Moments in Dirt and Ink

Cleveland National Forest Click for map. DAY 1  |  DAY 2 The night on the ridge line was wonderful and calm and warm with stars from ear to ear... or that is how smiles go. Anyway, there were a lot of stars to see with only one tiny bit of civilization glowing with its own stars. Well, not as many as there could be with the big moon. It is nice as the light brightens in the morning too. The warmth makes it easy to get up with that light. Looking back up the ridge and trail. Those sycamores I was looking for on Saturday are visible in the canyons on either side of me and even some in the tributaries. There should be water down there. Accessibility is another question. It is a gentle downhill the rest of the way along the ridge until a post marked with a message of "1.8" (miles, presumably) and "1300 feet down" with the "down" written vertically to help the reader understand the word. There was another, less perfect, site before the post,...

Cleveland National Forest Click for map. DAY 1  |  DAY 2 Everything just looks a little hotter, so I think this 3 day, 30 mile plan will require more water than the one I just pulled off in Agua Tibia Wilderness. Although it looks more likely there could be water here, the map indicates all streams are seasonal. Since I could get no information on either water or the state of the Bluewater Trail, marked as unmaintained on the wilderness map, I have to plan as though there is no water and Bluewater could be difficult travel or navigation. The result of sitting down with the map and some mileage information that is helpfully supplied on the trailhead sign is to cut off 5 miles and the unmaintained part so that travel will be more certain and it is doable in 2 days. This leaves me confident enough to leave one bag of camping water, but none of the hiking water. Starting water weight is still 20 pounds and am considering this a rather minimal amount. Water plannin...

Cleveland National Forest Click for map. I arrived at Morgan Trailhead and started stomping up and down the first few hundred feet of trail and glaring at the gentle rolling hills covered in short chaparral. I was pacing, really, wondering if I really want to do this again. Do I want to load up my pack with three days of water, again, to hike another dry wilderness? One that looks a fair bit hotter than the last as I will be losing elevation along the way rather than climbing and the elevations here are lower overall. Maybe I should just drop it and go home. Still, I had the whole afternoon. When planning, I had noticed I could hike a nearby peak and thought I might if I had time after. It is only about 2 miles, so I have time today. I could at least get something out of being at the trailhead and gain a little more perspective on what is here. Surely there is a bit more than gentle rolling hills covered in low chaparral. A hidden sign found shortly after finding the unmar...