Gila Cliff Dwellings

While in City of Rocks, we took the opportunity to drive the 2 hours to visit Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. The drive takes you from the low desert and winds high up into the mountains of the Gila National Forest. It really gave us a unique view into what New Mexico has to offer. My expectations of New Mexico included desert, but little else. I was very wrong. We drove along the Gila River, thru heavy pines with deer crossing in front of us.

Once we arrived, we picked up Jr Ranger booklets for the kids and headed to the trail.

We spotted this spiny crevice lizard peeking out along our path.

Our first look at the cliff dwellings.

A ranger met us at the top and explained the history of the dwellings. He demonstrated that the rock sounds differently, more of a hollow sound, when you tap it if it's going to fall. He also told us about the intricately designed pottery that was crafted and used in this area.

Shortly after arriving at the top, we were hustled inside to the rear of the largest cave due to a nearby  lightning strike. They explained New Mexico is ranked 3rd in lightning strikes. One of our rangers had been previously struck twice! Considering we were all on top of a mountain, the risks were greatly increased. The procedure is to shut down the trail and keep visitors in the safety of the cave until 30 minutes has passed since the last lightning strike in the area. Even though we had no idea how long we would be held up by the storm, we considered ourselves lucky to be here with three rangers and lots of time to hear about the caves and the stories they had to share.

About an hour later, the storm had passed and we were cleared to continue exploring the caves and dwellings.

Later we hiked another area and found this other two room dwelling. The rangers

 said there are hundreds of dwellings in this area that can be found by hiking around.

The kids earned their third Junior Ranger badge here.

The view along the drive home looking out over the Gila National Forest.