Marpeg: MIMBRES AND GILA HOT SPRINGS, NEW MEXICO

After viewing the adobe ruins of Fort Selden we head west and cross the Rio Grande River. It has a wide bed but only a creeks worth of water running down it. The basin has a variety of farms all with intricate irrigation systems. There's orchards of pecan trees, a variety of chilies, lots of cotton fields and then plenty of plowed ground.

We breakfast in Hatch which seems to be more Mexican than American. Everyone in town drives a mud splattered pick-up truck. Further down the road we are stopped by the Border Patrol. They wanted to make sure the dogs were American citizens. We continue west into the Mimbres Mountains. We cross the Continental Divide at Emory pass (6400 feet). We see several elk and a couple of mule deer. The squirrels here have black and white tails and huge ears. We pass through the ghost towns of Hillsboro, Kingston and Mimbres. Each has just a token number of residents still living there. We visit the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site where the Mattocks Ruin, a world famous archaeological site is located. About 1,000 years ago a Mimbres pueblo was built at this site on top of an earlier pithouse village and was home to about as many as 200 people. As we walked the trail we sampled the fruit of the Cane Chollo which had a very citrusy taste and also the Alligator Juniper berry which was very sweet.

We continue to the Gila Hot Springs and take an RV site with full hook-ups for $22. We're told the low temperature last night was 5 degrees. The elevation here is 5,500 feet, so I believe it. The roads are now clear but there is still a lot of snow left over from last week's storm. After hooking up and settling in we visit the only store in town and end up helping stabilize the local economy. Next we (all 5 of us) hike down to the hot springs on the West Fork of the Gila river. The water comes out of the ground at 158 degrees but by the time it gets to the 3 man-made pools it's cool enough to bathe in. It's clothing optional so Peggy makes herself at home. We are soon joined by several others who thought their pool was too hot. We hike back to camp in near darkness. With a clear sky the temperature is already below freezing. I can tell by the ice covered puddles in the road.