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.
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