New Mexico Spring Round Up
by Kinsey Warnock | CDTC Trail Crew Leader
Year two with the Continental Divide Trail Coalition has officially begun! To kick off the season, the field team took full advantage of the new office in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We talked through the schedule, organized and inventoried some new items for the gear cache, and learned how to use a trail assessment tool from the U.S. Forest Service. It was a productive three days and one of the few times the field team would all be in the same place!
After, we went in separate directions, and I headed to the Gila National Forest to co-lead a project with Melissa Green and the Gila Back Country Horsemen.
As my first project back for the year, this was no joke! We hiked about four miles to camp while horses, mules, and llamas carried group gear, tools, and water in for us. The group did awesome, and since we had camp set up by lunch time, we got to work. This project—like most of the projects this spring— involved lots of work lopping and hand-sawing overgrown brush out of the trail corridor. My forearms were sore all week! And, though the mornings were colder than expected, a Stage 2 fire ban in the Gila National Forest prevented us from having fire to warm up with.
It was a productive week: Four miles of CDT cleared, and one mile of tread and corridor work on the Big Timber Trail. I had fun and got to see a new section of the CDT. I may not have “eased” back into the season, but I walked away with only two blisters and sore arms, so I’d call that a successful start!
Brannon Park Volunteer Group with Gila Backcountry Horseman
My next volunteer project was on the Gila Alternate, which is a popular alternative to the Black Range section of the CDT. It has had several recent fires and the sparse water is a stark contrast to the seemingly infinite number of water crossings through the Gila.
The Gila Alternate follows the middle fork of the Gila River from Snow Lake to Sapillo Canyon. It is a popular option among thru hikers as well as visitors to the Gila National Forest and Gila Cliff Dwellings. Thru-hikers make up a large portion of users, so we partnered with Heart of the Gila to help finish up a sixteen mile section that needed to be rerouted and reestablished after flooding changed the river bed. Heart of the Gila is a non-profit based in Gila Hot Springs, New Mexico that educates on, advocates for and stewards the Gila River Watershed.
Last year they were able to rehab the first thirteen miles of trail going south from the Grapevine Trailhead. This year, the goal was to finish the last three miles to the Sapillo Canyon junction. We had a hardy crew of nine people who survived the twelve mile hike in, four days of work and then the hike out. We managed to complete the last section of trail and I got to build a three foot rock cairn, which I was quite proud of. Amid all of the other work accomplished, the group still celebrated a birthday and enjoyed post work swims in the river.
Before And After Tread and Corridor
Before And After Rock Turnpike
The last spring project in New Mexico was up in the Santa Fe National Forest near Cecilia Spring, where Michael and I worked with a group of students from Santa Fe Prep School. We spent two days with the high schoolers and had a lot of fun, despite not understanding any of the slang they used. We did, however, fell a tree with a chainsaw as a demo. They learned how to crosscut, maintain drains and corridor and build rock check steps. They had lots of energy, were eager to learn, and they understood the science and reasoning behind trail stewardship.
Santa Fe Prep Crew – Evening by the campfire
Crosscut action
On Saturday the Santa Fe Prep group went out on their own, and Michael and I led an Adopter Training where the CDT crosses NM 96. It was a small group with a mix of experience, but they were all excited to learn. I taught corridor standards and Michael explained drains, and we switched groups about half way through the day. We ended the day covering the process of becoming an official CDT Adopter and some of the other requirements of the agreement.
Installing new trail markers
We went back to camp and had some peace and quiet before the high schoolers returned with as much energy as they had every other day. The evenings consisted of pranks, spike ball, reading, music and storytelling by the fire. On this final evening after dinner we did an activity called “Rose, Bud, Thorn” where everyone says their least favorite part of the trip (thorn), their favorite part of the trip (rose), and something they are looking forward to (bud). It was fun to hear all of their takeaways, but the most memorable one from one who said, she liked that she now understood all of the work that goes into creating and maintaining a trail and will think about it every time she is on one. It was a great note to end the project on!
That wraps up our Spring 2025 New Mexico projects. A special thanks to the New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division and Economic Development Department for making this work possible! It’s been a very busy 6 weeks with lots of great work accomplished. I’m excited to move up to Colorado and hopefully, escape the heat! Bring on the mountains and monsoons!