Gila Cliff DwellingsFeb 22, 2012
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don't get caught out on a Friday afternoon!
Gila cliff dwellings
Gila cliff dwellings
| Feb 22, evening. Wow! Everyone should add the Gila Cliff Dwellings Nat’l Mon. to their must see list. The drive from Silver City is 44 miles, advertised as a 2 hour drive. The road is a car and a half wide, and has more turns and twists than a slalom course. We went over the Continental Divide at 7500 feet, saw lots of snow on the shaded places, and saw a great sign about plowing (or not). We made it there in about an hour and a half (I felt like a race car driver). As it happened, there was a tour starting in an hour, and it takes about 25 minutes to get to the site from the visitor center, with a hike up to the ruin. There were a surprising number of people on the tour (15?), which was led by a fabulous volunteer. The one hour tour turned into two hours. It was a great lesson in anthropology, geology, archeology, etc. The Gila valley was inhabited for about 10,000 years by nomads and hunter/gatherers, and then sometime around 1270, the Mogollon people built the dwellings. They housed about 60 people. They were only occupied for about 40 years. The whole thing was fascinating. Definitely a worthy diversion. Tomorrow we will hike on the cat walk. |
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