Miles Thursday: 112
Hours in the saddle: 5:19
We did some excellent riding yesterday and today in the mountains. Thursday we went to the Gila Cliff Dwellings, and Friday we went thru the Black Range mountains to a little town called Hillsboro. We toned it down with the ambition and enjoyed having less of an agenda. Thursday is our favorite day of this trip so far.
The drive to the Gila Cliff Dwellings was just fantastic. It was constant switchbacks and hairpin turns. The 40 something miles took 2 hours, just like they said it would on the website. The visitor’s center is new and includes some administrative offices, and apparently there is government housing for the people who work there. However, the superintendent’s son is in high school and they decided not to homeschool him, so he makes that commute every day.
We arrived at the visitor’s center and changed out of our gear and in to hiking clothes to find out that the trailhead was 2 miles away from the visitor’s center. So we did it again and set out on the 1 mile loop trail. It was gorgeous.
The cliff dwellings were really cool. An offshoot of the Mogollon people left the agricultural community and came to live in the mountains.
This was probably an area for cooking. The black stuff along the walls and ceilings is from smoke.
They built these walls with windows and a doggy door to the right.
Apparently these cliff dwellings differ from the others in that it contains a lot of small rooms. Probably one for each family. They estimated that 50-60 people lived here.
But check out these killer views. The pictures really don’y do it justice AT ALL.
Check out these petroglyphs.
And here are some 700-yr-old corn cobs. No shit. The guide said that it’s dry and well protected, so there they are.
So these people grew corn where cacti thrive.
Some views of the hike back down.
Here are Jaron’s pictures in no particular order.
This is us in front of that gorgeous view.
This was my reaction to the gorgeous view.
Julie pondering life from the perspective of a cliff dweller.
And more pictures of our bikes, because it just don’t get old.
We took a different route back and went thru a canyon and saw the Santa Rita copper mine. The mountain literally looks 2D instead of 3D, which is kinda sad. You can see the sharp lines between the different colors of rock.
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Miles Friday: 95
Hours in the saddle: 4:35
Drops: 0
Today was a short day because we have an early morning tomorrow. Since Thursday was super long for so few miles, we took a short ride to Hillsboro. The mountainous drive was again spectacular. At one point, the road was lined on one side with canyon wall and the other side was a dropoff. It was awesome.
Lunch was at the Hillsboro General Store. Pretty extensive menu for a general store. The store has been in operation since 1879 and is embracing the new alongside the old with an ipad right next to an old school cash register. This was quite possibly the most adorable small town I have ever been in. The locals who came in to the General Store said hi to us and asked us where we were from. It was right across from the post office and we saw at least 4 locals make the rounds walking in carrying their mail. Right before we left, Julie went in to a different busness to look for a recycle bin and got more local hospitality.
On the way back we stopped at a bridge overlooking a canyon and as Julie put her jacket back on, something bit her on the back of her neck. The jacket was just across the bike seat, so it must have been something that could fly. It really, really hurt for like an hour. This prompted a trip to Wal Mart for hydrocortisone and a first aid kit. We made a couple of additions. Jaron’s essential items are tourniquets and quick clot based on all of his military training. Since we had time this afternoon, we went to Silver City’s only camping store and it turned out to be more of a hunting supply and gun store.
Then back to the hotel for laundry day! There were two sets of machines at the hotel. Man, I miss communal laundry facilities. It was a busy time for several guests.
For dinner we went to a place that could have been a legit DC restaurant but was half the price. Jaron had duck confit and Julie had a catfish dish with a bunch of stuff and creative flavors. We were planning to Uber since we were worn out, but neither Uber nor Lyft operate in Silver City. We asked the front desk fo a taxi and were told that there were no taxis. What there was, was a shuttle that you can call and schedule. It worked out really well and we didn’t have to wait longer than 15 min.
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