May 7th--- FS 28/FS 141 Junction to Near Govina Canyon

Cross Country

A ho-hum day on trail as a lot of walking was done on forest service roads lined with pine and juniper, dry, yellow grasses covering the ground beneath their branches.  The good news was that there was plenty of surface water running next to the roads, so that took away some concern since Ley's notes said water could be pretty scarce for a while north of the Gila.  The funnest part of the day for me was when FS28 passes through a large open grassland because instead of hiking on the graded dirt I was able to head cross country choosing my own path overland.  The best place to aim across this short cut is the FS28/FS94 junction because if you keep going right of this point you'll have to negotiate several barbed-wire fences.  Moments after I'd passed this point and headed up FS94,  a guy arrived in a pickup and fired up the grader that was parked next to the corral and then three more trucks towing large horse trailers passed dustily by.  Grand Central Station for a thru-hiker, because I didn't see another vehicle the rest of the day.
     Davis Spring, which reportedly had squirrel skeletons in the bottom of its collection tank in 2011, was just a bent hunk of metal.  It appeared as if cattle had done the damage after getting past the barbed-wire fence that was supposed to protect it.  Further up the road, Dutchman Springs was no better.  It looked more like a befouled seep with muddy hoofprints pooling a little brown water.
     The biggest navigation challenge was at the FS 94/FS 3070 junction.  There's a large cairn on the right that takes you onto a path marked with CDT symbols but Nobos don't want this because it's actually the "official route" coming in from the south.  Nobos need to cross the cattle guard and then join the FS3070, which is the right arm of the Y junction.  After a quarter mile on FS3070 you should see a cairn on the left which puts you back on true tread.  A brief jaunt down the trail and you'll see signage confirming you're on the right path.  If you're lucky like me, there may be a small water cache waiting for you.  I took a liter for safe measure.
     Another tricky part of the day was going down switchbacks on a fire-scarred slope.  The trail was somewhat obscure, but the most treacherous part was maintaining my footing due to the resultant erosion.  There was plenty of loose soil rolling beneath my feet.  After winding down the mountainside the trail didn't last much longer before I was back on roads again.  The only concern now was to remain on the right one because there are several side roads that form junctions.  For the most part the 3077 just keeps winding away, contouring the mountain slopes for miles before it abruptly ends at a dilapidated trailhead with a weathered kiosk.  CDT emblems were on the trees, but as it was growing dark and the wind was picking up with some strong gusts, I didn't go too far before laying down my cowboy camp between two fallen logs.  One thing I can say when I think back on the day is that I saw plenty of deer and elk.

29.8 Miles     


On Trail after FS94/FS3070 Junction

True Tread

Winding Along the 3077