Hey KRWG.

My name is Nathan Marquard.

I'm the partnership coordinator and former trail manager here at the Catwalk National Recreation Trail.

And my name is Elizabeth Hemphill, and I do public affairs on the Gila National Forest.

And today we're going to go on a hike at the catwalk.

I have my water, a snack, some sunscreen and a hat.

Let's get ready to go.

Oh, I'm going to.

We're going to start our journey today at the Whitewater picnic area here at the trailhead.

An interesting fact about this site was that this entire parking lot and picnic area was actually once a town site.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, 200 people called this place home in order to service the mill, which you can still see up on the canyon walls behind me with those rock walls.

Whitewater picnic area and the catwalk is a fee day use site area.

So it's $5.

There's a self-service station right by the, the trailhead, and it's a pack in, pack out area, meaning steward your site and make sure that your trash ends up in those trash cans at the end of the day.

So as we come across this first bridge, you may notice that the trail splits.

If you continue straight, the trail is moderate use, so it's got some steps and some steeper grades.

But if you go through the bridge and to the left, this trail is ADA accessible, wheelchair accessible, so that users of all ages and all ability types can enjoy the catwalk further up the canyon.

So the original catwalk was built in the late 1800s to service a water pipe that let high pressure water go down to the mill site, down in the parking lot.

In order to service that pipe, the miners built series of wood walkways in order to service the pipe.

And in the 1930s, the CCC converted it into a national recreation trail.

That original series of catwalks and bridges that the CCC put in, used to extend a mile and a half of this canyon, included steps, bridges, walkways, and even a suspension bridge.

But in 2012, we had the Whitewater Baldy Fire, which burned over 200,000 acres in the high country, here in the Mogollon Mountains.

And in 2013, we had a 100-year flood event.

This canyon, Whitewater canyon, extends 18 miles up to the highest point in the Gila National Forest.

So this huge watershed all drained right into this canyon we're about to walk into and destroyed the catwalk.

So the catwalk we're going to walk in today was rebuilt in 2016, 20 feet higher than the original, and is really a feat of modern engineering.

But unfortunately, it only goes a quarter mile now, as opposed to the old two miles up the canyon.

However, the trail does continue up in the original footpath, and you can still see the old remnants of the original trail from the 1930s.

Just beyond this metal staircase.

The trail is highly developed with some concrete steps, some nice wide walking paths.

But as you progress up into the canyon further, it turns into more of a backcountry wilderness trail.

This canyon, like I said, extends 18 miles up to the highest point.

It's about two miles to the Gila wilderness boundary, which is the, third largest wilderness area in, in the lower 48 is a really special place, and the oldest wilderness.

There's plenty of opportunities for backcountry camping, backpacking, and for extended backcountry travel into the greater Gila Wilderness and the Gila Cliff Dwellings beyond.

A lot of this construction was done, with help from the Great American Outdoors Act, and has seen a great number of personnel hours and labor being put in by young adults, working here through the summer, through the winter, all sorts of conditions, doing whatever they can to repair this trail and bring it back to its former glory.

My job is the trail manager here in Glenwood for a number of years was to oversee that work, to do the designs on these trails, and then to facilitate the crews actually out here doing the work.

And it's been really the honor of my lifetime to do it.

So we've reached my favorite part of the canyon here.

And the reason I love it is with all this, downward slope, there's just a ton of waterfalls embedded in these rocks.

But in the 2013 flood, one of the best examples of the scale and the devastation of that and the power of that flood water is actually this rock right behind me.

And you can see it's a pretty gigantic rock.

And on top of it is a bridge footing from the old catwalk.

But that flood was so big and so powerful, it actually moved that rock over about 20 degrees.

So now you can see the physical evidence of that flood on that rock.

Just a cool thing I always see whenever I walk this trail.

The catwalk is our main keystone trail in this area, and it's really been a privilege to work and to get to know this place so deeply.

This right here is my favorite vista in the entire trail.

My favorite spot to have lunch, which we're going to stop and do right now.

And I encourage you to come out and join me and see this trail for yourself, because it's really a special place.

Feel free to stop us, to ask us questions.

We're here to help, and we look forward to seeing you out on the trail.