Written by Joseph Cofresi, Wild Stew Field Crew Member.
While a few of our crew broke off from the pack to lead Wild Arizona’s 6-week Youth Conservation Corps Program in partnership with the Coronado National Forest, the rest of us had the pleasure of returning to the alpine forests and meadows of the Gila Wilderness in the western mountains of New Mexico. After fighting through logs from Sandy Point Trailhead along the Crest Trail through to the fire lookout on Mogollon Baldy Peak on our previous hitch, the Gila National Forest had declared war on the logs obstructing the Iron Creek Trail. It was time for us to prepare for battle.
Our first battle was with elevation. From Tucson to the Gila Wilderness, we go from 2,000 feet elevation to 9,000 feet (and we haven’t even hiked up the mountain yet), so we took the first full day to acclimate ourselves to this change in elevation. When working high in the mountains thunderstorms, wildfires, elevation sickness, and heat exhaustion (hyperthermia) are all things to be aware of. To battle off these elements Nico equipped us with the knowledge to prevent and stay safe in lieu of any of these scenarios playing out. We then set off from the trailhead to initiate our primary attack and brush back the vegetation to open as much of the trail corridor as we can before ascending the mountain.
The next day, just as we had on our previous hitch, we hiked another thousand feet up to Hummingbird Saddle to set up our backcountry camp. After swapping places with the Gila National Forest Trail Crew, who were also fighting the good fight on the Iron Creek Trail, we scouted out the battlefield and picked up where they left off. Our first full day of clearing through the enemy logs and lopping the treacherous gooseberry was no easy task. We were still battling the elevation, the sun was beating down on us, and we were drenched in our own sweat. The fight must continue and all we could do was pray to the trail spirits for a little cloud cover. Though we prayed with caution so as not to summon a thunderstorm.
By golly the trail spirits provided and the following morning we awoke to a welcomed light sprinkle and lovely cloud cover; and to top off this beautiful morning we witnessed a lone elk scamper up the hillside on our way to the trail… majestic. Iron Creek Trail used to be an accessible trail, but this area of the Gila Wilderness had fallen victim to a massive wildfire in 2012 which transformed the landscape from a standing alpine forest of firs and spruce to the battlegrounds we know today: a burned alpine forest of snags and fallen trees, with meadows of wildflowers, and stands of aspen.
The next couple days we all embraced our inner fairy magic and were ready for a big push through the enemies defenses. We fought through the forest to clear large pile ups of downed aspen, Doug-firs, and spruce. The way I like to fight logs is to attack them head on and if I can’t chuck ’em I cut ’em. I was acting as the first line of offense ahead of the crew when I stumbled upon a phenomenal fairy infested meadow filled with fantastical feelings of finality. While down there I heard a wild exclamation howling from the tree line, but I didn’t think much of it.
While I was frolicking… I mean fighting in the meadow, Chloe and Ollie were fighting a boss battle on the trail behind me. This big bad log had the two of them stumped, so they branched out and called for backup. Nico, Kile, and I hoped to help vanquish this enemy log with the “chuck ’em” approach. I thought we were coming to save the day like some superheroes, but all we did was realize how super villainous this log really was. It was now Big Bad Log vs. Wild Stew Field Crew. We were pushing, pulling, heaving, screaming, kicking, chopping, cutting, and the son of a log would not budge! Then in the middle of our heated battle going blow for blow with this diabolical log the unexpected happened… a hiker emerged from the trail. This wasn’t just any hiker, though—he had done some work with the Gila National Forest Trail Crew and knew exactly what we were doing out there and why we were doing it. Ryan was his name, and now the pressure to defeat this log was amplified, but he luckily brought some much-needed energy for us to rid the trail of this villainous log once and for all. We did it, we cut the sucker in two and disposed of Ollie and Chloe’s arch nemesis off the side of the trail. We reveled in our victorious battle, but we knew the war was far from over. More battles lie ahead on the Iron Creek Trail but as for our last day up on the mountain, we bid our farewells to Ryan, and we made a short but strong push down the Whitewater Trail towards Hummingbird Spring to take out as many enemy logs as we could before our descent of the mountain.
Overall I think we had a Gila of a good time.
