We took a detour to the north on our trip between Arizona and New Mexico off Highway 10. We had heard about this small National Forest Area and decided to check it out. We were not disappointed by the five hour detour that took us through Silver City, New Mexico (cool town!) and beyond.
People lived in these caves in 1300 AD. A stream flows through the valley below, they grew their corn in the mesa across from the caves. It is a wonderful, remote, quiet area. We were ready to move in! It made me wonder what other small parks exist like this one. There were also hiking trails through out the area, so we had a great time in the Gila ("Hee-la) Wilderness. This was the FIRST National Forest Area in the United States.
Aldo Leopold, an early ecologist, wildlife manager, outdoorsman and philosopher was a pioneer in wilderness preservation. We are grateful to him and so many others for doing the work to preserve land and historical sites in the west.
3 comments:
What fun you guys had! And great to share the journey. When will you schedule a trip to Moab....and Canyonlands and Mesa Verde? You're just scratchig the surface of a wonderful part of civilization.
So strange that you guys were exploring cliff dwellings at the same time that I was in Canyonlands! Ours looked very similar, but a few days' hike from a road. Cool!
I'd never heard of this place. Beautiful and fascinating to see the place and be able to visualize its history. The sprinkling of snow is perfect!
Post a Comment