South of Gallup and I-40, the southeastern corner of the Colorado Plateau gives way to an extensive faulted and uplifted terrain of lava and ash flows, dissected by erosion into rugged mountains. This is the little-visited, primeval Gila Wilderness, which was the first National Forest wilderness ever set aside, largely through the efforts of Aldo Leopold who worked here for the Forest Service in the 1920's. The Gila country, a southeastern extension of Arizona's Mogollon Rim, tops out at 10,892' at Mogollon Baldy. The Gila is a massive barrier to incursions of summer monsoon moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, and thus is rainy, verdan't, and heavily forested - not, strictly speaking, Desert Peaks. For a sample of some authentic New Mexico Desert Peaks, we'll visit the Organs next issue.
PS. As the new Program Chairman, I'm making an Urgent Appeal for PROGRAMS for the 1987-88 meetings. If you've had some neat experiences - preferably of the semi-arid sort - and have the pictures to show of it, PLEASE don't be bashful just ring me up at 818 246-4657 (24 hr. number).
