We made it! I wasn’t sure if we would have time with all the dentist appts and the likes and stuff…but the dentist got us in a day early, and I went FULL crackhead and smashed out 600 miles in one night to get us into New Mexico. Yesss! *Napolean Dynamite fist pump*
We drove up Highway 15 just past Pinos Altos in the RV and stayed the night in the woods.
Check out that sweet articulation!
Today, we unloaded the bike and rode up Highway 15 all the way to the end and visited the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Park. For those of you not in the know, btw, it’s pronounced “Hee-lah”. People will be snarky at you if you get it wrong. ;) Anyhow, Bribri and I have an annual national parks pass, so we just strolled on in. If you don’t have a pass, it’s $15 per person 16 or older.
Also today…and kind of as an aside…I created a Patreon page. It’ll have the same content on it as I post on my blog…but it will also have EXTRAS that won’t be on my blog. ;) If you want to check it out, here’s the link: https://www.patreon.com/4theriders
The road in through Pinos Altos is quite nice!
The views everywhere are spectacular.
The obligatory “we ride motorcycles!” selfie.
Mr Poopy Butthole came along for the ride.
So far, of all the National Parks I’ve been to, this one has the most rules of all. Even upon entering, we were given an “orientation” of sorts… “Don’t do this. Don’t do that. Don’t don’t don’t.” I understand wanting to preserve such an amazing place…it’s just a pity that the lowest common denominator is usually why all these rules are made up. :(
It’s about a mile long hike, round trip. It’s also 7,300 feet above sea level. Bring a bottle of water. :D
It gets more and more rewarding as you climb though! :D
Getting cloooosssseeeerrrrrr!!!
There’s a little hick in me, I can’t lie.
Here’s a few images of the Gila Cliff Dwellings:
(mmm…boobz…)
Brianna for scale…it’s pretty impressive how BIG the dwellings actually are.
They’ve added a few hand rails and stuff in there…so it’s not completely untouched from 700 years ago..but it’s still pretty cool!
Again, gotta get the obligatory selfie!
It’s kinda humbling to think that these were built over 700 years ago. Can you imagine what life must have been like?
All in all, A++. It’s pretty amazing to see stuff so old. Being from the west coast, if a structure or something is 150 years old, I’m like “ooohhhh ahhhhh!” So 700 years is like “WHOA! WASN’T THAT WHEN DINOSAURS WERE AROUND!?!”
After visiting the Gila Cliff Dwellings, we back tracked to Highway 35 and rode that out to Mimbres, NM…then turned around and rode back to the RV.
Those roads, btw, were freggin fantastic. If you get a chance to ride this area, DO IT!
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Here’s a map: