244) Two Weeks in Apache Kid (the second hitch)

The Apache Kid Wilderness is in Cibola National Forest, located on the western side of New Mexico about halfway down the state. The reason we were there was because a few years ago wildfire raged through the area leaving a lot of standing dead. After a while those dead trees started to fall, completely covering the trail, rendering it nearly if not totally inaccessible to hikers. So our job was to clear the Apache Kid trail- the namesake of the wilderness.








We were to join up with another crew that had been there for weeks. There wasn't a lot of work needing to be done to finish the project, and it went fast with two crews. It was basically all cutting and chopping and moving trees. Because the work that was in need of finishing was way up the trail, we had to go back country, meaning we set up a base camp a few miles into the wilderness and worked from there. Nearly all of my crew, including myself, really enjoyed being back country. It is a very different and interesting way to live- the only break from the elements is what you get in your tent.





My crew seemed to be a bit less prepared than the other crew. I noticed a lot of the other crew brought up wet-wipes and cleaned themselves that way. I was assuming we could wash in a river, which turned out not to be possible. But no matter what you bring, about two weeks in the back country will make you look like a mess.





The great thing for our crew was that we stumbled into that area at a perfect time. All of the aspens and oak trees were in peak color, making for some beautiful hiking. After the forest burned a few years ago, the first trees to come back were aspens, by now a few years old. They were low enough to allow for some nice views, but old enough to bring great colors.

243) Days Off

In between each hitch there are a few days off. I tried to go out and catch some of the fall colors I saw in near perfection the day I was driving in (about two weeks previous to these pictures being taken).







On the way in I went by the Uncompahgre National Forest and decided I must go back there. For the most part I think I missed the bulk of the fall colors, and heard everyone may have- due to an unusually wet summer and fall.









Overall it was beautiful, but just not as photogenic as it could have been, or supposedly has been in the past.

242) Two Weeks in Chaco Canyon (the first hitch)

My first hitch with SCC was two weeks in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Our main objective was to tear out an old trail, and lay a new one in Pueblo Del Arroyo (an ancient great house built around 1075).




The hitch started off pretty exciting. The first night there I went to check out some ruins and heard elk bugling in the distance. A few minutes later a huge and nasty looking storm blew in (refer to pictures). By the time it got to us it had lost most if its power and was basically strong winds blowing a lot of sand. It only lasted a few minutes and then was gone.





The second day in Chaco brought on a challenging and unique experience. A hiker had let her dog off its leash, and it chased a lizard over the edge of a cliff some 30-40 feet high. The hiker apparently checked on the dog, heard it yelp a few times and then go silent. I am pretty sure that is when they lost hope, but they informed the chief ranger (our project sponsor) about it. That actually happened the first day I was there, and he couldn’t go try to get the dog because of the storm that was blowing in. So he had to wait for the next morning. Sometime that next afternoon (my second day) we got a radio call asking for some help from my crew. So two other guys and I went to meet with some other rangers to head out to the dog. It was in a very difficult place to reach, so we had to take some back roads, and when they stopped hike in with the gear. After dropping down canyons and back up, we finally found the head ranger (Don) and the dog. The dog was still alive, and very thirsty, but with no visible injuries (just a little bit of blood), but not looking too great. So eventually we strapped it to a backpack, and then strapped the backpack and dog to a body board and started carrying it out. It was defenately a hard process, and we had to take it down one really tough cliff area, but we succeeded. They later took the dog to the vet, and informed the owners about the whole situation. So they came to the vet, heard about the bill, and said they could not afford that. So one of the vets promptly said he would pay for the surgery if he could keep the dog. The only problems the dog had after falling somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 feet on to bare rock was a sprained paw, cracked pelvis and some bruises.














By my great luck, the third day in Chaco was the Fall Equinox. For those of you who know nothing about Chaco Canyon, there is good evidence to show that every building and structure is lined up with both the solar and lunar cycles (and ancient rock carvings also indicate this). So during the Fall Equinox the sun rises right at a notch in a distant cliff that is framed by two windows in one of the ancient buildings (refer to picture). So that is what we went to see on the third morning in Chaco
















The rest of the trip was filled with star gazing, beautiful sunsets, some horrible winds, looking at ruins, wildlife sightings, cold crisp nights, long hard work days, interesting conversations with archeologists, coyotes howling, elk bugling, and eerie silence.





Astronomy and archeology are two huge things at Chaco. The visitor center has a huge telescope and evening programs that allow people to check out the stars, moon, Jupiter, certain nebulas and etc. We also met a volunteer who had a huge telescope and would let us look through it when ever there was no evening program.




We also had the privalage of meeting and talking with some archeologist who were uncovering an ancient site near our camp. It is turning out to be much older than they had originally though, possible dating back to the 400’s.


All in all, spending two weeks where most people just spend a day or two was a fantastic and rewarding experience. It looks like the next hitch will be further south in New Mexico, but higher up and colder. I am looking forward to being backcountry.








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