October 21, 2010: The Drive Home
	October 19, 2010: Meteor Crater, Arizona
	Return to the Index for our Western Trip

Today, I'm going to meet Jean and L.H. Rodgers in Silver City. Jean is one of Fred's stepmother's sisters, and he has talked about them a lot. After that visit, we will drive to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, north of Silver City. There, we plan to see the cliff dwellings themselves, some petroglyphs nearby and also hike to some hot springs on a small creek in the northern part of the park. After that, we are aiming to camp at City of Rocks State Park, which is down towards US 180 that connects Silver City and Deming, NM. It may rain, though, and if it does, we will just get on I-10, head east, eat dinner when we can and stay somewhere east of El Paso.

Meeting Jean and L.H. Rodgers

Fred had arranged the day before for us to get together with Nina's sister Jean Rodgers and her husband L.H. I have heard a great deal about them and Silver City over the years, and I am happy to have the chance to put some faces to the names.

Above is an aerial view of Silver City with the places we visited this morning marked on it.

Jean and L.H. came by the Rodeway Inn about eight-thirty, and we followed them into town to a place they knew about for breakfast. We had an enjoyable meal, with Fred able to do a lot of catching up with them. We agreed to go by their house after we checked out of the Rodeway Inn, so we stopped there to collect our things and then drove east on US 180 to Arenas Road. Their house is just a short distance north of US 180.

Jean and L.H. live in a manufactured home that they've added onto over the years, and around which they have done a great deal of landscaping. Before we went inside, I took a picture of Fred, Jean and L.H. on their back patio. We spent an hour or so with them just conversing; they are very nice people. They have a cat who in coloring was reminiscent of Tanner; he was friendly enough, but was more concerned with looking out the window than nuzzling the guests.

We took our leave of Jean and L.H. around ten-thirty, and as we were leaving, I took another picture of Jean, L.H. and Fred in front of their home, and that is the picture that you can see at left. Then, we got in the RAV4 and headed back into Silver City to find Route 15 north to the Gila Wilderness.

The Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument

To get to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, we took NM 15 north out of Silver City. This extremely scenic highway wound through forest just north of Silver City, and then came out into more open, mountainous area with beautiful vistas in every direction. As I drove, Fred was able to take some excellent pictures of the road ahead and the scenery all around us. If you'd like to take a look at some of these pictures, just click on the thumbnails below:

The road started out as a two-lane road leaving Silver City, but after a few miles it became became just a wide, single-lane country road called The Trail of the Mountain Spirits Scenic Byway. We had go a bit slow as there were lots of blind turns on the twisting road. In places it opened up, but still in all it took us the better part of an hour to reach the National Monument.

When we reached the National Monument, we decided to go directly to the Visitor Center to find out about the activities that Fred had already researched on the Web.

At the Gila Visitor Center, we found all the information that we needed for the various activities that we wanted to do today. In addition, there were a few interesting things right around the Visitor Center itself, not to mention the incredible view from the Visitor Center out towards the area where the cliff dwellings were located.

There were a couple of small monuments right by the center. One of them was for Aldo Leopold, a naturalist who had a primary role in the establishment of this particular National Monument. You can read the plaque here.

The other monument commemorated Geronimo, who was, according to the monument, born by the headwaters of the Gila River that flows through this wilderness.

After looking around the Visitor Center, we headed off to the Gila Cliff Dwellings. To get there, we went back across the bridge and turned right back onto NM Highway 15 and took it all the way to the end, where we found the parking area for the cliff dwellings trail.

At the parking area, there was an exhibit building for the Gila Cliff Dwellings. Here, we found a number of interesting exhibits about the Mogollon people, the cliff dwellings themselves and the geology of the area. After looking around for a bit, and listening to a short talk by a ranger volunteer, we headed over to the trailhead. The trail began by crossing the Gila River on a long concrete-and-metal bridge. It was very scenic, and we each took pictures of the other on the bridge, so you can have a look at Fred here and me here.

As you can see from the aerial view, the cliff dwellings themselves were on the north side of a small canyon, and the trail up to them made a loop that first ascended along the southern side of the canyon, through shady forest and across numerous short bridges back and forth across the mostly dry streambed the the trail paralleled. After a while, we came to another streambed, this one complete with picturesque stream.

Below are some thumbnails for other interesting pictures we took of the trail as we were hiking along it towards the end of the canyon. Just click the thumbnails to view the pictures:

Very soon along the hike we got great views of the cliff face, such as the one at right. At first we were looking at the pointed northern end of the cliff, but as we got further and higher we got around south of the broad expanse of the cliff face and we could begin to see the actual dwellings high up on the cliff face above us. We could see that we still had a bit of hiking to do to get to the southwestern end of them where we would meet up with the guide who would take us through them.

Fred took a number of really good pictures of the cliff dwellings from our vantage point along the trail, including some excellent ones with his zoom lens. I've selected the best of these to include here, and you can have a look at them if you click on the thumbnails below:

We finally came around to the end of the canyon where the trail ascended steeply up to the level of the dwellings. When we came up the final set of stairs, we could get some excellent views down the cliff face to the dwellings. We stopped to take some photos of each other; you can take a look at the pictures of Fred and myself. Fred also used his zoom to get an early look at the cliff dwellings ahead of us.

We could hear some other folks already up here waiting for the scheduled tour to start, so we walked over to join them. As we came down the path along the cliff face, we found the guide and visitors waiting for the scheduled start time. The visitors were sitting on a rock ledge or relaxing in the shade of a rock overhang, and the volunteer guide was chatting with some of them. Fred and I joined the group, and in a few minutes the guide began his presentation.

History of the Gila Cliff Dwellings

Our guide began by telling us about how the dwellings were found and about the early history of the national monument, and you can listen to part of his presentation in this movie.

After these introductory remarks, our guide led us down the trail along the cliff to the first of three or four stops we made at various dwellings. When we got to the first area he wanted to show us, we gathered around as he told us about one particular area where either the walls of dwellings were never built, or they were built and then removed. This area was under a rock overhang, and would have seemed to be an excellent place for living, although the current thinking is that the area was used for storage. In any event, all that is left here now are some foundations and places where, apparently, grain or other foods were prepared. You can see some of those foundational remains here and here.

Foundation Remains at Gila Cliff Dwellings

As our guide was explaining about this first section at the cliff dwellings, the foundation remains, I made a movie of these remnants so you could see what they were like.

Next, we moved down the path along the cliff and came to the first of the actual walled rooms that still remain.

Storage Rooms at Gila Cliff Dwellings When we got to the first actual rooms, our guide explained that they were probably used for storage, and you can listen to some of his explanation in this movie that Fred made.

While we were listening to the guide and his explanation, Fred took some close-up pictures of the wall and window detail:

Storage Rooms at Gila Cliff Dwellings When the guide had finished speaking and most of the folks had moved on with him, I stopped to make a movie of the actual storage rooms.

Fred and I then followed the guide down the path, and Fred looked back to take a picture of me at the storage rooms. Then we walked along the path to the final area of cliff dwellings. This turned out to be the main residential and work area, and there were a great many rooms and lots to see.

This large section of the cliff dwellings was very extensive and included a great many rooms. I was very pleased that we'd made the trek up here, since so many of the cliff dwellings we've visited recently have been closed to people wanting to walk through them. An example was the Palatki Ruins near Sedona. So it was very interesting to be able to go with a guide through these rooms. We entered the complex of rooms via a stairway from the path. Once in the complex, which had been built under a huge rock overhang that formed a large natural cave-like space, we could wander around as we wished, or listen to our guide answer questions and offer explanations of what we were seeing.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

We took a great many pictures here, both inside and outside the cliff dwellings themselves, so I'll include only the most interesting ones. Fred and I roamed around separately most of the time, photographing whatever seemed interesting. Ruins like this and the petroglyphs that we saw later are two of Fred's main interests, so I want to include a fair number of his pictures here. To make it easy for you to flip through them, I'll use a slideshow.

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at right and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

The Gila Cliff Dwellings To supplement all the pictures that you've seen, you might want to watch this movie that pans around the entire area from its vantage point inside the dwellings.

I took some more pictures as we spent almost an hour walking around with the guide and on our own examining these cliff dwellings up close. You can click on the thumbnails at left to see these additional pictures.

Finally, though, it was time to head off, and we went back down to the path and continued around the face of the cliffs. As we came around to the front of the cliff, we could look up and see the cliff dwellings that we had just left.

Our Guide

I want to include one movie of our guide answering some questions. Not because the questions are interesting, but because I wanted to record my impression about the guide. I remarked to Fred that I thought he was a combination of our friends Guy Blair and Frank Roberts. It was a combination of the mannerisms, accent and appearance that struck this chord. Perhaps if Frank or Guy play this movie, they'll see a resemblance.

The hike down was fairly quick. The path led from the dwellings themselves down and below them and then around the end of the cliff and down into the canyon we'd hiked up along the far side earlier. We took some interesting pictures along the way- the dwellings and a big lizard among them. Have a look at some of these pictures by clicking on the thumbnails below:

Leaving the Cliff Dwellings From the path below the dwellings, I made a movie that pans up the cliff face and then across the dwellings above us.

In twenty minutes, we were back at the parking area, and ready to head back down Highway 15 a short ways to the pictographs.

Pictographs at the Gila National Monument

On the way back to the Visitor Center, we pulled off Highway 15 into a parking area for a small cliff dwelling and also the largest display of petroglyphs in the area.

We got out of the RAV4 and walked over to the trailhead to read the trail information sign. First, we took the short trail to the small cliff dwelling just a short distance up the trail. Again, you could get right inside the cliff dwelling. Also, you might want to read the cliff dwelling information sign.

From the dwelling, we went back down the short trail to take a second trail over to the pictographs. (I know the label is wrong on the aerial view; I often confuse pictographs (rock painting) with petroglyphs (rock etching) since both are often found together.)

The trail led to a spot just off the roadway where there was a cliff that had numerous examples of pictographs. You can click on the thumbnails at left to see some examples.

While Fred took some pictures, I read the informational sign that you can see right next to him. I've selected six of the best of Fred's pictograph photos to include here. To have a look at them, just click on the thumbnails below:

The pictographs and dwelling were interesting to see; when we were done, we headed off again back to the Visitor Center and to a trailhead beyond it for the hot springs.

The Gila National Monument Hot Springs

To get to the parking area for the hike to the hot springs, we just had to go all the way back to the bridge, cross it again towards the Visitor Center, and then go about a quarter-mile past the buildings to find it on our left. The hike began kind of high up, and we had a great view of the Gila River flowing downstream past the parking area. Soon, however, the trail descended to the level of the river and our first river crossing.

First Gila River Crossing At our first crossing, I went first so that I could get a movie of Fred crossing behind me. Sadly, his crossing was without incident, and so the movie is pretty boring.

Second Gila River Crossing

We walked along the river bottom on the north side of the river for a while, passing one other couple returning from the hot spring. They said it was pretty neat, but we would have gone on regardless. At the second crossing, Fred went first so I could get a picture of him standing in the stream.

At this crossing, Fred had gone first and he made this movie of me gingerly stepping across the slick stones to get back to the east/south side of the river. I guess I look pretty nerdy.

Once I'd gotten across, I sat down by the river to change back into my tennis shoes so the walking would be easier. Then we headed up the canyon towards the hot springs. It was just another few hundred feet along the banks of the Gila River before we reached the hot springs.

When we got to the hot springs, we found that there was actually one spring about twenty feet from the river and a couple of feet higher than the river level. Very, very hot water bubbled up from the spring and then ran down a channel that someone had dredged out and lined with stones. The channel wound past a small pond formed by hot water leaking out of the channel and filling a low spot; this pond was quite hot and there was a good deal of algae growing in it. Then the channel came to the river. Here, once again, someone had walled off an area at the side of the river so that when the hot water reached it, the hot water pooled, and just didn't run directly into the river. Instead, it formed one very hot pool and then flowed along the river in the same direction into another, larger pool. The water in this pool was tolerable, as the hot water had cooled slightly but also mixed with cold river water seeping through the wall dividing the hot water from the river. Eventually, the wall ended and the now simply warm water mixed in with the water of the Gila River. This was a very interesting area, and we took some interesting pictures. Click on the thumbnails above left to have a look at them.

Gila River and Hot Springs

Fred took a very good movie that shows where the hot spring is in relation to the river, and how the water flows into the series of pools alongside the river. He also shows us some of the local flora near the spring.

The hot spring was really interesting and very relaxing. I must have sat by the cold river with my feet in the warm water for at least fifteen minutes while Fred wandered around and also did the same thing. The light was beginning to leave the canyon, so we eventually picked ourselves up and headed back. It was a very nice hike to the hot spring and, as it turned out, the last hike we took on our Western trip.

The City of Rocks State Park (NM)

We were done hiking in the Gila Wilderness, and now we would be heading for home. Our plan was to stop at the City of Rocks State Park, southeast of Silver City on our way back down to I-10. Fred had been there before, and there were campsites that we could use. So we left the National Monument and headed back south on NM Highway 15. Instead of going back through Silver City, though, we headed east on NM 35 and then south again on NM 61.

As we turned in to the State Park, we looked behind us at one of the many rainshowers that had been developing on our drive down from Gila. Some of them were getting sizable, and it was hard to tell which way they were going, and so we were a little apprehensive about camping. As we drove in along the access road, we could see rocks for which the park is named ahead of us. When we got into the park proper, it was late, and the visitor center was closed. We decided to drive around and look for a campsite. When Fred had been here years ago, I believe that his family had a camper, and there were plenty of sites for them. But we didn't see any sites that were set up for tents, and we were pretty sure we couldn't pound the tent stakes into the hard rocky ground at the various sites we investigated. So with that discovery, and with the proliferation of rain showers, we decided just to drive through the park and then head on home, perhaps to stay somewhere near El Paso.

Below are thumbnails for some of the pictures Fred took from the RAV4 as we drove through the park; as you can see, the campsites are sprinkled among the rocks and boulders. The light had almost gone, so Fred was lucky to get the pictures he did. Click on the thumbnails to view:

We finished making a circuit of the RV area and campsites as the light faded, and then headed out of the park. On the way, the clouds broke to the west, and Fred got a couple of very nice sunset pictures that you can see here and here. As we got back on Highway 61 heading down to US 180, we ran into the first shower, and all along Highway 180 heading south towards the Interstate we were in and out of them.

Driving to Our Overnight Stay in Clint, TX

Our route home took us down to US 180, of course, where we headed southeast towards Deming, NM and Interstate 10. We'd gone through Deming on our way west seven days ago, so from here we'd be retracing our path home.

On the highway, we'd seen signs for a Super 8 Motel in Tornillo, although it turned out to actually be in the small town of Clint, TX. It was out by the Interstate, and quite new. That's where we holed up for the night.

You can use the links below to continue to another day of the photo album.

	October 21, 2010: The Drive Home
	October 19, 2010: Meteor Crater, Arizona
	Return to the Index for Our Western Trip