8), Santa Teresa – Pinalenos connector (Seg 9), Pinaleno Mountains (Seg 10), Gila Valley South (Seg 11), Coronado Trail to the Blue River (Segs 15-16), Black Range / CDT (Segs 25-26), Rio Grande to US 60 (Seg 33), and Cedro – Otero area (Seg 37). Collectively, these changes are contributing to a “year 2008 GET” which is undoubtedly the strongest route layout ever, and with any luck, won’t require any major modification for the foreseeable future.

+ Improved / updated GPS waypoint data for some segments, much of it field-recorded, and reflecting both current and recent changes to the route.

+ GPS TRACKS for all segments and alternate routes of the GET – a new feature for version 1.4. Track files can be uploaded to GPS and used in addition to the guidebook and CD map printouts for navigating along the suggested route. Unlike individual spot waypoints, GPS tracks show the whole route line in addition to your location along it, in a sense “putting the hiker on the map.” Tracks are available in GPS eXchange format (gpx) for strong compatibility with most GPS receivers, and may be especially useful when exploring segments of the GET that lack corresponding guidebook chapters as of yet.

+ Updated overview maps of the trail: area maps, maps that show the route and elevation profiles between resupply points, and more. These are the same maps available for viewing on the website, only in high-resolution for printing.

+ New Lightscribe direct-disc labeling makes GET topo map set CD v1.4 a veritable feast for the senses, so visually appealing you may just decide to order an extra copy for display wherever fine artwork is appreciated in your home or office.

Next up…

Online guidebook edits for the existing 18 chapters (all of Arizona), bringing them up to date alongside the new map CD.

Water chart and town guide updates – ditto. All of this should take a couple of weeks at most, so anyone heading out this fall would probably do best to wait before printing any relevant materials.

Also…

Now online at the GET website ( www.grandenchantmenttrail.org ) – updated interactive Google Map as well as downloadable Google Earth file for 3D fun while checking out all the new stuff in GET land.

Now back to enjoying summer!

- Brett

Cedro meadow

Changes are afoot in Segment 37 of the GET, located just south of I-40 – east of Albuquerque, south of Tijeras. This segment passes through the extreme southernmost part of the Cibola National Forest, Sandia Ranger District. It’s located off of Sandia Crest itself, in the lower-elevation Manzanita Mountains, with 7700-foot Cedro Peak as its highest near-trail point, and scenic Otero Canyon en route. This is an intriguing area of dense pinyon-juniper woods interspersed with scenic wildflower meadows. An extensive network of hiking and riding trails thread the rolling terrain in this region, offering many potential route options that the GET might select from. As such, this segment (along with the northern part of Segment 36 to its south) continues to evolve. The current incarnation of the route here hasn’t been fully explored as of yet.

Here’s the beta:

Segment 37 – Cedro Peak

Maps:
http://simblissity.net/images/GET/cedro1.JPG
http://simblissity.net/images/GET/cedro2.JPG

GPX files (right click, save link as):
http://simblissity.net/gpx/seg37-cedro.gpx
http://simblissity.net/gpx/seg37-cedro.gpx

Anyone with an older version of the mapset will note that the Segment 37 has migrated westward, now spending more time on the west side of Highway 337, before crossing it at Cedro Creek, continuing over a height-of-land on Cedro Peak, then north to a rejoining of 337 near Tijeras. (Segment 38 then enters the Sandia Mountain Wilderness not long after the route crosses beneath I-40.)

The big advantages to this proposed routing over previous are:

1) It avoids 3 miles of high-grade roadwalking in the Tranquillo Pine residential community and along Oak Flat Road.

2) It’s also 3 miles shorter, purely by coincidence.

3) The new route follows the Cedro Creek Riparian Interpretive Trail for about a mile, with perennial water. (Thanks to Forest Service for this bit of useful if belated info.) This is a huge advantage over the old route, which had only one developed source at Oak Flat Campground, which was subject to being seasonally turned off.

4) Potentially, the new route will be less complex to follow, with fewer intersecting trails. The old route east and south of Cedro Peak featured trail junctions every mile or less it seemed, most of them signed, but still a lot of map consultation required to select the right one.

I intend to walk the proposed route this fall, but if anyone happens to be in the area this summer and is looking for an interesting and diverse section of GET to explore, this one might just be the ticket. Any feedback – either here on the forum or directly by email – would be greatly appreciated.

The maps linked above will be part of the upcoming version of the GET map CD, due out sometime later this month, we hope. Actual CD maps are high-resolution bitmap images and together cover the entire route of the GET from Phoenix to Albuquerque.

PS – A note about the “military withdrawal” shown on the maps around Cedro Canyon. According to the FS, this is in fact FS land – at least by every outward appearance – but has been “withdrawn” by the DOE and Kirtland Air Base in recent years, meaning no public access across portions of Otero Canyon at present. This has proven to be a contentious and emotional issue, as Otero is a much-enjoyed region for Albuquerque-area residents. The reason for the withdrawal concerns – of all things – unexploded ordnance! Apparently this area was once a bombing range, and hazards – perceived and/or real – still remain. Post-9/11 security-related paranoia may also have contributed to the desire by the feds to post the area off-limits to hikers and riders – to protect Kirtland Air Base itself with a buffer zone of sorts. But in any case, the military withdrawal at Otero DOES NOT AFFECT the new route of the GET, which uses trails that skirt around the closure area. Such is life on the outskirts of a large metropolitan area and “military town.” Frankly, I continue to be more amazed by how little influence the big ABQ actually holds over these nearby lands, quiet and pristine as they generally seem to remain.

- blisterfree

New installments to the GET Video Galleries are now online.

http://www.simblissity.net/get_images.shtml

Click on the “video” thumbnails for galleries 1, 2, and 3 to find the new stuff, recorded this spring while walking from Phoenix to Safford. There’s also a few additional vids in galleries 4 and 5, recorded while I was exploring a few new route options with vehicle support beyond Safford.

It’s frankly hard to imagine, but these video clips, all told, now number a whopping 120. That’s somewhere beyond two hours worth of… I won’t call it entertainment. And just imagine splicing the lot of it into a single feature presentation: Phoenix to Albuquerque in low-resolution pans, jerky first-person action shots, and disembodied, droll narration. A Cannes festival winner this would not likely become!

But hopefully the short, one-to-two minute clips collectively offer a sense of what the route has to offer. It’s true that grainy, low-fidelity video such as this is many shades below a real-world sensory experience, but there’s just something about motion, sight and sound that together do reality greater justice than still images alone. Or so it seems to me.

- blisterfree

Maybe it’s wanderlust, but my fall hike this year found me deviating from the established route a bit. Or perhaps it’s a streak of comically inappropriate perfectionism to blame. In any case, as usual it seems, I returned from the trail this autumn with a laundry list of potential changes in store for the route. A few of these are considerable. Most are small. But it all adds up to a bunch of work, and progress, in the map and guide game, is generally slow business. Clearly I’m my own worst enemy here.

The route is longer now, too. At 730 miles, it’s grown a good 15 miles this go-round. And not for nothing, either. In my estimation, the new Magdalena Ridge Observatory near South Baldy means this part of the range won’t ever again be much good for hikers. So the route now goes the long way around, via the West and East forks of Sawmill Canyon, along the way improving the prospects for finding water and solitude, while rejoining the scenic ridgeline beyond the zone of development. David Canyon, in the Manzanita Mountains, is new to the route as well. No longer is there a need to walk along paved Highway 337 near Ponderosa Pine, and this (more circuitous) canyon route is replete with wildflower meadows and lots of quiet.

- blisterfree

On my hike this fall I found myself focused less on photography than on trying to record video from the trail. Looking things over here in the aftermath, though, I do seem to have at least some still images in the batch. Rather than post them into the existing web galleries, though, I thought I’d offer a slideshow dedicated solely to what’s here, which as it turns out is about five dozen images, from the Gila Wilderness west to Safford, with a few additional shots from the Santa Teresa Wilderness mini-expedition.

View the slideshow here:
http://simblissity.net/get/slideshow-07/slideshow-fall-20071.html

Video Galleries now available…

We’re pleased to introduce a new feature on the Grand Enchantment Trail website: Video Galleries.

http://www.simblissity.net/get_images.shtml
(and click on the thumbnails marked “Video” to view the galleries)

Over 90 minutes worth of streaming media is available for viewing, with 70+ individual video clips highlighting the GET hiking experience in all its remarkable diversity. Video (with sound, many clips with narration) recorded during blisterfree’s fall 2007 hike across New Mexico and Arizona, using a Canon Powershot A520 digital still camera.

Of course, watching the video isn’t the same as being there – far from it – but it’s certainly the most accurate representation of this trail’s scenery, ambience, and character now available to those who may be considering a long hike… or a long winter inside four walls!

Happy viewing,

blisterfree