Dennis and I got up around 7:30 or so and got our showers for the day and then had breakfast at the hotel. We headed out for the Cliff Dwelling Monument in the Gila National Forest. It’s about a 90 minute drive over some very challenging roads. There’s lots of elevation changes and curves and the road is very narrow. It was fun. We stopped once to stretch our legs and I looked back down the road we had just traveled to see a deer standing on the edge. I hollered for Dennis to come see and right after he got there another deer crossed, and then another, and then another. There was about seven or eight that crossed the road just a hundred feet or more from us.
We got to the visitor center, got orientated on what there was to see and do and made our way to the parking lot at the base of the one mile hike to the cliff dwellings. From Silver City you have to commit about four or five hours to make the drive in, hike to the site, tour the cliffs and drive back to Silver City. More people should make the commitment. The dwellings are from around 1250 to 1275 AD and about 80% of the structures are still intact - including the wooden parts. It’s incredible to see and one of the only places where you can actually get in amongst the dwellings themselves. There were four or five park employees or volunteers stationed around to give details and it was a wonderful experience.
By the time we made it back to Silver City we decided to head straight for Glenwood and the entrance to “The Catwalk” (go ahead and run the a song thru you head and get it out of the way). It’s about 55 miles from Silver City and we were both hungry and getting a bit grumpy till we got to Glenwood and stopped at the Blue Front Cafe and Bar (the front was painted blue) and I had the absolute best burrito on the face of the planet.
We made the short drive to the Cat Walk which is a narrow canyon which used to have a mine at the spot where the canyon opened up. The mine owners had built a flume along the canyon walls to divert the stream to use in the mining operation. Once the mine had run it’s course the wooden flume was replaced with a wooden catwalk that run a little more than a mile up the canyon. Later the wooden catwalk was replaced with a metal one.
Again, the words incredible and breathtaking don’t do it justice. We hiked the entire mile up the canyon - which may not sound like much but there was a lot of climbing up and down over rocks and falls to get there. The trail was plainly marked and there were numerous bridges (both fixed and swaying) over the rapids but it was a whuppin’ getting to the end, but it was worth the exertion.
By the time we made our way back to the parking lot it was almost six local time and the sun was rapidly setting. We made the 55 mile drive to Resource (and saw three huge elk, as big as small horses) standing by the edge of the road. Luckily for us and them, they held there ground because hitting anyone one of the three at 60 miles an hour would have been devastating to us both.
We got a room at the Rode Inn in Resource at 7:15 and ate across the road at Ella’s Dinner. They roll up the streets at 8:00 around here (even on a Friday night) so it was eat then or wait till morning. I had another burrito (I was on a role) and, while it wasn’t as good as the one at the Blur Front it made up for it in quantity. Great Googly Moogly it was huge! I ate as much as I could and then we headed back to the room for a refreshing adult beverage and I began this post.
Tomorrow we head east for the first time of the trip. We will pass by the Very Large Array and stop there briefly and then continue across the top of White Sands thru Valley of Fire and then point the Honda towards Dallas. It’s going to be a very long day but Amy, Dennis’ wife is way past ready for him to be home (she misses him very much) and I’m ready to sleep in my own bed. Lisa is taking her own little road trip to the Marriot in Solana and spending Friday and Saturday night there so I will be able to decompress from the trip and see her on Sunday when she gets home.
We've not watched TV, listened to the radio or read any news since we left Dallas. I hear via twitter that some football team released a player or two and that the ICC indicted Sudan President Bashir. Well, I take that back on not watching any TV . . . the one in the Rode Inn lobby was blaring Fox News and it seems that the world we live in is about to end and we are all DOOMED! DOOMED I SAY!! That's such an old drum I wish they would find another one and beat it . . .
More to come . . .
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