March 14, 2020 - Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument

I ended up not being as close to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument than I thought.  I should have continued the night before and crashed at Silver City, NM instead of Lordsburg, NM.  I made a mistake with the GPS the night before and I thought I was much closer than I was.  But I made it work.  I got an early enough start that it provided plenty of time at the National Monument.



The park is pretty big and offers plenty to do, but the primary appeal is the cliff dwellings.  there is a series of caves containing dwellings of the Ancient Puebloans.  The hike was listed as 'difficult for some hikers' which wasn't exactly specific.  But it also said there was a viewing spot about a mile in.  So...if the stairs and inclines were too much, I could always turn around.  I could make it to the viewing spot and at least 'see' the dwellings, even if I was unable to climb all the way to them.  I decided to start, go slow and steady and at least try.

I was able to go all the way.  I was nervous and my knees were unhappy but I went slow and I took breaks when I needed to and I did it.  Totally worth it.  The dwellings were beautiful and it was nice being able to take a closer look.  I couldn't handle the stairs at Walnut Canyon, so this was a fantastic opportunity with significantly less stairs.

After the hike, I enjoyed the drive back to Silver City, then put in Las Cruces for my next stop.  I had a couple of museums and two National Monuments listed for Las Cruces, so I'd planned to take some time here.  Passed a number of historic areas on my way.  Pinos Altos was a small mining town.  They had some historical signs in the area and a couple of original buildings still standing.  Fort Bayard National Registered Place was a military fort that  was established in 1866.  There are a number of structures and a good sized military cemetary.



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