Gila Cliff Dwellings and free campgrounds

May 2, 2016

From Lordsburg I headed north on 90 to Silver City, NM then north on 15. 15 is very windy and narrow so it was slow going. After the intersection with 35, 15 turned into a wider road with a centerline but still curvy. 

The first campground I came to was Grapevine but the road to it was a very steep descent so I skipped that one. The next one was Forks and it looked good so I went in to check it out. Free, empty and lots of big spaces so I settled in to one high over a small river. Across the river are some interesting cliffs. 

Spent a quiet night and continued on early the next morning to the Cliff Dwellings. 

May 3, 2016

There is a bicycle race in this area from the 5th to the 8th. Lots of bikes on the road already. I will need to be off these roads before the race begins or it will be a hassle. 

The two campgrounds near the Cliff Dwellings are just small parking lots and tent sites with picnic tables in the trees. So I headed up to the parking lot for the Gila Cliff Dwellings. It was large with no signs saying no camping so I plan on staying the night here. 

Took the 1 mile loop to the Dwellings then came back to my van and had lunch. 

I will add pictures of the ruins later. 

After lunch, I went on a 4 mile hike that included several river crossings. Wet boots. 

Spent a quiet night in the parking lot. 

Tomorrow I head out again. 

On the road again

In Lordsburg,NM getting set to head north to Silver City, NM. 

Luci light

I love, love, love my Luci light. It is an inflatable, solar powered light that is great for camping or backpacking. It weighs almost nothing and takes up very little room when deflated. When I am driving I just deflate it and toss it on my dashboard where it charges up. 

At night I inflate it, turn it on and it lights up my whole van. I have been using it every night for 3 or 4 hours. 

I can toss it anywhere, I can hang it, play catch with it, whatever. It has handles built in on each end so I can walk with it shining down on the ground to light my way. The bathroom in the last campground I stayed at had no light so Luci lit my way there and when I got inside I just flipped it over and Luci lit the stall for me. 

Great camping accessory. You can get it on Amazon. 

Life is good. 

Catching up

Since my last post I completed my trip to Tucson area, visiting my brother and his wife in Albuquerque on the way. I reunited with my Born Free on another brother's property near Tucson and settled in for a while.  On my last days there I watched a forest fire in the hills just east of where my Born Free is parked. 

I hadn't used my free week in a cabin with Thousand Trails yet this year so I made a reservation at the Palm Springs, CA location. So I set out in my van for a road trip to California and stayed the week in a nice cabin. 

After that, I went to Joshua Tree National Park and stayed in a campground there for 4 days while I explored the park. Took an almost 9 mile hike into Lost Palms Oasis. The palms are just above the sign between the big rocks. 

Leaving the park, I drove to the Salton Sea area. True to what I have heard, it was a stinky place so I left and came back north to the I10 area and settled into a nice, free campsite on BLM land where I have Internet access. I have plenty of food and water so I will probably stay here for a while. The days are sunny keeping my batteries topped up so my refrigerator and freezer are happy. It gets pretty windy in the late mornings but that just makes it interesting. Sunset last night was awesome. 

Life is good. 

Back on the road

My oldest sister broke her leg last spring so I left Washington and headed to Wisconsin to help her out. One of the benefits of being mobile.  She was in a nursing home so I stayed in her apartment and paid the rent so she would not have to worry about it. It ended up being an all summer job as she broke her leg again just before she was to leave the nursing home. She ended up deciding to move to an assisted living apartment so I took care of emptying her old apartment and getting her settled into the new place. 

So, the end of October found me making a quick trip down I39 to hopefully some warmer weather. The first day was lots of fog and the second day was lots of rain. I finally settled into a National Forest campground in Arkansas with warm weather and lots of peace and quiet. 

Glad to be back in my van and traveling. 

Life is good. 

A long hike

I did the trike ride on Wednesday and on Thursday I decided to hoof it as there is a hiking trail I wanted to check out. Starting out at my campsite near Seaview, I walked out to the Discovery Trail and turned south. At the Beard's Hollow parking lot I went across the highway and took the bike path to North Head Lighthouse. At the parking lot for the lighthouse, I took the short trail to the lighthouse. 

It was extremely windy with showers off and on so I didn't stay long or take many pictures. 

Back at the parking lot, I found and took off on the North Head Trail. It is the squiggly line below the red dot. 

This is a great trail typical of western Oregon and Washington with huge trees, lots of vegetation, and mud. I loved every minute of it!  Fortunately, I had my Leki hiking poles with me or I would have had a tough time of it. 

Interesting trees along the way. 

The root system for this tree ran along the nurse log. 

Expecting to see some Ewoks here. 

This was at the end of the trail. 

More Lewis and Clark Expedition markers. 

The entire walk was almost 9 miles or over 22,000 steps according to my Vivofit. Many places were a challenge, steep inclines, mud, roots and squeezing around tree trunks but it was an enjoyable workout just the same. Still, I was happy to get back to my comfortable little van and dinner. 

Life is good. 

A ride on the Discovery Trail

The Discovery Trail is a beautiful trail along the ocean, all paved, with interesting signs along the way about the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  I lucked out with a sunny day for a trike ride. 

Starting out at my campsite, I was able to get right on the trail after a short push along a sandy trail. 

A map of the trail conveniently located at trailheads. This one is at the North end of the trail. The yellow at the top is the "You are here" indicator. 

I started south of Seaview and went south to Beard's Hollow shown here at the yellow print. From here the trail went up a steep gravel trail and I was not able to get enough traction with my single rear wheel plus my "engine" was having trouble too!  I found out later from Don that I could go up through the parking lot and cross the highway to catch a paved trail to the North Head Lighthouse. For now, I turned around and went to the north end of the trail. 

Along the way, I took lots of pictures. Here are a few of them. 

At this sculpture, which is concrete, I met a fellow trikker named Don who gave me lots of local info about trails in the area. 

There he goes. 

More sculptures along the way. 

Altogether a great ride on a gorgeous day for a total of 16.4 miles. 

Life is good.