Guidebook
Segment 18: Sunflower Mesa 9.7
miles
 Guidebook
Home
Open
this page for printing
Submit
feedback for this segment
| Beginning
access point |
|
Ending
access point |
|
FR
712 at Trail 307 Trailhead. 4.5
miles north of Glenwood NM, just south of where the highway
crosses Mineral Creek in Alma, (at signed Mile 46) turn
west off US 180 onto a graded dirt road. The road crosses
the San Francisco River - often shallow or dry here, otherwise
requiring a high-clearance vehicle. (An alternate bridged
crossing is ~1mi. south via US 180. See the GET map CD for
an overview.) Keep left at the first junction thereafter,
then right at the next junction, here joining County Route
004. In 2.4 mi. from US 180, keep straight at a t-junction
with a road at left. In about 6 mi. from US 180, past a
power transmission line, turn right (onto FR 712, which
may require 4WD when wet). A sign here says "Sunflower
Mesa." Continue 3.8 mi. to the AZ/NM boundary at a
fenceline. Primitive parking is available on either side
of the fence near the signed trailhead for Charlie Moore
Trail #307.
Please
note: These driving directions follow the route of the
GET for its entirety in this segment.
|
|
US
180 at Alma. Short-term
parking may be available in the village of Alma, located
4.6 miles north of Glenwood along US 180. Ask at the Alma
Trading Company, a general store, the community's only storefront.
(The GET crosses US 180 less than 0.1 mile south of the
store.) Otherwise, consider parking at the trailhead for
Gold Dust Trail #41, at the east end of Segment 19, and
hiking these two segments together. (See the "Ending
access point" for Segment 19.)
|
SEGMENT
OVERVIEW
Along with
Segment 19, this short segment offers a convenient link between
the backcountry of Arizona's Blue Range and the Gila Wilderness
in New Mexico. US 180 serves as a natural dividing line between
these segments, and at 4900 feet is also the lowest point along
the eastbound GET until the Rio Grande valley some 250 miles away.
(Long-distance hikers heading westbound will commonly encounter
lower elevations in Arizona.) The 2-lane highway offers access
to the village of Alma,
directly along our route, and also somewhat larger Glenwood
a few miles to the south.
Sunflower
Mesa is one of several broad, sloping plateaus that descend eastward
from the Arizona border toward the valley of the San Francisco
River near Alma. The landscape is quintessential New Mexico -
wide open, with far-flung mountain vistas, and an austerity that
invites contemplation. The GET in this segment follows graded
Forest Service roads, offering easy walking and straightforward
navigation. Besides the occasional rancher or hunter driving by,
you're likely to have these roads to yourself. The mesa is prime
range land, though most of the developed water sources are earthen
stock ponds, unreliable, generally unpotable, and few are visible
within range of the route anyhow. Plan to fill your bottles at
the end of the segment, in Alma or perhaps from the river. The
one ford of the San Francisco along FR 106 is across a generally
modest creek, and in many years the river here runs dry by autumn.
ROUTE
DETAILS
Forest Route
712 terminates at the trailhead for Charlie Moore Trail 307. Pass
through the gate in the north-south fence (waypoint 17180, elev.
6300'), leaving Arizona and the Apache National Forest to enter
New Mexico and the Gila National Forest. (Note that New Mexico
observes Daylight Savings Time, while Arizona does not. Eastbound,
set your watch one hour ahead during DST.) Follow the road that
heads southeast, away from the fence. In about 0.1 of a
mile (waypoint 18010) another road joins from the right and heads
back to the border at a metal tank (likely dry). Stay on FR 712,
which now turns northeast. First though, pause for a photo at
the "border monument" here at the junction. The mileage
listed on the sign seems to be a bit off the mark.
The surrounding
terrain becomes ever less rocky as you proceed along Sunflower
Mesa. Remarkably, the state line is almost precisely the end of
the GET's cobbly, volcanic terrain, the standard fare underfoot
since Safford environs. Pass a couple of unlikely troughs, including
near a cattle guard along the road at 0.9. The junipers
continue to decrease in size and number with the elevation, until
only grama and other short grasses remain. Fall hikers may also
behold a phalanx of the mesa's namesake sunflowers nodding at
roadside (the surrounding terrain is sometimes densely carpeted
with smaller yellow flowers at this time of year - not sunflowers
- and can be a sight to behold). Ignore various lesser tracks
to reach a prominent t-intersection with FR 105 at 3.8.
Turn left (north) at the unsigned junction. FR 105 bends clockwise
as it climbs a low hill and passes beneath a pair of tall power
transmission lines. The prominent lone peak off to the northwest
is Whiterocks Mountain. To the east you may note snow in springtime
atop the Mogollon Mountains, here in plain view across the San
Francisco River valley. A full moon rising over those mountains
from this vantage is an experience the author won't soon forget.
Follow graded
FR 105 gradually off the mesa, noting the return of junipers,
as the increased slope angle must favor them as it does other
drought-tolerant vegetation. At 5.7 (waypoint 18050) turn
left (east) by the entrance to a private ranch. Cross the dry,
but cottonwood-nourishing wash of Vigil Canyon at 6.6.
Just beyond, a convenient, if decidedly front-country, camp could
be made near the lone live oak at left. The wash may sometimes
flow where the canyon narrows to the east. Note on the map where
the road comes close to the sycamore-lined drainage again, where
you can clamber down the bouldery embankment in search of small
pools among the rocky-strewn drainage bottom. (More
secluded camping is possible in the drainage here.) Keep straight
at 7.3, now on FR 106 (C004), which also heads right (south,
as C003 / Smoothing Iron Rd). (Note that the roads in this area
are referenced by county route number - on signs and some maps
- and also by forest route number.)
Ignore a lesser
road that forks right at 7.9 and continue
on graded 2WD FR 106 to a prominent fork at 9.0 (waypoint
18080). The GET heads left here onto signed C017, but hikers
planning to walk into Glenwood for resupply can instead continue
straight (southwest) on C004 to US 180, thereby cutting off about
a mile of the highway walk. A bridged crossing of the San Francisco
River along this detour also facilitates safe passage in high
water, whereas the main GET route fords the river (see next).
(One can access the river from the northwest corner of the bridge,
for drinking water, etc.)
The main route
descends to a junction with FR 104 (C008, waypoint 18090). Turn
right and continue a short ways to cross the drainage of the San
Francisco River along the roadway. In the wet spring
of 2005, the ford was 25 feet wide and shin deep, while in the
fall of that same year the river was entirely dry here. Continue
east among pastureland, crossing a cattle guard just before reaching
US 180, at 9.6. Turn left (north) and walk the paved, 2-lane
highway's shoulder on a bridge over Mineral
Creek. The segment ends a short ways beyond, at a junction
with Mineral Creek Rd on the right (9.7, waypoint 18110,
elev. 4900'). The Alma Grill is nearby, as well as the adjacent
Alma Trading Company, which has bottled
water for sale and also an outside
spigot. To visit either, head 100 yards north along
Highway 180.
|
