Gila Cliff dwellings National Monument

We visited Gila Cliff National Monument on April 8th amid the coronavirus virus pandemic. This is the second National Park/Monument we’ve visited during the coronavirus pandemic, the first being Mesa Verde NP. 

We have been spending most of our time in the trailer during the stay-in-place order here in New Mexico unless we are grocery shopping or sightseeing in the truck. It's becoming difficult to stay in a place for very long being full-timers so we look for places to see in a day, day-tripping.  Gila cliff dwellings seemed particularly interesting because we have just visited Mesa Verde, and it was spectacular.  So, off we went to Silver city; little did we know the google map getting us to Silver city was not really getting us to the park.  That trip, we found out from a sign just inside the Gila forest, would be 2 additional hours!  See how confusing these signs can be >>> 









So, we were already 'behind' when we got there. The two hours was definitely worth the time.  We drove through many pullouts with spectacular views of breathtaking, green forest slopes and valleys with snow-capped mountains in the distance.

But, with the park closing at 4:30ish we still had a great hike and a nice surprise.  

On the trail up to the cliff dwellings, we met only one other person. There were several cars in the parking lot and one guy with a parked rig moochdocking in the parking lot.  From our perspective, we've not seen many people out and about in National Parks and Monuments. However, here is a National Geographic article on the current situation with people trespassing and vandalizing our National Parks. Apparently, there has been an uptick in visitation in some National Parks and it has not been a good thing for those parks. 

downloaded map

Gila Cliff dwellings is a 533-acre National Monument with a 1-mile loop trail to the cliff dwelling caves. The trail itself is currently partially shut down due to flooding on the Gila Creek tributary right below the cliff dwellings. 

These Cliff dwellings differ from those at Mesa Verde in that you have direct access via an easy trail to see them and to hike directly into them. That in itself made this whole trip worthwhile. 

The cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde were much larger and more city-like, however, we were not really able to get up close to them, since the tours are not scheduled until April and we were there in February.  And I believe even on a tour they would not have let us get into the physical structures and rooms.  Here at Gila, we were able to actually go into the caves and dwellings on our own!  We explored two of the larger, connected caves carefully walking through the home dwellings built by the Mogollon Indians. What a nice surprise to be able to experience that!    

Here's a photo from the NPS website's historical photos of Gila.  From the park's guide: "After an 1878 prospecting trip, H.B. Ailman documented the cliff dwellings.  Archeologist Adolph Bandelier arrived in 1884, but looters had already stolen many artifacts and destroyed much of the archeological record.  Settlement of the region by miners and ranchers accelerated after the Apache Wars ended in 1886.  Homesteaders emigrated to the area to raise herds of cattle and sheep.  In 1907 President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument to prevent further damage and vandalism to the cliff dwellings.  As wild lands across the United States began to vanish, a wilderness preservation movement arose.  In 1924 Aldo Leopold, a pioneering ecologist working as assistant district forester for the Southwest national forests, persuaded the National Forest Service to establish the Gila Wildnerness, the nation's first Wilderness Area.  Leopold's vision helped inspire the 1964 wilderness act which preserves the wildness of over 109 million acres of federal public lands. "

Hiking up to the caves. 

looking through the caves

Here is my album with our photos.  

Alpine's downtown murals

On our visit to Alpine Texas to see the Museum and Theater of the Big Bend, we spent some time downtown exploring the Alpine murals created by Stylle Read and community volunteers.  Here are a few of those we saw.

Mural on a train car in the city park

who's that in the caboose? 

'Texas Ranch House Too' mural on N. 5th Street

collage of 3 photos of the Cowboy mural

Serenading 'Poco a Poquito' mural in the Food Truck Lot 

'Big Brewster' Greetings mural in the Food Truck Lot 

There were many more murals we didn't get to, but they can be found listed and mapped on the Alpine Murals Attractions page. 

Day trip to Alpine Texas for outdoor Theater and more

You wouldn't think outdoor theater would be a good idea in West Texas, in July, but we really wanted to get out of the park (Big Bend National Park) and Sul Ross State University's Theater of the Big Bend in Alpine Texas was performing 'Smokey Joe's Cafe' at the Kokernot Outdoor Theater. And we wanted to see the Museum of the Big Bend and explore Alpine's downtown murals.  So, off we went.

downtown Alpine exploring the murals

We headed out early to Terlingua for some lunch at the Chile Pepper Cafe, on the suggestion of a friend that likes his food really, really hot like we do.  And the food was good, and Lupe burned his mouth on a taco (but I don't have a picture of that).

The trip from Terlingua to Alpine was uneventful, sadly, because we were warned about the wild burrows and were on the lookout the entire way. But no burrows.

Once we were in Alpine, we hit the Natural Grocery Store, went crazy on food as you do when you live in the middle of nowhere and get to a real grocery store, and then headed to Sul Ross State Univerisity where we spent several hours at the Museum of the Big Bend.

Museum of the Big Bend 

We were anxious to see the Museum and 'Foto Texas II: People, Place and Culture' a Texas Photographic Society exhibit located in the museum.

The Fallen Officer Memorial outside the Museum entrance

Museum entrance

The museum has a regional topographic display that gives you a sense of where things are located and their physical relationship to each other in this large this west Texas area.

pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus recreation

Among the many interesting things you'll find walking through the small museum, are recreations of the largest known flying creature of all time, the giant pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus, whose fossilized bones are only found at Big Bend National Park and

The Tall Rockshelter display

The 'Tall Rockshelter', a 2-story, prehistoric Native American rock painting found deep in the canyons of the Davis Mountains.  The Center for Big Bend Studies, also on the campus of Sul Ross State University, is currently conducting an analysis of materials and data collected from the artifact.

Also, in the museum are areas describing the Big Bend Legacy with informational displays following the human occupation of the region from the original Indians that settled the region, its discovery by Cabeza de Vaca to the expansion of the United States into the region with the stagecoach and trains.

Foto Texas II: People, Place and Culture

Even though it was closing time, the gratious museum staff allows us a few moments in the exhibit room for Foto Texas II the curated exhibit of regional photos.

panorama of the photo exhibit

Theater of the Big Bend

Then we were off to the Theater.  It had been so long that we jumped at the chance to go to a regional theater, and it was an amazing evening with two friends who also worked at Big Bend.  The first thing they announced as the performance began was, of course, that no photos or videos were allowed. So, I only have a collage of the stage and photos from the playbill.

Stage, Cast & Crew from Smokey Joe's Cafe

The performance by the Theater of the Big Bend of 'Smokey Joe's Cafe' was very energetic.  We all really enjoyed the college student performances, and it all brought me back to my Singing Cadet days at A&M.  Oh, and it was a pleasantly cool evening once the sun when down; so west Texas at 4500 ft isn't so hot after all, in July.