Gila Wilderness Backpacking
May 29 – June 6, 2010 | $ 1295 US
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Gila Itinerary
One week, Two trips…
It’s your choice! How would you like to experience New Mexico’s legendary Gila Wilderness? To find out more about the two groups, one rated Easy-Moderate and the other Moderately Strenuous, visit the Itinerary Page.
A Classic Backpacking Trip to America’s First Wilderness Area
Without wilderness, we would as humans be destroying the cradle from which our civilizations were born. Today we see that the reasons for the preservation of wilderness are many, but at one time the idea of keeping a place natural and free from the works of mankind seemed like a preposterous proposition. Through the work of wilderness pioneers like Aldo Leopold, the need to preserve natural places as an end in iteself came to the forefront of the American psyche in the 1950’s and 60’s. There was no place more special to Leopold than the Gila Wilderness which is believed to be the place where his inspiration to dedicate his late adulthood to the goal of preservation was born. While the Gila area was set aside as a protected area in the 1920’s, it became the first officially designated wilderness area under the 1964 Wilderness Preservation Act. Unfortunately, Leopold was not around to celebrate this event- he had died two decades earlier.
Our trip will take us deep into the canyons of the Gila River where true wilderness can be found- just as Leopold experienced during his time in the Gila. Since we will be hiking through the wilderness for 7 full days, we will have opportunity to experience an authentic backcountry trip and have plenty of time for adventure, relaxation, socializing and solitude. Despite its large size (over 500,000 acres), the Gila Wilderness is one of the least visited wilderness areas in the lower 48 and we will most likely have our pick of the best camp sites. Throughout the wilderness, impressive cliff dwellings cling to the steep canyon walls left behind by the Mogollon peoples hundreds of years ago. The combination of backpacking, wilderness history, archaeological significance, and experienced guides make this trip is an adventure of a lifetime.
“The richest values of wilderness lie not in the days of Daniel Boone, nor even in the present, but rather in the future. “ - Aldo Leopold
Facts About the Gila Wilderness
- The Gila is the largest wilderness in the Southwest (558,014 acres).
- The Gila was the first designated wilderness area in the world.
- Highest point in the Gila Wilderness- Whitewater Baldy (10,895 ft.)
- Ancient cultures have occupied the Gila for over 1,000 years.
- Wildlife that can be found in the Gila today include bobcat, cougar, black bears and coatimundi as well as several pairs of reintroduced wolves.
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