Middle Fork of Gila in March, too early?

Have you checked with the visitor’s center?  I’ve only been to the Gila in March once, and I don’t recall the water levels being too high, but obviously this is going to vary considerably from year to year.  I think there could easily be a lot of runoff that time of year.  As with any backpacking trip, it will pay to have a plan b and c.

For a possible alternate route through the Gila, here is a link to a report of a shuttle hike I did some years back.  It would fit the bill for your description, with very few crossings of the Gila, but lots of water availability, from Turkey Creek, Little Spring, etc.

Thanks, David, much appreciated! I did speak with the visitor’s center, but they told me that it wouldn’t really be possible to know until around the week of the trip, and to just monitor the USGS data until then. This looks like a great template for a plan B, thanks!

I went there in March two years ago. We got lucky with weather. 60s and sunny during the days. 20s at night in the canyon. Still a little snow higher up in the canyon, but not too bad. Water levels low enough that we made all crossings without too much trouble. But I think it could have easily gone hard for us with different weather, different year.

Thanks! We’ll be keeping an eye on it. How high were the crossings the year you went?

Is the USGS realtime flow rate useful?

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/09430500/#parameterCode=00065&period=P7D

Yes, I have been checking in on it. Thanks!