As we were breaking camp to go, it started snowing on us. We were early
for the guided tour, so we took a short 3 mile hike into the Wilderness in snow
flurries. We ran into 3 people (one was a teacher on Spring Break) who
were backpacking into Bear Canyon and Jordan Hot Springs. There are lots
of hikes that we'd love to do, but we don't want to spend too much time in this
area now. We'll have to come back another time. We met our guide for
the tour of the Cliff Dwellings, a volunteer from Ohio.
After our tour, Andrew has heard about a beautiful drive on a dirt road
between the
Gila Wilderness and Aldo Leopold Wilderness areas. We went through a small town to top off
our gas tank and pick up a few onions at another store. Getting fresh
produce out here is a real challenge. The little local stores just don't
get the demand to keep things fresh and there is no grocery store for 45 minutes
to an hour away. We went up FS 150 and found lots of campsites. We
picked one and called it home for the night. It was very cold and snowed
on us while we were making dinner.