We did NOT leave the Snow and Cold in Arizona!
We got to Silver City, New Mexico on Monday, for 5 days. Forecast was for cold and some snow starting in ~24 hours, so we made our trip to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument (#185) on Tuesday. It was our only “Must See” from Silver City. We actually spent as much time on the loop drive to get there and back, as we spent there! About 31/2 Hours, each. It was a Good Day!
The next morning, we awoke to cold & snow…barely left Lizzy at all. And the morning after there was more snow, so we just hung out some more in the morning (lazy/catch-up-on-stuff days are nice, actually). It warmed up in the afternoon, so we went into Old Town Silver City, and did a little wandering around and visited the Silver City Museum. Then, before returning home to Lizzy, we visited the relatively nearby Chino Open Pit Copper Mine, over a mile wide, one of the largest in the world?
Yesterday, we “jammed in” a couple of other visits, as the weather finally got better. First stop was to Fort Bayard National Cemetery and Historic Site, second stop was City of Rocks State Park, where we did a 61/2 mile hike, ~1,000 elevation gain.
Off for Alamogordo right now!
And after that? We will be canceling our 5 day camping trip to Guadalupe Mountains National Park…TOO COLD for our old bones to camp without electricity. Exact re-route to be decided tomorrow.
For more pictures, see (in-work) Adventure Album: Nuclear New Mexico+
2 Comments
Mary · February 25, 2023 at 6:53 pm
Long hike 6.5 miles. Do they rent mules to ride?
Gail · February 25, 2023 at 7:05 pm
No mules rented, but horses and other pack animals are allowed. It’s actually a pretty small park for that, I think. The trail that goes around it is only a bit over 3 miles, and pretty flat. The reason we got in another 3 miles (and altitude), is because we hiked the 1.5 miles, 966′ elevation gain, trail up Table Mountain and back down. It isn’t actually even in the park, just adjacent. We didn’t see any pack animals, but we did see a guy on a mountain bike, coming down from Table Mountain, when we were almost at the top.
If one just wanted to see the rocks, there is a trail through the middle, that’s about .6 miles, I think. So just over a mile round trip.