Wilderness Catalog: The Apache Kid Wilderness

The vivid yellow grass and rocks blaze harshly under the afternoon sun as we stand in front of the freshly made wilderness sign. The wash is wide here, lined with cottonwoods and cow trails. It is easier to walk on the loose rocks than chase a fading trail. As the wash weaves further into New Mexico’s Apache Kid Wilderness, the pitch of the hillsides becomes steep, eventually transforming into sheer cliff faces. At one point the dry waterway becomes so narrow that we must work together to lift the dogs up a six foot waterfall. We wonder if this could possibly be the trail, but the map just shows an arbitrary line. 

Soon the vegetation lining the wash changes: ponderosas replace cottonwoods and Gambel oak appears. We find a trickle of water creating small pools for a few hundred feet. The soft pine needles are easy to walk on, a pleasant change after the clatter of rocks in the wash. The shade of the trees feels cool on our skin as we wander. At camp, we enjoy the astounding quiet and soft evening light, so different from the buzzing interstate highway 15 miles away. 

Climbing towards a pass the next day it is clear that humans have been here. We find a few old blazes carved into the trees. However, there is no trail on the ground and these blazes soon disappear. Following the GPX we climb up towards a pass through steep rock. We wonder again if this could possibly be the trail as we use our hands to pull ourselves up. It seems unlikely this time, so we return the way we came back down through ponderosas, narrow washes, and into the cow-inhabited desert. The line on the map may be uncertain, but it’s enough to draw us back again.

— Bailey Bremner