Note
After the fine desert mountain running in Big Bend, the natural question was how to top that. Precious few possibilities existed, even considering parallel universes. Running nekkid at Allamuchyberry? Nope, for so many reasons. Simultaneously drinking two cans of ice cold Mountain Dew? Not really running, plus that would be hard to manage in any case, and would be messy if managed poorly. Elect a black President? Already been done.
Really after running down the list, there was only one obvious candidate: a trail run in the Gila Wilderness.
Which proved to be a total winner!
It didn't hurt that we had another perfect day, with mild temps, blue skies, and a light refreshing breeze.
We drove to the Gila Cliff Dwelling National Monument, and besides being interesting in their own right, the walk to and through the cliff dwellings was a nice way to ease into a run. Various trail possibilities were immediately at hand, and I selected the Little Bear Canyon trail, with the intent of running out to the Middle Fork (of the Gila River) and back. 5 minutes in, I already knew it was a winner. Totally beautiful, many splendid vistas, impressive cliffs as the trail dropped into a sandy wash which became a tiny creek which became a slot canyon. The Middle Fork was also beautiful with crystal clear water, and abundant remnants of massive valley flooding from the rains last fall. In a lot of ways it reminded me of some of the rogaine terrain used up on the Mogollon Rim in Arizona, except that here there was more water, and then the underfooting was in general much more forgiving than the near ceaseless limestone cobbles and such that you end up spending so much time on top of over on the Mogollon Rim areas.
For pleasure, beauty, and total Wow! factor, another easy 10, and highly recommended.
Bonus points came into play when we spotted grunting javelinas on the drive out. Score! What a way to end the day.