Silver City - Hike Up Gila Box Canyon

After our visit to Bill Evans Lake, we continued west on Hwy 180 to visit the small communities of Cliff and Gila, home of quite a few of the artists that offer their creations for sale in Silver.  We stopped for lunch at the Village Market in Gila (excellent sandwiches very reasonably priced) and chatted with the rock shop owner next door.  He highly recommended the drive up the Box Canyon north of the town.

The Gila Lower Box Canyon is a true oasis in the desert. Since livestock has been prohibited in the river canyon since 1990, the canyon has grown into a lush thicket of cottonwood, willows, and other riparian vegetation. The area provides some of the best birding in New Mexico, and is habitat to many rare and unusual birds, including common black hawks, zone-tailed hawks, Bell's vireos, yellow-billed cuckoos, and hundreds of other bird species. The canyon also provides opportunities for canoeing, rafting during Spring runoff, hunting, and year-round fishing and camping. The river contains smallmouth bass and several species of catfish.

Among the many activities available in this area, rock-hounding is a great way to spend an afternoon.  Kim ound a few choice specimens along this expansive wash (remember Lucy & Desi's "The Long Long Trailer").

We hiked up the River Trail for about an hour, spooking quite a few mallards, and even spying a trout or two along the stream.  This are is truly amazing!

Silver City - Bill Evans Lake

We took a dive today west on Hwy 180 to this small 65 acre stocked lake high above the Gila River (yes, the water is actually pumped up about 800ft to the man-made lake!).  The project was started years ago buy a mining outfit in coordination with the Forest Service. http://www.silvercity.org/dest_Bill_Evans_Lake.shtml

In addition to holding the State record largemouth bass at almost 16 pounds! It boasts a nice population of other species including these nice rainbows caught by a local.

Kim was amused by this confused domestic duck, which had adopted the wild Mallards as it's family.

We Have Arrived! SILVER CITY, NEW MEXICO!

Yes, we've heard about it for 3 years....
Great small town with tons of things to see & do, arts, music, good food, sustainabilty, fabulous views, great year-round climate....
      
        This May Just Be The Place...for a Place! 

More to Come...

City of Rocks State Park

Lying about midway between Deming and Silver City is a unique outcropping of volcanic rocks left by ages of continuous erosion standing alone in a flat plain. Thanks to the State of New Mexico this feature is not only preserved for us, but also available as a campground - yes, you can actually drive your RV right up within the rocks and stay! 

Take a look here if you're interested in the geology of this treasure. http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/tour/state/city_of_rocks/home.html

We spent a late afternoon/early morning there, just enjoying the colorful views of these monoliths.  While I just wandered around in awe, Kim put her camera to excellent use as shown in the photo essay that follows!

Thanksgiving With New Friends!

It would be hard for me to say how much ham radio has enriched my life over the many years I've had a license (since age 10), but this Thanksgiving is just one example of how this unique hobby has led to many new friendships and experiences.

Several weeks before Thanksgiving, while we were camped at El Morro, I made several contacts with N2GG, Gil and Danna Gray, who were RVing at the time in southern California.  One discussion led to another, and we realized that we'd pass right through the small town of Belen, NM on our way to the Bosque del Apache for the upcoming Festival of the Cranes.  Gil graciously invited us to come and park the RV at their place for a few days, and in the process of further discovery (based on a comment about flying as a hobby) we were introduced to Ken (KS2R) and Janice Samuelson. 

To make a long story short, Ken and Janice offered to host us for Thanksgiving dinner Tuesday eve at their beautiful new log home in the Sandia Park area just outside of Albuquerque.

The home is filled with unique objects, and guarded by it's three true owners shown here!

The eve started with a roaring fire along with some special before dinner treats.  But, it wasn't long before Gil did a masterful job of carving the mouth-watering bird for the table.  What a great feast with great friends...

The next morning was spent walking off the past night's indulgence, with a two mile stroll in the national forest bordering their backyard.

Ride to Abiquiu NM

Took a drive through the country to Abiquiu, the final home of Georgia O'Keefe. Beautiful areas, typical scenes of the Southwest. I'll just let the pix tell the story!