A Bridge Too Low

If you have been following Chris and Jay’s travels from the beginning, the title of this entry might sound ominous but, Fear Not and Read On!

They like to stay off the interstate highways when moving to their next destination and found a route from Alamogordo to Gila (pronounced heela) Hot Springs using scenic secondary roads through the mountains.  Chris had begun using their travel time to compose the blog and had her head buried in her work when Jay saw a sign stating: “Low bridge 22 miles ahead”.  He pulled the rig over and stopped in front of a Bureau of Land Management sign.  Figuring they would have record of the bridges on their land, Chris located a phone number for the local office and called.  Louis tried to be helpful but the task was beyond his pay grade.  The bridge was 4” lower than Sonny.  With the sun’s progress west, and considering their past trials, Chris and Jay decided to back track and be safer than sorrier.  No new learning experiences for them that day.

They had wanted to stay at Gila Hot Springs because it was only a few miles from the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, built in the 13^th century by the ancient Mogollon Indian Tribe.  The detour to stay in Silver City turned their drive to the cliffs into a 44 mile, 2 hour trip along steep, narrow roads riddled with hairpin turns that climbed and descended the 8,000 foot peaks.  The views were spectacular as the pine laden mountains formed layers of ridges tapering to narrow valleys stretching far to the horizon.   The travelers were glad they had left Sonny in Silver City as the volume of diesel fuel required to haul the tonnage up and down the slopes would have set them back a pricy night out!

The gorgeous mountains of the Gila National Forest.

After a stop at the Visitor Center, Chris donned her camera vest and she and Jay got quite a workout hiking the narrow, unpaved trail to the dwellings.  The gentle ascent along the canyon stream was a cinch.  It was the steps and steep switchbacks that caused the heart rate to soar.  Fortunately there were some “viewing areas” along the way which provided a good excuse to stop and catch their breath under the auspice of taking photographs. 

Cave number 2 had one of the largest openings.

Margaret and her husband, John, were volunteering three months of the year at the Park and she eagerly led Chris and Jay through several caves commenting how she enjoyed talking with “interesting people”.  She explained how a room with bench seating cut into the rock and three-sided, rock fire pits in the floor, were thought to be used as kivas for tribal ceremonies, where the shaman supposedly lived, why some openings in the walls may have been created by vandals or falling rocks and that the tribe only lived in the caves for about 30 years – most likely leaving due to a decline in water supply.

This two-story room may have been used for curing meats and tanning hides .

A “T” shaped doorway leading to one of the living areas.

She appreciated Chris’ desire to photograph the unique setting and told the story of a group she had guided sometime earlier.  A young woman wearing short-heeled shoes was in the group and when her boyfriend asked if she was going to take any pictures she replied that there wasn’t anything there to photograph!!!  She truly dwelled in a different universe.

Chris and Jay at the Cliff Dwellings.

The name Silver City conjured up a hodgepodge of images from the Old West and an afternoon was devoted to seeing how many of them were real.  Billy The Kid had lived in the town during his teens and the city had grown around the silver and copper mines that made some wealthy and sapped the life from others.

An 1870s style cabin that was built for the movie “The Missing”

and now sits on the Visitor Center property.

Man’s impact on the natural surroundings dealt an immense financial blow to the town in the late 1800s.  The massive timbering of the trees in the mountains and overgrazing of the lower grasslands left nothing to absorb the sporadic, torrential rains that plagued the area.  One day the town flooded and the turbulent waters swept away the entire Main Street, and soil down to the bedrock 60 feet below, taking all structures but one brick home with it.  The resulting gorge came to be known as The Big Ditch and thereafter commercial buildings and homes were made of brick and block and located at a higher level where they remain today and contain shops, artist studios, hotels and restaurants. 

A section of the gorge that was created during the flood.

The town created this Big Ditch Riverwalk Park to make use of the area.

Chris and Jay had arrived in mid-afternoon and were able to get a walking tour guide of the city, from the museum, which led them past buildings that originally housed saloons, banks, theatres and families.  One saloon contained a clinic where patrons could drink radium water, which was said to cure whatever ailed you.  This obviously took place before the dangers of radiation exposure were known. 

Some of the stairs at the street corners had tiles on the risers

with artwork and dates of when motion pictures arrived

or when businesses were founded.

By 5 p.m. most of the town had closed except for the eateries.  The hungry tourists found a local Mexican restaurant and, although the fare was a little bland, the price was right and they could check off having eaten at an authentic Mexican restaurant, while in New Mexico, off their list.

A true western sunset that greeted them when they left the restaurant.

Due to the Daylight Savings Time change that night, they waited until their arrival in Arizona, the next day, to figure out what time it was.  Since the Grand Canyon State doesn’t participate in the time change they didn’t have to reset their clocks upon their arrival at the infamous western town of Tombstone.