Finally cooled off enough to get out and hike! Beautiful evening. Mark spotted a Tiger Rattler pretty quickly after we got started. Interesting snake. We both enjoyed the scenery and the company. It was getting darker on our way back and another Tiger Rattler was on the trail. I never saw it but is sure could rattle! Sure would love it if the monsoons would show up!
The Dragonfly Trail is close to Silver City and named for a petroglyph of a dragonfly that we saw on the trail. Beautiful meadows and everything was green. They have gotten their monsoons unlike Tucson. There were so many lizards on this trail! They would run out onto the trail as if to say, "this way". Close to a stream up on some boulders we spotted the vertebra of what was probably a deer. It looked like a good place for a mountain lion to take it's prey. It was a beautiful day and there was some cloud cover for a bit. It did get hot toward the end. After hiking Mark wanted to drive outside town toward The City of Rocks State Park. It was quite a way out of town. When you turn off the road toward the park there is Haywood Hot Springs. It has been developed into a quaint spot where you can rent a private area to soak. My husband surprised me with a wonderful hour long private hot spring called The Big Dipper. The water was 102 degrees so it melted away the soreness of the long hike. Mark knows I love a hot bath after a long hike. I am so blessed!
This place reminds me of Texas Canyon in Arizona. Lots of boulders to explore. They have several hiking trails and we chose a shorter one through the middle of the rocks. It is an interesting area, not difficult to hike. Lots of ant beds through the boulders. Unfortunately I picked up a hitch hiker that made it up my pants. I had to make a quick exit from said pants to free the little devil but not before it got in two good stings. Thank goodness we were in a secluded area. After we left there we went back to our hotel to change for dinner. If you like Mexican food you should definitely eat at La Cocina. It is a small out of the way place with excellent service and food. Tomorrow we are driving to Hatch for our yearly supply of hot chilis. Silver City is big enough to have a variety of places to eat. There are lots of hikes to do in this area so we plan to come back and explore more.
The Gila Cliff Dwellings are worth the drive to this remote area to see. They have a nice little gift shop and we got some T-shirts for us and a Park Ranger Duck for our Jeep. There are a lot of steps to climb to get up to the caves but it is not difficult and so worth it. What an awesome place to live! The views they had were great! You get to be very close to the dwellings so it gives you a better idea of how they lived. Once we explored that we went to the West Fork of the Gila River. There were 3 guys and a dog coming out. They had been camping for a few days and said we were the first people they had seen. They cautioned us that some of the river crossings were deep. It was getting warm so I figured if I found the slippery rocks and fell in, it wouldn't be all bad. There were two places my boots filled with water and one that filled Mark's boots. It felt good! We saw two beaver dams but no beavers. They are quite the engineers! Lots of squirrels, some lizards, and occasional deer. Very nice hike!
Wildflowers ObservationModerate moonflowers and various other flowers
We finally got a chance to go to the Gila Mountains to hike! We stayed in Silver City for three days and found it to be a nice place to stay. After we checked into our hotel there was an awesome thunderstorm. Once it stopped we set out to go find The Big Tree. Praise God for the storm because it had been hot but was now 69 degrees when we hit the trailhead. This is a very easy hike to do. Good thing since we have not been able to hike for a few months. The tree did not disappoint! It is the second largest Juniper in the USA. It's trunk is 7 feet in diameter. It is approximately 70 feet tall. It is a beautiful area and we both enjoyed getting out hiking again. Mark is recovering from rotator cuff surgery in May. He is a real trooper!
Mark and I have been to The Catwalk before and it is a great hike. There was some water in the upper stream but it was obvious it had been very dry for a long time in the area. It was great to get back out hiking. I definitely felt out of shape and it was a hot day by the time we finished the hike. I'm a much better cool weather hiker. Mark's shoulder is healing from his rotator cuff surgery. Thankfully his hiking gear does not interfere with his right shoulder. We will be going back to Tucson on Saturday. If the monsoons are good we should be able to get in more hikes. Glenwood is a small town and has limited resources for eating out. There are rentals available that have kitchenettes. I recommend getting one of those and bringing food to fix. It is a nice little community. We saw lots of deer around the houses.
This was an easy hike and there were some areas of streams running. That was awesome since it was hot and we both had gotten sunburned necks on the previous days hike. What a beautiful canyon! We hike a bit past the Pratt Cabin and came back there for a break. The area has so much rock and the cabin and outbuildings were built out of local resources. The roof was flat rock! The main cabin had two bathrooms and electricity. We want to come back for more exploration.
This hike was definitely a workout! I felt sorry for Mark because he wants me to take the lead. Going uphill with so many stairs and short legs makes for slow going. It is a continuous steep climb. Beautiful area with very nice views. When we were in the parking lot a van with approximately 10 people got out. Two of them were young boys about 7-8 years old. One boy yelled, "OK People! I'm ready to hike! Let's get a move on!" We laughed but it was adorable! Once we got up about 2/3 of the way to the peak I looked down and found what looked like a diamond! It is only glass or something like it. Mark said if it were a real diamond I should know he planted it there for me to find. When we were close to the peak Mark went around me and got up there first. I heard a commotion and saw his boots both up in the air. The large group of hikers from the van were already up there. They helped him sit up after his boot got caught in a rock and he hit his right shoulder hard. They also helped me get up to the peak to make sure Mark was ok. The little boy who had been so vocal about being ready to hike came over and told Mark he was so sorry that Mark got hurt. I checked him over and gave him some aspirin. We ate our lunch and took pictures of the area. It is so rocky up there I couldn't find a place to trust for doing a panoramic photo. It never ceases to amaze me what a strong man my husband is. He smiled for the pictures like nothing was wrong. As it turned out we found out his rotator cuff and bicep muscles were torn and he has a broken acromion bone. May 13th he had surgery to repair the damage. We hiked down and went to Carlsbad to eat. So we have quite a story for hiking the tallest peak in Texas. I had teased him about being able to see the whole state once we got to the peak. Since Texas is so big we could not see the whole state.
It was good to get out hiking again. This was an interesting place. Not a difficult hike but some boulder and rock hopping in the middle. The rock staircase leading up to Devil's Hall looked a bit much for me. I opted to video Mark attempting the slippery rocks before he went a different route. We saw a lone bat in the sunshine hanging from the side of the mountain.
We had been to the caverns before but wanted to see them again. It seemed darker than the last time we were there. Very interesting and fun to see all the wonders down below. We did not see any bats as it was a bit early for them. The walk down is nice because temperatures are cool, around 55 degrees. I had thought it might be good for us to walk out but we decided to take the elevator up. Tomorrow we are hiking Guadalupe Peak and we need to save our energy for that.
Hooray for a beautiful day to go hiking! Started out at 0900 and it was 43 degrees. It was 64 degrees when we finished. As we got to Caprock Canyon we had a herd of Bison crossing the road in front of us. Mark got us a new Texas Park Pass today. They are good for a year from purchase. The trails were in good condition and easy to follow. The elevation isn't much so I didn't need my poles. We saw two hawks soaring in the sky. No wildflowers yet. It did look like they had gotten some recent rain. There was definitely evidence the Bison go wherever they want in the park. Except for the area fenced off for horses. We saw a Bison Bull along the fence looking for a way inside. Caprock is very pretty and the geology is interesting. In one area there's a nice sandy spot for a break. We took our boots off and enjoyed some snacks with our toes in the sand. We spotted a roadrunner when we were leaving the park. Back in Lubbock we went to Escondido Grill for dinner. It is a really cool restaurant in the country. They have peacocks that live on the grounds. It is really cool to watch them through the window while we eat.
We wanted to do some sledding down the dunes of White Sands. Renting the sleds was an ordeal and required more information and deposits than getting a passport. Not sure how to tell our firstborn children we sold them into slavery to rent two sleds. It was fun but much more tiring climbing back up to sled down again for these two old children:) Definitely a great way to spend some time playing outdoors!
It was great to be in the forest again. The trail was good but a bit muddy in some areas. There was some snow in places and it looked as though they had gotten enough moisture for the trees to look healthy. What a beautiful area. It is close to Cloudcroft and the weather was nice with sunshine.
This was a pretty area to see. As we went along the trail was very easy to miss or get onto what looked like another choice for the trail. I was glad to have Mark get me back on track. Their were some wildflowers scattered along the first part of the trail, poppies mostly. The wind picked up and was especially windy on the saddle. We went down toward White Sands Missile Range Base. The trail on that side was easier to follow and the scenery is beautiful. We had a break by a stable so it was not as windy. Once we got back to the saddle it was a fierce wind that was pulling on my sunglasses and making it difficult to walk. Mark linked his arm in mine and we got down to the trail where it was not as bad. There were periodic gusts but it was manageable. We were both tired of the wind and happy to get to our Jeep and then to Rudy's for dinner.
This was an interesting hike with lots of side trips to explore. It is close to the White Sands Missile Range and there were signs to let you know to keep out of certain areas. The signs said possible unexploded ammunition. We spoke with a Grandfather and his 4 grandkids. They had seen some mule deer. The children warned us not to go into the area beyond the sign because there were bombs. Good to know and we promised not to go over there. Great to see families out hiking. We did look for antlers sine deer are in the area but no luck. Chimney Rock was a neat surprise. The trails were in good condition and there were many other hikers out. We found the remains of an old rock house. Found a spring and Mark rock scrambled up to see if there was water in what looked like a dam. He said there was not much. The day was beautiful and it was nice to get outside to play.
This was a cool, breezy day but really nice for our hike. We explored two dry waterfalls. Very pretty area and Mark spotted a white tailed deer. There were three small plants with flowers. Two were purple and one had orange flowers. Mark gave me some very good information about the rock formations in the area. Unfortunately some of it was over my head. In my defense, I have always loved rocks so the education is welcome. The trail was in good shape and it is pretty steep in areas so a bit of a workout. Always enjoy a hot epsom salts bath after a workout.
This was a short but powerful little hike. Lots of rocks to climb makes it a workout. Also it is steep. The afternoon was a bit warm but we wanted to spend some time with Mark's daughter Lisa. It is a really pretty canyon to hike in. We had fun. A few of the pools had some water in them. We saw a big toad in one pool and a few fish in another.
This hike was great fun! Definitely need 4 wheel drive to get there. We saw three Javelina on the road as we were driving in. Spooked a big cottontail along the trail. Mark saw a deer. Once back in our neighborhood a Bobcat walked across the road. Great day for viewing wildlife! The trail was in good condition. We got to the area we came to see and there is still some water in the pools there. Nice warm day but the water is still too cool for a swim. Spotted a covey of quail coming in for a drink. We had time to relax for awhile and take a break in that area. The sun was nice and warm. On the hike out it got very warm so we appreciated the nice cool breeze. Driving out there must have been 50 of the offroad vehicles. There were two parked at the Bellota Ranch area where there is a bathroom facility. After that it seemed like a constant stream of traffic and dust. Must have been some kind of convention.
This was a great day to get out and hike. The weather was very nice and not too warm. Definitely need 4 wheel drive to get to the area we wanted to hike. The trail was in good shape. We spotted a roadrunner and saw some cows. They were complaining about the lack of nutrition because it is so dry. They also wanted a better water supply. We came back along a road Mark wanted to check out and it was kind of steep and rocky in places. A helicopter was flying around. It looked like a military one. This hike makes 87 miles for us in January. We are going back to the West Texas flat lands mid February so we wanted to get as many hikes in as possible.
WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.
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