10/22/18 Interesting Features of the Cliff Dwellings

At different times of the day, sunlight shines through  the openings in the cliff dwellings. Here you see the sun shining through an opening in a wall, while above the wall you see the cliff on the other side of the canyon.

Standing on a step inside the caves you can look across the maze of walls and see the only two-story 'building' in the dwellings.

Close-up, the 'building' looks like this. The 'bottom' floor was probably used for storage. The walls of the top floor extend all the way up to the cave wall. There is a small smoke hole at the top where the wall meets the cave. (None of the other walls in the dwellings extend up to the cave wall; probably so the smoke could escape.) No one knows what the function of the top floor was since it is quite small.

Beneath the two-story 'building' is this huge cave!

The ceiling of the cave has soot on it. There is a short wall at the bottom of the cave. What was it used for? Why build a two-story 'building' above the cave? It's very mysterious.

Everywhere in the caves, you see these round depressions. They are not natural. They are man-made.

They range in size from 1 inch to 6 inches in diameter. The depressions range from 1 inch to 3 inches deep. Obviously someone was grinding something, but what? Spices, spears? No one really knows.

This depression is under a huge rock slab! It is about 6 inches in diameter and 3 inches deep! What would someone be grinding under there?  

These depressions are not like the others. The others are on a horizontal rock surface. These are on a rock surface that is nearly vertical so if someone was grinding spices in there, the spices would fall right out of the depression! What were they grinding there? a spear or arrowhead? It would have been nice if the people who lived in the dwellings left us a You-tube video explaining what these depressions were used for!

10/21/18 Javelina and Horses

Javelina seem to be feeding near the roads now. This herd crossed the road in the morning on my way to 'work.'

Some ran across the road,

while some retreated to the tall grass.

The horses at the ranch across the road from the campground are free to roam now that 'packing' season is over.

They seem to like the green grass and the apples falling from the apple trees in the campground.

They are not deterred by trailers, vehicles, or picnic tables! (That's the picnic table next to my trailer!)

More horses gather on the other side of 'my' picnic bench!

"Barker" is the 'herding' dog. He's supposed to keep the horses out of the campground! He tries, but the horses run him ragged so Becky has to herd them away in her ATV.

10/20/18 Fall and Sky Scenes

The sky changes rapidly here. The cirrus clouds foretell a front coming through.

This was the scene on my way to "work." I came around the corner to see a blue sky in the distance.

I took this picture in the late morning.

The fog made for a great picture!

When the fog started to lift, the colors of the grasses and the trees looked magical!

The clouds at sunset looked as though they were on fire!

Just a view of the fall colors in the valley where I live. 

10/17/18 Fall at Gila Cliff Dwellings and Rainbows

It is Fall here at the Gila Cliff Dwellings. The temperature has hovered around 50 during the day and the 30s at night. It has been raining a lot too.

The colors of Fall around here seem to be yellow and gray as you can see in this photo.

The sheep have been taken down to the barn for the winter, but a herd of mule deer have taken their place. The horses seem to be curious about their new neighbors!

One benefit of cleaning up garbage and recyclables  along the roadside was seeing the last of the butterflies feeding on the rabbitbushes.  This brown butterfly is a Mournful Duskywing.

We saw Monarchs too!

This is what 'aspenglow' looks like here. The tops of the cliffs are lit by the sun, while the bottoms of the cliffs are still in shadow. This seems to be more prevalent now than it was a month ago.s

This bike is at the junction of Routes 15 and 35 on the way to Silver City. It's a memorial. A month ago the grass and the trees were a deep green.

The colors of the cliff face are much brighter than they were a month ago.

When it's not raining, the sky is a deep blue and the clouds seem to constantly change their shape.

From inside the cliff dwellings, you can look across at the cliffs and mesas on the other side of the canyon. Last month they were covered in foliage, but now only the Ponderosa Pines and other fir trees  still have their needles. 

We saw a male bighorn sheep on this cliff across from the Cliffs Dwellings! He walked across the cliff face and laid down under a tree! It was so exciting! Unfortunately, he was too far away for me to get a good picture of him!

The trail to the cliff dwellings is covered in leaves. 

Some of the trees on the trail are this beautiful yellow!

The trail down from the cliff dwellings has these wonderful peach and red colored grasses!

From the mesa tops it seems like you can see a 100 miles in the distance because the air is so clear!

It's a long drive to Silver City, but the views from the road are fantastic!

I saw this rainbow on my way to 'work!' It was fantastic and the very same afternoon we saw a bighorn sheep on the cliff across from the cliff dwellings! What a day!

The very next day, I saw this rainbow on my way back to the cliff dwellings from Silver City!

This little lizard decided to take-up residence under this box where visitors place their cliff dwelling pamphlets for recycling! He wasn't very happy at the end of the day when I had to put the box away!

10/7/18 Lake Roberts

Lake Roberts is about an hour away from the Cliff Dwellings. There is a really nice campground there where I like to go when I have a few days off. 

The first few photographs are the scenery on the way to Lake Roberts.

I like to stay at Mesa Campground which overlooks the lake.

There's an earthen dam with a spillway on one end of the lake.