Silver City NM Activites

Wednesday  Feb 28

We awoke to snow, ranging from light to moderate that continued off and on all day.  Although accumulating briefly, it soon melted, but left us content to spend the morning relaxing and planning our stay in the area.  Given the ongoing drought, any precipitation was welcomed by the locals, if not us.

After lunch we walked down to the Visitor's Center in town and along San Vincente Creek that flows through the center of town.  A number of years ago, the creek flooded, causing major damage in the down town area, part of which has been turned into a lovely public park..  We also took short drive to Fort Bayard.  It was  a good day to slow down and catch our breath - we've had full days since we arrived in Phoenix.

Snow!

Silver City river walk - those white specks are snow flakes

Mosaic on the wall at the park

Prickly pear cactus in the snow

Thursday March 1st

With sunny skies Thursday morning, we headed for the Gila Cliff Dwellings, a 44 mile drive over the Continental Divide.  We had second thoughts when we got to Pinos Altos and encountered snow along the highway and a road sign warning the road wasn't plowed nights or weekends. Maybe it would be wiser to wait a  day for the snow and ice to melt before driving on the twisty mountain road.

Conditions just up the road from Pinos Altos

Museum and general store

Now we had time to check out Pinos Altos, a ghost town.  Not much was happening since everything was closed.  Not that there was much there, -it would appear we were a bit ahead of prime tourist season.  We decided to drive to City of Rocks, a state park we wanted to see, possibly stopping for a hike on the way.

Dragon Fly trail

The Dragonfly trail had been highly recommended by the woman at the visitor's center, and was on our way to the City of Rocks State Park, so we hiked the 3 mile loop.  Once again, the terrain was different - high plain grass range - from what we'd hiked before.  The trail was easy as it meandered across the range with lots of yucca, cedars, junipers, a few cactus and very dry grass.

The trail eventually wandered along Twin Sisters Creek, providing enough moisture for sycamore and cottonwoods to grow in the watershed.  There was a trickle of  running water and a few small ponds of water.  There are pictographs, including one of a dragon fly, along the creek bed, but they weren't well marked and we missed them.

Panoramic of City of Rocks, note the flat terrain beyond the rocks

City of Rocks State Park was a delightful surprise. A violent volcanic explosion eons ago and subsequent erosion left a tumble of weathered rocks in a very defined area which is a state park.  After paying the day use fee, the ranger told us to use any free campsite and suggested we explore the rocks on foot and drive the loop before leaving to get a good view of the rocks.  Fortunately it's not possible to get lost since the rocks are ringed by the park road.  Otherwise one could easily get lost in the jumble of rocks.  We spent a couple of hours wandering through them.

Big rock at City of Rocks

More Rocks!

It would have been a great place to spend the night to watch the full moon rise over Table Mountain and the rocks.  It was one of the few areas we've seen that appealed to us as an RV park location - many look like parking lots, with little shade and far from town. Most of the campsites were for dry camping (no services), and the full service portion had closely packed RV's (think of a dock in a marina). Arriving fully provisioned would be essential - it was a long drive to the closest grocery.

Another note about the area, like Chittenden County, most, if not all, gas and jiffy marts are owned by one family, hence the price is set, the highest we've seen on the trip, on par with home. While there is an active 'retired community' in Silver City who maybe able to afford expensive gas, it must be difficult for the locals who need to commute any distance for work.

Sophia Talvik at the Little Toad Brewery -
along with her own songs, she sang some lovely Swedish folk songs

We ended the evening with a walk into town after dinner to catch  a live performance by Sofia Talvik, a Swedish singer/songwriter at the Little Toad Brewery.  Along with some good music, we enjoyed stout floats made with the brewery's chocolate, cherry stout.  It was a pleasant surprise when the waitress brought more stout to add to the float.  A fun evening and we burned off some of the calories on the hike back up to our house.  It is  work to hike up hill at 5900'!