Old Mining Claim

• Day:  8
• Start:  0
• End:  21
• Miles:  21
• Hours:  9
• High temp:  46
• Low temp:  68
• People met:  3

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Road to the Gila

The wonderful smell of eggs and bacon fill my senses as I wait in anticipation for breakfast. I'm at Nancy's sipping some decalf thinking about my walk out of town.  I met Ridgerunner and K2 as I road walked to the wilderness. Ridgerunner is working on her triple crown, the CDT being her final trail.  We meet again at a confusing intersection, figure it out and I hike on a dirt road into a changing forest of taller more graceful pines.  The weather teases me with sprinkles so I don my rain jacket and put my pack cover on. Soon the sun is back out forcing me to remove my rain jacket. 

Heavy duty sluce box

The road goes through an old mining operation with a large sluce box set up for use with a loader and a old log cabin. 

Miners Cabin

The cabin now almost gone is merely just a remembrance of the mining days. Dutch clambers by as I'm taking pictures, he too is seeking the coveted triple crown. 

The Devils Garden

Later I seek rest at the Devils Garden an interesting collection of rock formations, something like the hoodoos in Brice Canyon National Park. Climbing the road becomes a trail, the forest darker and the daylight dwindling.  A saddle is the top of this climb, then it's downhill into the Gila River watershed. I stop at a suitable site because there are few to choose from here on out.