Weekend Wanderings: Still more from the Gila

Hey, Happy 4th of July (Independence Day to my US readers; just another summer Saturday for the rest of you). 

 

This is my third post from the Gila Wilderness, way back in May! Our last couple of days hiking out were short days, with us shading up at mid-day and refusing to go any farther, as the heat was getting a bit much, and the distance remaining was modest.

On our 5th day, we were happy to find in the morning that the bear hadn't come near us overnight (as the designated banger of pots in the event of a raid, I was particularly grateful for this). There were some long stretches early on without crossings, once we did an initial crossing. I was happy to find stones we could use to keep our feet dry, a definite luxury.

On a shelf well above the river. This day's hike took us through the narrowest narrows, which we mostly navigated by climbing above the inner canyon.

As we climbed another slope to get above the gorge, the canyon appeared to be giving us the finger.

Cool rocks.

Prickly pear blossom.

This seems to be a standard erosional shape for this kind of rock (mostly rhyolite, I think)

 

Easter Island heads were also pretty common formations.

With campsites relatively rare in the narrows, we were happy to find a spot where we could set up without mixing it up with the poison ivy.

Not a lot of space, so our little tent city was tight.

Day 6: Up again in the morning to hike another 6 or so miles.

 

Lots more river crossings, none more than knee deep, helped to cool us.

Sometimes in the river, sometimes out of the river.

Around noon we found some shade to hang out and eat lunch. After an hour's break, we decided to hike until we found a campsite and call it a day--we weren't far from the trailhead, so there was no pressure to go on, and it was hot in the sun.

We lounged about in the shade all afternoon.

Everyone finding their own shade--and having to move every 15 or 20 minutes.

A butterfly liked the moisture on my boots, which were sort of drying in the sun.

We watched a few clouds form then vanish at sunset, and got some nice late afternoon light, as well.

Two of us decided we didn't need tents, given that the clouds were all gone. At 2:30 a.m., two of us were busily setting up our tents wherever we could, as the rain came down just enough to make it necessary (another shower later in the night confirmed that).
 

Camp in the morning. I couldn't put my tent where I'd laid out my cowboy camp, because the ground wasn't hard enough to hold the poles, so I ended up pretty much putting it in the kitchen.

 Our final day started with sunshine, but we'd not been hiking an hour when it clouded up. 

We were approaching the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, which was where our trail ended.

For quite a while, all we had were occasional raindrops. 

Overcast, but not wet. The canyon has pretty much opened out at this point. 

With about a mile to go, the rain began in earnest. I had to pull out the cover for my camera bag, though we figured the rest would be fine. By the time we reached the trailhead, it was raining for real, and we hurried to stow our packs in the cars, before going to explore the ruins (in the rain, with a t-storm bearing down on us). 

A couple of quick shots for the ruins:

You can see the raindrops in front of the dark background. By now it was raining for real, but we'd dug out our rain gear, so kept on.

The park service has built a trail through the ruins, which have been stabilized so you can get a good look--no touching, of course. These are pretty extensive ruins, on a par with some at Mesa Verde.

 See you next weekend for some pictures from Bears Ears National Monument!

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 ©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2026 

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