I was happy to wake up to not a breath of wind. All was calm in the City of Rocks. The sun was warm too, setting itself up right behind the van, which heated me perfectly as I made breakfast. After I ate, I did some Pilates in the face of the sun, enjoying the warmth. I set off out of the desert and into the forest.
Slowly, the sparse cactus were replaced by bushes, then trees, then more trees. I was driving north and upwards into the Gila Wilderness. I had the small highway all to myself as I wound my way through farmer’s pastures and cute little towns. When I did come across someone, they always waved with a few fingers off their steering wheel, which I returned. Even before I started the climb over the mountain range, it was a beautiful drive. When I rounded a crest and saw that the mountains in the distance had snow on them, I let out a gasp. My snow days were supposed to be over! I was even more shocked when I got out of the car at the peak of the mountain pass to look out at the view. My sandals would not do in this cold. The mountain range was pretty, but take me back to the warmth of Florida!
The road wound all the way back down to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, though “down” was still at around 5,000 feet, so by no means hot. I stopped in at the visitor’s centre which was by no means busy and spoke to a very helpful lady who encouraged me to watch the movie and look at some of the artefacts in the centre. I sat at the already playing movie for a few minutes before giving up. It was showing the monument I came here to see with my own eyes, I didn’t want the movie to ruin the ending!
I drove another mile out to the actual monument. There were a few cars parked, but this place really is an hour’s drive completely out of the way, so I can understand its quietness. The ranger standing post at the entrance to the trail gave me my “induction” after he saw my parks pass. I should stick to the trail and not touch anything, the usual round-up. I did find the sign at the entrance a bit funny though, no shooting under any circumstances, but you can carry your gun if you like.
The half-mile long trail followed a babbling brook in the valley between two cliffs then began to climb one face. From the first steps of the climb, I could see the cliff dwellings lodged into the side of a mountain. They were pretty damn cool. A tribe in the 1270s had found these caves midway up a cliff side and thought they’d make a pretty sweet home. Right next to a clean flowing water source, good defensive position from up high and a fantastic view? Perfect spot really. Surprisingly, they only stayed about forty years before they abandoned the place, for it to be looted and used for shelter sparingly until the 1860s when it was “discovered” properly.
There were seven caves in the mountain. The first two and the last two are just for looking at from the trail, but the third, fourth and fifth you can go into and explore. I spoke to a ranger at the first cave about this and that, learning about a recent forest fire in the area and how many of the cave features have been reinforced with modern masonry. He cut our talk short when he had to head down from the cliff and to the ranger’s hut. I walked along the trail, heated by the full sun and climbed the ladder into the third cave. It was a huge hole in the side of the cliff that receded more than twenty meters from the cliff face. The roof was completely blackened by soot from fires and while many of the features had been destroyed or vandalised, you could completely visualise life inside this cave. Another ranger, Bob, was excellent at talking me and a few other people through different aspects of the cave and answering our questions. He was a brilliant speaker and clearly enthusiastic about his work. He made us feel special when he told us that this is one of very few monuments where people are allowed to walk through instead of just looking in. He said it’s largely due to the fact the dwellings are so far out of the way. If they happened to be five miles off a major highway, there’s no way we’d be standing where we were. The privileged few.
I spent a good amount of time looking around the caves and trying to figure out what rooms were used for what and admiring the few petro glyphs that existed amongst the much more common modern graffiti. Back out into the sun, I had a quick look into caves sic and seven, which were up much higher, before descending down the trail. In the carpark, I saw a couple in their fifties that had been in the cave with me. We all marvelled at how cool the place was. The lady then asked me if I was travelling alone and feeling safe, the usual questions. That got us talking over some pistachios and prunes that they offered to me. Sarah and Sheldan were from near Whistler, Canada and had taken two weeks off to explore only New Mexico. They were clearly travelling enthusiasts and when Sarah told me that she’d taken her entire 40s off, I was impressed! Tempting idea….
We all had to hit the road, so we said our goodbyes. I took a different small highway south out of the park to Silver City and this road was narrower and windier than the one I’d taken in, but I didn’t mind, it was all pretty. I got onto Highway 180 that meandered north to the west of the mountain range. This was supposed to be more scenic than a similar north-bound option on the east side of the range. I wasn’t disappointed. I got great views of the snow-capped Mogollon Mountains all along the highway. I saw Sarah and Sheldan stopped at a mini-mart in a small town by the highway, then they found me later when I was stopped at a picnic area for a very late lunch. We waved to each other both times, obviously heading in the same direction.
It was warm in the car with the sun and soon after I turned east off the highway, I decided I was sick of driving and since I was in National Forest, the campground were in abundance so I stopped at the next one, which happened to be at Apache Creek. A very spread out campsite, there was only one other camper in sight, otherwise I have the place to myself. Amongst the trees, I knew it was going to be a cold night. Guess I’ll just have to get used to the fact that I’m back in the cold again. I did some filing while I still had some good light, then went for an explore along the creek. It was a pretty spot. I walked back to camp via a dry river bed. Shortly after I climbed the bank of the river bed back onto high ground, I disturbed the birds amongst the dry grass and with it something lurking in a big bush on four legs. I stopped, cautiously looking in the mysterious beast’s direction, but it wasn’t moving. Gradually, I took a few more steps, then he made a move to run away a long with a bunch of his mates that had been lurking near him. They were wild boars, I think, brown fur and the size of big dogs. They were clearly scared of me. I wandered around a bit to get a better sighting and eventually saw them all crossing over the river bed and onto the opposite field. There’s an animal I hadn’t seen before!
While I had the option of having a fire thanks to a fire ring and pieces of left over firewood, unfortunately there was nothing to sit on near the ring so I decided to remain couped up inside the van for the night, doing my best to keep out the cold.
