Preachers Point Overlooking Bear Creek Canyon
It was a quiet morning in Silver City as my partner and I, and our dog, headed north into Gila National Forest to explore Bear Creek Canyon. We'd been led to believe the road into Bear Creek was impassable to all but the most rugged 4x4's, and while the road was rough it was negotiable with care and a high clearance vehicle. To say we were delighted doesn't begin to cover our feelings. suddenly we had access to a large area close to home that we had yet to explore. We spent most of a clear, chilly winter day wandering Bear Creek canyon, noting trails and side canyons for future explorations.
I love to find new places to explore. Without them life would be a dreary, mundane place. Wilderness provides a blank spot on the map, a territory unsurveyed, unnamed and untrammeled, innocent of all signs of human design, free from the imposition of human "progress." Aldo Leopold famously said, “I am glad I will not be young in a future without wilderness.” Aldo Leopold has long passed, and I myself am no longer a young man, but there is still wild country to explore. Thank the gods I'm still young enough to explore it.
Topo Map
One of Our Future Adventures
Forest Scene
Frozen Pool on Sycamore Creek
Enchanted Recess
Pool in the Forest
Cottonwood Leaf Lodged in an Old Corral
Sycamore Creek
Radiance
Ann and Zuli
Winter Cottonwood
