Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument

May 5, 2010.
It was another beautiful morning in Silver City. Lows overnight were in the 50's and expected to warm to the lower 80's.  The sun was shining brightly and we had a steady breeze. The Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument is about 46 miles away and though it wasn't originally on our "things to do list", we decided to take the ride and experience it.


We headed north on NM Hwy 15 through Pinos Altos climbing to over 7000 ft and crossing the Continental Divide.

The narrow drive in the mountains on NM 15 had started out beautifully and was sure to be an enjoyable drive.

Shortly after leaving Pinos Altos we came across this sign. From this point the cliff dwellings were only about 40 miles away. However the travel time on the sign was for 2 hours!

The mountain vista views were quite striking.

We were traveling on the Trail of the Mountain Spirits National Scenic Byway.

You know the saying, "what goes up must come down". Well before long we knew why the route time was two hours. The road was increasingly narrow with several steep down grades...

and twists and turns. I flashed back to my previous career and training on the pursuit driving course as parts of the road was like driving through a serpentine course.

We went up one mountain and down another perhaps three times. I had to lock the 4spd transmission on the car in 3rd and at times 2nd gear going down the mountains due to all the hairpin turns and switchbacks. 

However, the views at the top were amazing. The two dimensional pictures just can't do it justice.

You can see the road across the valley that we had to navigate via one of many switchbacks. This was by far one of the most demanding mountain roads I had ever driven. Now to be fair, being from Florida, I don't have a lot of mountain driving experience! 

The real shocker is that this was the same route used for the final stage of the Tour of the Gila, up to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument visitor center and finishing in Pinos Altos.

After checking in at the visitor center, we had to hike a mile to the start of the 1 mile hike to the cliff dwellings. Normally you would drive to the start of the cliff dwellings hike. However, the bridge over the Gila River was damaged and thus it was closed. Because of this, there was no entry fee.

Joyce standing on the bridge over The Gila River.

A National Park Service volunteer, snapped our picture before starting the climb up to the dwellings.

The hike to the dwellings is about 180 ft. up through a canyon along a stream and then up the side of the cliff over rough rock steps and switchbacks.

At a starting elevation of over a mile up, it's not an easy climb. We passed a younger heavy woman on the trail coming back the opposite way. She said she couldn't make it and she was obviously winded.

You can just see the opening of one of the caves in the picture below.

Once we arrived at the cliff dwellings, we were able to explore several of them and walk inside. A little more than seven hundred years ago, a peaceful people, called the "Mogollon" (mug-ee-yone) by modern archaeologists, sought refuge from marauding enemies and the elements. They built forty rooms within five spacious sandstone cliff caves, located in what is now the heart of western New Mexico’s Gila National Forest, on the edge of the Gila Wilderness. The ruins were designated as a national monument on November 16, 1907.

The Mogollon band at the Gila cliff dwellings, like Mogollon bands who lived in small groups along river systems as far south as Mexico, appear to have been influenced by the Anasazi who lived to the north, in the Four Corners region, during the same period. The clues lie both in the architecture and the artifacts from the Mogollon sites.

We came across a guided tour group in the middle of an interpretation.

Once again I was amazed by the views from inside the cliff dwellings. 

We still had a long precipitous climb back down.

We made it back to the start of the hike and then walked the mile back to the car along the hot road as temps were now in the low 80's. It was another long slow drive back to Silver City via the mountains. I'm sure you've heard the saying, "getting there is half the fun".  Well for me, the drive and the hike to the dwellings was the most exciting part of this excursion.  It's definitely worth the visit, but be prepared for the mountain drive and the somewhat arduous hike. 

Wear good footwear with substantial soles for hiking on the cliff dwelling or monument trail. The path is natural and quite steep in places. Take sensible precautions if you are not accustomed to high elevation hiking since it is more strenuous than trekking in the lowlands!

City of Rocks State Park, NM

May 4th, 2010.

Lows were in the 40’s but we woke to a bright sun. It slowly warmed to the low 80’s. It was a beautiful breezy day without a cloud in the sky.

Maggie was putting weight back on her left leg so she seems to be recovering. Yesterday she went lame after playing with a puppy next door.

After getting Maggie and Rico settled and turning on the air conditioner, we drove Joyce’s car out to the The City of Rocks, State Park. 

City of Rocks State Park was established in May 1952. The park encompasses a one- square- mile area in the scenic Chihuahuan desert region of southeastern New Mexico at the elevation of 5,200 feet. The “city” is a truly geologic monument formed by large sculptured rock columns, or pinnacles, rising as high as 40 feet and separated by paths or lanes resembling city streets. These rocks were formed about 34.9 million years ago when a very large volcano erupted. Then, erosion over millions of years slowly formed the sculptured columns seen here today

We did the 3.25 mile hike around the park starting at the botanical garden and ending at the visitor center.  

I guess we did the hike backwards. However, when we initially arrived at the park the visitor center was closed, but reopened prior to the end of our hike. 

We spoke with the park volunteer in the visitor center whom told us about some of the wild life which includes javelinas, coyote, bobcats, kangaroo rats, snakes and birds.

There is both primitive camping for $10 and camping with electric and water for $14.  There were a number of electric sites still available.

However, the best sites were the primitive sites which were right up against the rocks.

All in all, it was a nice hike in the desert around the rocks, and we enjoyed our visit. Although its very remote, If we are ever back in the area, we would consider camping here for a few days. 

On the way back home we stopped for groceries and then relaxed the rest of the day.

April 3, 2010.

It was another chilly night but the morning sun soon warmed us up. We stayed home and took care of some domestic chores i.e., laundry. 

Maggie and Rico played with the 4 mos. old cattle dog next door.  They raced around the rig and Maggie did her boxer burns.  However, about an hour later, Maggie was holding up her left rear leg and limping around.  She has done this before when she over exerts herself. Its possible she has a problem with her knee. We are keeping are fingers crossed that it resolves itself.

I took this opportunity to check out the dirt trail behind our rig.  The ground here is like a clay mixture that is hard as a rock when its dry. It was a nice trail but jarring! 

The trail was about 4 miles down the valley which meant the return was 4 miles up hill! 

It was a nice ride. I could sure feel the 6000 ft. of altitude here in Silver City as I chugged up the hill.

The rest of the day was uneventful and we had a quiet evening. Maggie continued to limp and favor her leg all day and we made her rest.

End of the Tour and Freaky Weather

May 2, 2010.

It was in the 30’s overnight but we were warm with our electric ceramic heater.  Even though we’ve had cold nights, I haven’t felt the need to run the furnace unless we have pro-longed subfreezing temperatures and I need to heat the basement tanks.

We took Maggie and Rico for a long walk and then contemplated our plans for the day. The weather stayed overcast and cold reaching 57 degrees by late morning before sliding back down to the 40’s.

We had heard on the radio that a bus was providing rides to Pinos Altos the summit of the final stage of the Tour of The Gila Road Race. So we drove to the Ace Hardware to look for the bus, but it never came and we didn’t see any groups of vehicles that may have been parked for the bus.  Anyway, it was already past noon so we drove our truck up to the summit at over 7000 ft., but it was obvious the race was over as we passed team cars and cyclists going the opposite direction back towards Silver City.

The weather was getting worse so we headed back home not bothering to stop at the town of Pinos Altos.  It was cold and windy and threatening rain.

Back home we got some small hail.

The hail soon turned to rain and then it began to snow! 

It snowed for almost two hours, however it didn’t stick. 

Instead it made everything rather muddy!

We stayed home the rest of the day and soon called it a night.

Travel Day to Rose Valley RV Park in Silver City, New Mexico

April 30, 2010.

View Larger Map

The wind subsided and we woke early to a clear morning in Alamogordo, NM. Everything was covered in a fine orange dust. To make matters worse, it drizzled for about a minute last night peppering everything with dusty water spots! It was still windy around 20-30 mph, but manageable for our trip to Silver City.

After paying for our week’s worth of electricity, we said good-byes to James and Cindy the owners of Boot Hill RV Resort. They are very nice people and built the park themselves. Interesting thing about Cindy, she is my age and was a military dependent stationed in Germany the same years that I was there, '72-'76.

We enjoyed talking with both of them whenever we had the chance. Boot Hill RV Resort is well maintained and perhaps the best RV park in the Alamogordo area so check it out if you are in the area.

We got on the road about 9:40 taking Hwy 70 through White Sands ...

to Las Cruces via a mountain pass. It was a long straight descent.

From Las Cruces we headed west on I-10 coming across a Border Patrol Inspection. We crawled through the line of cars and trucks. When I pulled up, I was asked by a Border Patrol Officer if I was a U.S. Citizen. I responded affirmatively and he waived me through. Not exactly a thorough check!

We stopped for a quick lunch and break for Maggie and Rico in Deming, NM. and then headed north on Hwy 180. There were signs warning of poor visibility because of dust storms. We were getting a pretty stiff west wind and could see little dust twisters, but the visibility was good.

We climbed to over 6000 ft before entering Silver City and finding our park. After about 200 miles, we arrived at Rose Valley RV Park. The clerk was very friendly and assigned us to lot 60 which backs up to an open valley providing a beautiful view. 

Most of the sites to include ours, have small walls on the door side of the site that is very nice for providing privacy and a wind block. There’s a nice trail for walking the dogs into the valley. We will be staying here for a week.

A view of the back of our rig. You may notice that the site was not at all level. It sure is nice to have the BigFoot Levelers!

A view from up the road from our site.

As we continued to set up the temperatures were dropping. In fact we had snow flurries for a little while! However, the ground temperature was too warm for the snow to stick.

After dinner we watched the George Clooney movie, "Up In The Air" that Joyce rented before calling it a night. Tomorrow we hope to catch a portion of the Tour of the Gila bike race in town.