Saturday, November 07, 2009

HEADING HOME

We stayed three days in Silver City and one of those days we drove north about 60 miles to Glenwood, New Mexico and the Catwalk National Scenic Trail. The Catwalk follows the path of the pipeline built in the 1890s to deliver water to the mining town of Graham. Workmen who had to enter the canyon by crawling atop the narrow pipeline named the route the "Catwalk." In the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps rebuilt the Catwalk as a recreation area for the Gila National Forest. The Forest Service built the metal walkway in the 1960s. Parts of the trail have been rebuilt several times since then due to the flooding of Whitewater Creek. The path leads to the unique feature of Catwalk. Metal walkways are bolted to the narrow canyon walls where there was no room to cut a trail. One expanse of the walkway is on girders stretched across the canyon. Between the creaking metal grates of the Catwalk you can see the swiftly running water below. In other parts the walkway hugs the canyon wall. The rock, worn smooth by years of erosion, arches over the pathway




There are times when writing this blog I make mention of great campgrounds we’ve discovered. I can’t recall a time that I’ve mentioned a private RV park as usually they are not very scenic or worth pointing out. In Silver City we found one that is. Manzano’s RV Park is owned by a semi-retired couple who take great pride in their small RV park. Sites are not close together and each is divided by the natural landscape. It's off the highway and very peacful. If you’re ever in the area, it’s a great place to stay.


MANZANO'S

We are now nearing the end of our trip, with the last couple of days spent in Bisbee, Arizona, an old copper mining town situated in a narrow canyon above a large abandoned open pit copper mine. Today the town survives because of the tourists who stop here.


BISBEE


BISBEE OPEN PIT MINE

Tomorrow we hook up the trailer for the last time and head for home. Once again we’ve had a great trip. The first six weeks of the trip was spent with Gray and Diane, their longest trip to date. We revisited some places and discovered new ones, but since we’ve run out of money, not to mention "Two Buck Chuck", it’s time to head for home.
Here's a link to Gary and Diane's Blog"
















No comments: