Continental Divide Trail, Gila National Forest, NM
DatesJul 8th - Jul 14th 2012 Service ProjectTrail construction Free DaysDay hiking to John Kerr Peak, photography, wildflower viewing AccommodationsCar and tent camping Trip RatingStrenuous : Digging, bending, hauling, shoveling. 1-2 mile daily hikes to project. LeadersBill Sheppard Equipment |
The Gila National Forest has spectacular scenery ranging from high cool mountains with aspen and Douglas fir to warm semi-arid lowlands with juniper, oak and cactus. It is one of the more remote and least developed National Forests in the southwest. Covering 3.3 million acres of publicly owned forest and range land, the Forest is the sixth largest National Forest in the continental United States. The Gila National Forest boasts a rich history of the Mogollon and Apache Indians, Spaniards, Mexicans, ranchers, prospectors and miners. Apache Chiefs Mangas Coloradas, Geronimo, and Victorio, Aldo Leopold: conservationist, ecologist and author of the Sand County Almanac, and renowned lion hunter Ben Lilly are but a few of the personalities from the past that have left their mark in the Gila. Place names like Raw Meat Canyon, Tepee Canyon and Grave Canyon tell the tales of the past. Our service project is construction of the Continental Divide Trail, a long-distance trail running from Canada to Mexico along the U.S. portion of the continental divide. Many organizations, volunteers, government agency staff and others have been working on the trail for years and our project is one of many currently active to see it to completion. This is a continuation of a project in the same area that a Wilderness Volunteers crew worked on last year. We'll establish a camp next to our vehicles at around 8,000' and make daily hikes to the new section of divide trail to work on the project. Currently in this area, the Continental Divide Trail runs along some roads, so our project establishes the actual trail as a non-motorized foot trail, which will ultimately be its purpose when completed. This project features a vegetarian menu with optional meat ingredients on many meals. We can relax at the end of the work day -- our full-time cook will have dinner ready for us, including plenty of fresh ingredients and some meals baked in her Dutch oven. Check out more photos from last year's Gila National Forest, Continental Divide Trail project in our gallery.
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