White Mountain Wilderness, New Mexico

[highz]

Thursday I headed up to the Smokey Bear district of the Lincoln NF to meet up with some volunteers from the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance. We were there to spend a day doing wilderness inventory for the USFS in the White Mountain Wilderness. Friday was spent logging evidence of human impact on areas, points of interest, opportunities for solitude and select invasive plants. I was kept pretty busy, so didn't take any pictures of our trip up Bonito creek, but I can say that it's a nice hike, and I saw some small trout in the pocket waters - Brookies, I think. We also saw a Zone-tailed Hawk winging along the stream, but no one got a picture

. Even though it was the start of the holiday weekend, and South Fork campground was packed, once we got a little ways past the wilderness boundary we didn't see any other hikers.
Saturday I headed over to Monjeau lookout and the Crest Trail for a short hike before heading home. This time, I had the camera out to take a few pics to share.

Monjeau Lookout was built in 1940 by the CCC and is still in active use today.

Here's a view of Sierra Blanca from Monjeau

Just a little ways from the Lookout is the trailhead for the Crest Trail and the boundary of the White Mountain Wilderness. The Crest Trail is 21 miles long, but it was already afternoon, so I only hiked a few miles in and back - just long enough to work off the stiffness from the hike the day before.

Here's a view looking back toward the LO. It's at the high spot on the ridge.

 

[highz]

It was a warm afternoon, and Katie the Collie doesn't do well with heat (plus she was tired from the hike the day before, like me), so we found a shady spot with a view.

The Rocky Mountain wild iris are in bloom now, and were all along the trail.

Back at the trailhead, as I was getting ready to leave, a weary backpacker came up and asked about water. The nearest water that I knew of would be a long-ish hike away. But, My camper still had about six gallons of water, so the weary hiker went back to his party, they all showed up with their containers, and I was able to fill them all. They had water to make dinner and see them through the next day, and I was able to travel home lighter.


All in all, it was a great quick getaway to a gem of an area in my backyard, and a few new friends were made. Life is good.

 

[MarkBC]

Thanks for sharing your quick getaway, highz -- an area I know nothing about. Looks nice, and that stone lookout is fantastic!

"Smokey Bear District": I'd forgotten that the original living Smokey Bear was found in New Mexico...as a kid I (or one of my brothers) had a little picture book of that story.

 

[Smokecreek1]

Nice, wish I was there. Hope the Sierras and Cascades around here stay nice and don't burn up before I get to play some there. Retirement is great, but having to work in the woods or desert everyday----and get paid for doing it were some of the best times of my life and I consider myself a lucky man for being allowed to do it for some many years! Rainy and windy here in Susanville again today, a bit cool, supposed to be hot on memorial day--funny weather again this year!

Smoke

 

[highz]

Thanks for sharing your quick getaway, highz -- an area I know nothing about. Looks nice, and that stone lookout is fantastic!

"Smokey Bear District": I'd forgotten that the original living Smokey Bear was found in New Mexico...as a kid I (or one of my brothers) had a little picture book of that story.


I grew up with the Smokey Bear story, too. I once volunteered at a USFS public event where Smokey made an appearance to meet all the kids. We were seriously warned beforehand to treat the ranger-in-Smokey suit as the real Smokey. The kids still love Smokey today.

The real Smokey lived in the National Zoo, but when he died, he was brought back to New Mexico and is buried at his museum in Capitan.

Here's another picture from Monjeau LO looking toward the Capitan mountains and wilderness. They are in the hazy distance on the left half of the pic. That's where Smokey was found. By the way, the haze is from the huge fire burning in the Gila. It's been affecting us for days.

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

Great report and photos highz. I too like the Whites.

I just happen to have some info on Ol' Smokey, too.

Smokey in His Prime:

Smokey's Last Resting Place:

 

[craig333]

I had that smokey bear "comic" book too. Still sounds strange to me hearing "prevent wildfires" instead of prevent forest fires.

We rescued a burned fawn on a fire once. Unfortunately unlike Smokey it didn't make it. I still wonder about that. We turned it over to the local Fish and game warden. He wasn't the sentimental type. Might be good he wasn't there for Smokey

 

[highz]

Hey, Stew, great pic of Capitan Gap and the area's best known bear. Here's a pic looking down from near the top of Capitan Gap. If memory serves (and it doesn't always), Smokey was found not far from Capitan Gap.

 

[ski3pin]

Highz, enjoyed your report and photos and your work with the wilderness volunteers! Very nice! Now, how are we going to find time to get to New Mexico?

 

[SunMan]

Thanks for the pics from your neck of the woods HighZ. Beautiful country.

 

[highz]

The Little Bear fire is blowing through the White Mountain Wilderness and neighboring areas. From the bits and pieces of news I can gather, I think it is likely that the area I did inventory in so recently is burned. Structures outside the wilderness have been lost. It was started by lightning on June 4, was contained at 100 acres, but then jumped the containment lines yesterday and is now over 10,000 acres. From the look of the glow last night, there's a lot of running and crowning.

 

[Barko1]

And windy as hell down here 100 miles SW so it can't be doing much good this afternoon. That fire has just exploded.

 

[highz]

All the pictures I posted - those areas are now burned. The inventory area is burned. Homes outside the wilderness are burned. The Bonito Lake watershed is damaged. Don't know if Monjeau Lookout made it, but it might have been saved. Very sad.