From the very populated (though pretty) view of Las Cruces, we head out further west to the City of Rocks State Park. Now, we were not necessarily intending to stay there, since someone we met in Brantley Lake had told us that this was the windiest spot in New Mexico. After some very windy nights (and for Pam somewhat sleepless) in Brantley Lake, we were not ready for an even windier location. Besides, when we went to go 'check out' the campsites (we actually signed in for a day pass to just have a picnic lunch), the campground host (who was manning the front desk at the visitor centre) told us that we needed to watch out for the rattlesnakes (three varieties .. one even more venomous and dangerous than the Western Diamondback) because they were just starting to come out. In fact, just two days prior they had nabbed their first one two feet from a man who was putting in tent stakes at his site. Reba said (in response to this information) that she would just stay inside the car the whole time (including at lunch). Fortunately, these snakes are nocturnal and as long as we don't wander around the rocks and poke our hands or feet in crevices we should be fine.
Anyways, we did go in and had a wonderful lunch at one of the many no-hookups spots next to the rocks. Daniel, Heather Lynn, and David wandered into the rocks and did some climbing and looking about. It was truly spectacular. Here are the three on top of the first set of rocks they conquered:
And here is possibly the tallest set of rocks, which, unfortunately, did not get conquered that day:
It really is just like a bunch of rocks are all there forming a city (of rocks). Here is the panoramic view:
After lunch we went back to the front to ask the person how long it would take to get to the Gila (pronounce HEE-LA) Cliff Dwellings and what route would be the best. It was about 14:30 by this time and he indicated to us that we really had no chance of doing the trip today (it was only about 69 miles away but he said you needed to leave yourself five to six hours just for the travel time!). We had to make the monumentous decision, should we stay the night at the City of Rocks amongst the rattlers. We toured the 'city' again, this time with the idea of picking a site. After much discussion and checking things out we decided on the sites that had hookups (electricity and water). These were somewhat near the bathrooms that were 'real' ones (i.e. not pit toilets).
As it turned out, this campground was so nice that I would have gladly stayed there a number of nights. In fact, I (David) even woke up just after 3 AM and was able to watch a moon-set over the city of rocks (which were only about one hundred yards away). Too bad I did not catch it on video camera. The neat thing about watching a moon-set beyond the City of Rocks is what happens when the moon 'disappears' on the other side. I discovered that the rocks seemed to almost glow, as if someone was up in them with a flashlight poking around. I think this is actually due to the visual effect of going from quite a bright light to a much dimmer one and how I could notice light amongst the city of rocks that much easier. At any rate, it was truly an awesome experience.
The next day we headed up north to the Gila Cliff Dwellings. Since we were instructed it would be a day trip, and since it was obvious from the material we had that taking a trailer up there was foolish, we chose to stay another night at the City of Rocks State Park.
The trip on the way up was fairly easy (considering what it could have been) until we turned on the last section of road (about 19 miles of it) to the dwellings. On the way there, we had stopped next to a lake to have lunch at a National Park campground (read, 'primitive spot'). It was quite beautiful, however, as so much of this trip has been (here is the view from the hill just above our lunch spot):
The last section of the trip there was quite scary. Driving along winding roads as you look over slopes downward that are more like precipes is definitely disconcerting (moreso, for the passenger in the front seat than the driver :-(
We did stop along the way at a scenic / historic point overlooking the mountains and the valleys:
When we got to the Cliff Dwellings, we stopped at the Visitor Centre first (as usual) and saw a short video and checked out the exhibits and learned what we could before heading to the site of the dwellings. It is a bit of a climb (although incredibly pretty) to get to the dwellings. Surprisingly, they are really not that difficult to get to when you consider that they appear to be half-way up almost a sheer cliff as you begin your ascent.
It was truly remarkable for all of us to read the little plaques and observe what these amazing people did and where they lived. They were there from around 1270 AD to about 1300 AD. They mysteriously just moved out (no sign of why) after constructing a truly awesome almost fortress amongst the various caves in the dwellings. Here is the view from the distance as we approach:
And here is the view from inside:
If we thought the drive up was difficult, we hadn't seen anything yet. Coming down the mountains, particularly in the rain (it had started to rain on our way back), was treacherous. We decided to take the more scenic route as well (rain had stopped by this time) after that first 19 mile leg. There were numerous hairpin turns as it took almost two hours to negotiate a part of our way home (to Silver City, which is about 25 miles from the City of Rocks State Park). Praise the Lord, we did make it down safely!
We briefly toured Silver City and then stopped for groceries at a huge Wal-Mart Supercenter (includes groceries). We headed back to City of Rocks for dinner. On the way back we experienced a strange phenomenon in the sky. There appeared to be a dust haze travelling all around us. It was strange because we were able to look directly at the sun and it appeared to be just the moon, even though it was still 20 minutes from setting.
It was a great time at City of Rocks and the Gila Cliff Dwellings. We packed up the next day and began another day of driving west.