It was a beautiful day to ride.  We left for Silver City and along the way we traveled an area that was full of warnings; dust storms and the possibility of no visibility.  Fortunately we did not run into any of that.  We had wide open spaces which meant some wind since there was nothing to block it. 

We got to Silver City and turned onto NM 15, the Trail of the Mountain Spirits National Scenic Byway.  Up into the mountains we went to ride lots of curves and switchbacks.  Strangely enough lots of cattle guards as well.  Lots of them.  It was scenic.  Very scenic.  It led up through the Gila National Forest to today’s destination, Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument.

The use of the caves dates back to the 1280s.  People of the Mogollon region built these 7 caves.  We started the walk up to the caves but did not make it all the way up.  Lydia stopped shortly into the very steep trail and decided it would be better to turn back.  This was probably a good idea because we do not know how she would have conquered her fear of heights once we reached the caves since the walkway between them was open.

We did get some good pictures of the caves from a photo spot, just not the inside of them.  We walked back to the parking lot and headed to the Lower Scorpion Campsite.  Just a few feet away from the parking lot we saw the pictographs from the same era.  They were pretty amazing!

From there we headed back on The Trail of the Mountain Spirits to Silver City where we will stay for the night.  Another great day with lots to see.