Into the Forest

Today we spent our day investigating the area north of Silver City, New Mexico.  Our ultimate destination was the Gila National Monument--an ancient cave dwelling nestled in a canyon in the Gila National Wilderness.  The Gila National Wilderness was the first designated wilderness area by the US Government in 1924.  The drive from Silver City is only 45 miles, but you can expect to spend 2 or more hours in transit, not counting the many stops you will make to check out the scenery.  The road winds through a pinion and ponderosa pine forest, skirts along running creeks, rambles over mesas and then plummets into lush valleys.  The area at present is nice and green due to the recent monsoonal rains which have blanketed the area.  In fact, heavy downpours last night sent many creeks out of their banks and across the roadway as evidence from the debris we encountered on our drive today.  Our first stop was a monument to Ben Lily, noted bear and cat hunter of the nineteenth century.  A trail wound to an outcropping of boulders a couple of hundred feet above the roadway.  Ermine made it to the top to enjoy the splendid panorama of the surrounding forest.

Not far beyond the Lily monument we swung into a small National Forest campground set beside Cherry Creek.  The sites served tent campers and would have been a tight squeeze for any RV.  The campground has minimal facilities to offer, but the massive ponderosa pine add to the pleasant setting.

The weather was very cooperative--mid 70s, deep blue skies, no wind--and the forest and green grasslands were very pleasing to this Texans eyes.  After traveling more that 1000 miles thru Texas this past two weeks without seeing anything green, today was very satisfying.   At the Visitors Center we enjoyed our lunch and the numerous hummingbirds fighting for a place at the feeder.  By far the rufous outnumbered the other species but we did have broad-tailed, black-chinned and a lone hatch year calliope darting in and out, whipping overhead and sitting on the nearby limbs of ponderosa.  Then up to the trail to the cave dwellings.  Last nights rains had washed out part of the trail but it was still passable.  As we make the climb I was attracted by the rock formations we encountered. 

The ascent was not difficult, but for flatlanders climbing up at over 6000 ft., it was a slight challenge.  Upon reaching the first cave we encountered the guided tour we had missed and joined in.  We were provided with an insightful lecture about how, why, when and where these inhabitants came from.  We learned about the symbolic meaning of their art expressed in pottery and what the various rooms provided the population.

As we made our way back along the path to the bottom of the canyon I notice a bird drop into the grass below.  After some pishing the bird showed itself--a rufous-capped sparrow.   The only other species I noted today were many turkey vultures, common raven and a large number of lark sparrows.