Walks with Ella: Silver City Environs
Silver City is near the Gila National Forest, with the Aldo Leopold Wilderness, the first designated wilderness in the U.S., and the Gila Cliff Dwellings. It is also near the Catwalk National Recreational Trail and the Very Large Array. You will find links for more information in each area.
By the time we got here, we couldn't hear the barking and could hear the docent describing life in these quarters.
Gila Cliff Dwellings & Forest
Ella couldn't go to the cliff dwellings, but we could hear her barking in the kennels below.
You'd have to be nimble to get inside throught the holes that were the entrances. They were pretty well protected from bears and other enemies.
Water break on the trail
So much going on that we can't quite see . . .
There are hand-prints and other symbols above the triangles.
Some things don't change
Rock art near the cliff dwellings. Ella was unimpressed, but happy to be with us.
The Catwalk National Recreational Trail
The Catwalk was first built in the late 1800s for a waterway to a nearby mining town. It was rebuilt by the CCC in the 1930s, and again in the 1960s by the U. S. Forest Service. Improvments continuel
Oh yeah, Ella loves that swinging bridge
And another waterfall
Ohh, if only we could dive in
A little valley before the last push
A hot day and a waterfall
A trail rest
A peek thorough the cliffs
. . . where the deer and the antelope play . . .
on the way back to Silver City
The Very Large Array
The VLA , one of the worlds most amazing astronomical radio observatories, on the Plain of St. Augustin. These are made to seem even larger in movies like "Contact."
The dish ran away with the moon
The VLA positioning tracks
View from the visitor's center
A ladder like those used to access the cliff dwellings.
Just beautiful.