Gila Cliff Dwellings

Once Election Day was past, I took a ride to New Mexico. The first picture is a view from the ledge outside of the Gila Cliff Dwellings, looking toward the southwest (in the general direction of Tucson).

If there were a freeway straight from Tucson to Albuquerque it might take only about two hours to get from my house to this spot. Instead the actual drive takes almost five hours, ending with spectacular scenery along the way north from Silver City, NM. After arriving at the parking lot there is a one-mile trail that climbs up to and back down from the Cliff Dwellings. The first part of that loop-trail ascends alongside a creek through the canyon. The drive and the hike would be worthwhile even if there were no ancient structures to be seen.

The second picture is a view from inside the caves, also looking toward the southwest (the cave opening, if not over-exposed, would be a view of the ledge from the first picture). Three of the caves (caves 3, 4 and 5) are connected on the inside. There is a set of wooden steps at the entrance to cave 3. You can see in the picture the wooden railing along those steps. As an alternative entrance/exit, off to the left of the picture there is a wooden ladder that leans against the outside wall beneath cave 4.

On returning home that evening there was already a high wind warning in effect for Tucson. Anticipating high winds from the southwest at the Cliff Dwellings over the following days, I asked the ranger stationed in cave 3 about their impact. She commented only on the pleasant effects of cool breezes through the caves on summer days. Still I bet that sometimes high winds are channelled through the canyon, entering through the opening for cave 3 and exiting through the openings for caves 4 and 5. I imagine that part of the reason for the walls, for example the wall in the middle of this picture, was for protection from the wind. The wall in the middle happens to be special. As explained on the blue tablet that can be read while facing that wall, the wall displays a very faint remnant of a 700-year-old mural. According to the tablet, “Some modern Puebloan people who claim cultural affiliation with the Mogollon interpret similar designs to symbolize rain or clouds.” The tablet goes on to wonder, “Could this mural ... have been part of a plea to end the thirty year drought that swept the Southwest between 1270 and 1300 AD?” I can imagine someone huddled up against that wall for protection from the wind, hoping the wind would be followed by winter rain.

Let's hope this winter's storms bring abundant rain and snow to the Southwest. The outlook is for neutral-to-borderline-weak-El-Niño conditions, so a wet winter is not out of the question.