Day 53 April 22, 2011 Total Mileage: 2,247; Today: 20 miles

I finished cycling into Silver City, NM KOA Campground today with "sunshine on my shoulders" and the wind in my face.  We planned to drive up to the Gila Cliff Dwellings this afternoon and back to Silver City (elevation: 5,150 feet, population: 10,545) tonight. 

While cycling toward Silver City I meet small groups of people walking along the route; I spoke with a few of the groups and found out they chose to walk 15-miles on "Good Friday"  as a demonstration of Christ scarifice for us. There were about 25-30 in all, it was inspiring and gave them an opportunity to speak of the true meaning of Easter. Yet there doesn't seem like anything we could do, that would ever match the suffering and scarifice Christ made for us and never with the same results -- Praise God, He has risen!



View from Road: Yes that's fresh oil/tar



The brother with the tie had recently had a knee replacement and this was his first long distance walk!

Chino Copper Mine located on the way to Silver City, NM.

That's a might big hole!

David and I stopped at a restaurant in Pinos Altos, NM (elevation:7011 feet, population: 300) for lunch.  It came highly recommended by Glen B. as a good stop.  It was very tiny, five tables, seating for about 22-24 people; when we came in all tables were taken, but a couple of tables asked us to join them. 

We sat down with a couple of lovely ladies, Neta and Judy, kind of local folks.  Neta is writing a book about Bayard Fort in Silver City and Judy is her editor.  Who knows whom you’ll met when you sit at a table for lunch?  It was interesting conversation and good food.  As we were leaving I thought sharing a dinner table with perfect strangers is a great idea and we should do it more often.  Neta and Judy were in Pinos Altos to complete some research in the towns cemetery for their book, as we drove out of town we saw them and to their delight the headstone they were looking for was still there and intact.

As we continued our trip toward the Cliff Dwelling and through the Gila National Forest we came across Dana of Colorado, along the road with a flat, David assisted with air pump.  Ultimately her blown tire was too far-gone and she decided to wait for her crew to pick her up.  I met her again at the KOA in Silver City, everything worked out and she bought a new tire at the bike shop in town.



Dana from Colorado

We did make it to the Gila Cliff Dwellings visitor center and to the dwellings, being one of the last people inside before they closed for the day.  We caught up to a guided tour seeing and learning much more than we ever would have on our own.  It was very cool to be in places that had been the living quarters of people from 1275 AD, and who are believed to have left the area in 1300 AD.  More questions than answers surround the story of people (Mogollon’s) who built structures in natural caves of Cliff Dweller Canyon.

We enjoyed this sign



Jo Ann's style Hummer