Our first campsite: Iron Creek just west of Kingston, NM in the Black Range mountains. My new tent has a built-in screen porch. Got a battery operated pump to blow up our queen size inflatable bed. This is luxury!
Breakfast cooking on the propane camp stove.
The second day (Sunday) we drove up into the Gila National forest, climbing through ridiculously awesome scenery. The mountain vistas are too huge to capture in a picture, but here are some generic mountains at around 7,000 feet.
I took a walk along a horse trail beside the Gila River. Didn't take the tour to the cliff dwellings as it was a fairly arduous walk and Annie wasn't up for that. However, the cliffs along the river were beautiful.
On the way back to camp I heard a grunt from the other side of the river. I assumed it was a black bear and saw what appeared to be a head looking at me through the bushes. While I fumbled with the camera to try a telephoto shot it bounded off and I got a good look at it. (but no picture)
I think this is actually the east fork of the Gila, which flows past the cliff dwellings. According to a brochure we picked up at the visitor center, the Gila is the longest undammed river in the lower 48 states.
Our second night camping we opted for shade. It got cool at night, but even at 7,000 feet, it was in the 90's by mid-day.
Twilight in the Gila.
Citronella oil in a kerosene lantern has absolutely no effect on bugs! Actually, we didn't encounter many biting insects, just annoying flies and no-see-ums.
Note the white flowers in the field. They look like thistle stalks with white poppy flowers.
Don't try to pick these!!! They will stick you if you even get close.
The Buckhorn Saloon in Pinos Altos, NM. We took a mountain road south from the cliff dwellings toward Silver City. After a hair-raising ride up and over the mountains (steep, narrow and winding) we passed through Pinos Altos, which is not to far outside of Silver City. A semi-ghost town, it is really beautiful.
They even had an opera house. The courthouse has a sign claiming that Judge Roy Bean sat there
Back home, here are a couple more pictures.
This is a trellis I built out of dry yucca stalks. Maybe our grape vine will climb and give us a little more shade.
Here's the last black swallowtail that hatched last week. He's drying his/her wings perched on Annies finger. There's now a new crop of caterpillars on the remains of our parsley.
