Day 42: Gila Cliff Dwellings (Inclement Weather Day)

Gila Wilderness

We're baaaaaack! More or less. I didn't actually ride my bike today, but I am back from Dallas and was ready to ride. We stayed in El Paso again last night and had planned on waking up, driving back to Oak Grove, and then riding on the ~30 miles to Lordsburg before once again getting into the long rides tomorrow. However, as soon as we woke up this morning, things were not looking good. I checked the weather forecast for Silver City and Lordsburg and they both were calling for 35-45 MPH winds.

Mary and me at the Gila Cliff Dwellings

Headwinds, to be specific, although I think in 40+MPH winds the direction doesn't really matter that much. It would be almost impossible to maintain control of a bike regardless. We decided to drive back to Silver City and then on an additional ~40 miles to check out the Gila Cliff Dwellings, with the hope that when we got back to Oak Grove around 5pm the winds would have calmed significantly, and I could knock out some of the 30 miles. The drive to Silver City featured unbelievable dust storms due to all of the wind, and a few times we almost completely lost visibility.

Exiting the cave in style

When we got to the hotel tonight we learned that they closed down the Interstate for 2 hours this afternoon because the dust storms were so intense. We got to Silver City around noon, had a quick lunch, and then drove on the very curvy, scenic road to Gila. The ride was really pretty, but I dozed off a little and when I woke up I was confused to see snow falling. By the time we made it to the Visitor's Center, it was really snowing. Mary and I braved the 1.25 mile hike in the freezing weather and it was definitely worth it. The scenery was absolutely beautiful, and the 700+ year old cave dwellings were really well-preserved and impressive. We really enjoyed the hike and even both made our way down the intimidating ladder exit.

Snow? In southern New Mexico?

It was cool seeing the dwellings in the snow, because it really gave us an appreciation for what the inhabitants there endured (and a realization of how unlikely it is that we would have survived life back then). After the hike we drove back to Silver City and the snow started to really fall, and was actually sticking! We were afraid we weren't going to make it back, but as we lost altitude the roads stayed clear. Upon reaching Silver City I checked the weather again: 35 degrees, 22 degree wind chill, and 38 MPH headwinds. Needless to say, I decided not to ride. We drove on to Lordsburg where we're staying tonight. Now we're getting ready for bed and hoping that the weather vastly improves tomorrow.