On to Silver City, NM

Tuesday, March 27

Tuesday morning we packed the car and headed for New Mexico with a stop to tour the Kartchner Caverns along the way. We'd made reservations for a 1220 tour. That gave us time for a quick Costco run for gas (cheapest in town) and to pick up a few things just as the store opened, and still have time to drive to the caverns.

Kartchner Caverns visitor center

We'd been instructed to arrive an hour early, perhaps they don't hold reservations past a certain time. People were inquiring about tickets when we checked in and were told those available were for much later in the day.  We watched the video and wandered around the displays with several school groups, hoping they would have a separate tour (they did), and visited the gift shop.  There is a 2 mile desert loop walk by the discovery center, but after watching the video we didn't have time to do more than explore the first portion.

The caverns, in cave time are geologically very young - teenagers at most, were discovered in 1974 by 2 spelunkers.  After making numerous trips exploring the cavern, they discovered several big vaults and realized what a pristine and unique place it was, and were  careful to keep its location secret.  They thought the cavern was on public land, but learned it was owned by the Kartchner family who agreed to protect the site.  Funding and liability added to the problem of protecting and opening the caverns to the public - the federal government already had lots of BLM land and wasn't interested, nor were any of the other entities queried.  The Nature Conservancy was, and after a well tuned presentation, the state agreed to help fund the project which took decades to complete.  Our ranger told us the loan was paid off several years ago, so revenues now all go to upkeep and maintenance.

The cave entrance at the cavern - hermetically sealed and the only way up is on a tram

A mining crew was hired to dig an access tunnel without damaging the cavern at the cost of over $1,000,000.  The state insisted on handicap accessibility, adding to the difficulty and cost - and while it is possible, it would be work to push a wheelchair on the half mile trail. Air locks were installed to help protect the cave environment which averages 72F with 99% humidity.   A misting system was added to help prevent lint, hair and anything else that might  drop off visitors and contaminate the cavern which has petri-dish conditions for growing nasty stuff that would damage the formations.  

We were warned to touch nothing but the hand rail and to avoid touching of the foot high curb - much less any formations in the cave.  The caverns are cleaned on a daily basis, with special care given to any area accidentally touched during a tour -and flagged by the rangers for special treatment.  The walkway/ramp is washed every other day with the water recycled and used on the plantings around the center.  Lighting is controlled by the ranger giving the tour and turned off between tours and overnight allowing the cave to rest.  The results  of these precautions were awe inspiring.  

There are several different tours, ours included the Rotunda, Throne Room and 'Kubla Khan'. Unfortunately, neither cell phones nor cameras are permitted on the tours - someone would 'forget' to turn off the flash - so no photos.  We've toured other caves, but this was the first one considered to be a living cave.  The difference was astonishing, with a variety of colors and formations not seen elsewhere.  The ranger briefly flashed a light on one of living stalactites, which glowed, while a near by 'dead' or dormant one didn't.  Our tour ended at a seating area facing the Throne Room and Kubla Khan, with an light show illuminating different parts of the room.  WOW says it all! There is a cave video at AZStateParks.com.

Blowing salt on the flats next to the road

This week's  cold front brought winter storm warnings with snow down to 4000' and strong, gusty winds Tuesday evening into Wednesday. I'd planned to take a more scenic route, but given the weather and late start, we headed east on IS 10 with a parade of semis.  With gusts approaching 40 mph, we were thankful not to be driving or towing a big RV, our Jeep was high enough profile for us.

We were surprised to see warning signs along the highway regarding dust storms and limited visibility, suggesting stopping on the shoulder, turning off the car and all lights and waiting for improved visibility.  While we saw clouds of salt and sand blowing on the salt flats near the road - it looked like smoke from a fire,  rising more than 100' - we didn't experience reduced visibility.

This is pistachio country and this was one of a number of pistachio orchards along I 10

Once into New Mexico, we turned off the interstate, taking SR90 up into the mountains, crossing the Continental Divide.  Silver City is at 5895' and our latest Airbnb was on a hill overlooking town.  We met our hosts, Becky and Mike, and settled into our home for the next few days, a rustic apartment under the main house, and since we're short the low ceilings weren't a problem, but might be for tall folks.  The gas range was an old style Norge (and I mean old, with small oven and side doors), but it worked (or at least 2 burners work), as did the heater - a good thing since temperatures dropped into the 20's during our stay.

Becky had baked fresh cookies for us and left a huge bowl of fresh fruit in the fridge to welcome us.   It was warm, and comfortable, with plenty of space to stretch out (we were thankful we weren't in an RV).

The town has a large park - Boston Hill - with numerous hiking trails, including an old mine,  that we explored briefly before heading into to town to for dinner at the local brew pub. It's a college town, known for its numerous galleries and art studios,  as well as a museum with the largest Mimbres pottery collection in the world.  Leonard says 'you've seen one pot...', but the 700 to 1000  year old black and white designs are fascinating.  (Leonard lucked out - the museum was closed for renovations.)