Journal June 18 – Gila Cliff Dwellings or, “Just Hang in There”
In the morning we visited the Gila Cliff Dwellings. The caves of the canyon were occupied for thousands of years by various peoples including the makers of “Mimbres” pottery. Around 1200 AD dwellings were built and occupied, or used, for about 100 years by the Tularoasa Mogollons whose descendants count themselves among the Pueblo Indians of today. The narrow canyon where the dwellings are located is the center of a much larger area occupied at the same time. Many of the mesas and canyons of this region hold other smaller dwellings, artifacts, and remnants of these cultures, including a small cliff dwelling and panel of paintings nearby our campground.
After touring the dwellings we broke camp and headed out just before noon up and over a rolling ridge and into Little Bear Canyon, a magnificent, cool, lush, and very narrow slot canyon. The mouth of Little Bear Canyon joins the middle fork of the Gila.
We turned and went up the Middle Fork, now a smaller and “quieter” stream than the Gila below Doc Campbell’s. The canyon is narrower and the floods which come through less forceful, so the stream bed is more well defined. Fewer cobbles benches and a better, more well used, trail make hiking a real pleasure. Most of the walk, and stream, are shaded by the abundant willow, juniper, scrub oak, eucalyptus, cottonwood and Ponderosa pine. The canyon is narrow, often less than a couple hundred feet wide and with frequent sheer cliffs and spires rising as high as a thousand feet above the canyon bottom; the scenery is stunning.
Towards evening, after 15 river crossings, we find Jordan Hot Springs, not in Jordan Canyon, but one canyon further on and take a long soak in its inviting pools. The temp is a couple degrees below body temp, just right for staying immersed in the water. The pools are big and mostly free of the algae found in most natural hot springs. In fact the water is crystal clear and the smooth pebbled bottom makes many comfortable places to stretch out. After an hour and a half the Carrot is satiated and water logged, so we hike on another mile to make camp away from the handful of locals ensconced at the springs.
Because of our late start, after touring the ciff dwellings, and our long soak we have a low mileage day, bit these are the things we are here to visit.
8.5 miles, 24 crossings
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