Veteran's day camping trip Gila, Chloride ghost town, Kelly mine

[alia176]

My kid has Friday 11/11/16 off from school so we're heading down south for a camping trip. As of now the plan is to check out the Kelly mine outside of Magdalena, then head to the VLA and take 52 south all the way to Winston/Chloride ghost town. If we have time, i'd like to stop at the north end of Monticello box canyon and hike to the warm springs. After checking out the ghost town of Chloride, NM, we'll head into the Gila national forest and find a camping spot for Fri and Sat nights. This short section from Chloride to the Gila does have some rough spots that may require 4low action.

I'm meeting up with two other rigs in Tijeras then we'll hit the road, hoping to depart Tijeras by 10am-ish. The temps are supposed to be in the 60's during the days and 30's at night.

I'll be driving the low rider 4Runner while towing the Kamparoo.

Kelly mine images
kelly mine magdalena nm - Google Search

Chloride ghost town
Chloride New Mexico

Let me know if you'd like to join.

 

[BionicCruiser]

let me know if and where you see deer down there in the Gila. we have a youth buck hunt on thanksgiving for Brock and Kian.

 

[slimbuddha]

Looks like a fun trip, but Julian and I are headed north on Friday to either Navajo or Eagle Nest to do some Salmon snagging. I'll post up Friday which we decide, in case anyone wants to come along.

 

[sl33p3]

hmm. if I could make it, i'd be blasting through maybe Saturday on an out and back in a day... i have limited mobile com range on the bike. you going to go tough chloride canyon and pick any of the great spots in it? could we even pretend to know how to try to meet up on sat?

 

[alia176]

Hmm, I"m not sure how we'd be able to connect on Sat somewhere in the Gila. I'll have Megalink access, if that helps. I'll see what the group wants to do but camping somewhere in the Gila is the plan. I'll be the only one with a camper and w/o a lift so I'll take it slow and easy through the rough part.

 

[sl33p3]

yeah, linkup is unlikely I think... hope you guys have a great time. I enjoyed that area this spring.

 

[alia176]

We had a nice trip and found a great spot to camp with three rigs. Temps got down quite low at night but the day temps were comfortable. We saw LOTS of deer, holy moly!

Our first stop was at the Kelly mine, just outside of Magdalena, NM. Then it was off to Chloride ghost town and finally our camp site for the weekend. You enter the Gila Nat'l Forest through Chloride by using Chloride creek/wash. Water was very low and it was bumpy in some places but just about any offroad camper trailer will have no issues. The creek bed is very wide without any switchbacks. My low rider 4Runner had no issues.

 

[alia176]

more pics. A screen shot of google map of our camping location.


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[sl33p3]

nice! did you drag the camper all the way through the canyon or just out and back the same trail?

 

[alia176]

nice! did you drag the camper all the way through the canyon or just out and back the same trail?

Dragged it couple of miles in and found a spot. The canyon is pretty mild for our rigs, nothing too crazy. Your and Marc's campers would do fine.

 

[sl33p3]

rgr, but you didn't go in as far as that sharp right and uphill over the ridge before you get to the forestry cabin then... i was curious what you thought of that part if you went that far.

 

[alia176]

rgr, but you didn't go in as far as that sharp right and uphill over the ridge before you get to the forestry cabin then... i was curious what you thought of that part if you went that far.

We went to that cabin so I know the switchback you're talking about. Nothing stands out in my mind, the hard right is sharp but seemed like plenty of room to maneuver a trailer.

 

[sl33p3]

copy that. and you are right, tons of room at the bottom of that hill.

 

[BionicCruiser]

excellent! great trip! thanks for the deer report. we will be a little farther west and higher up in elevation, so I hope there's plenty more over there. I'm looking for more terrain like you were in for this reason. leaving in a couple days...