Silver City, Mt. Baldy (AZ), and El Malpais

May 16-25, 2021

TL;DR: We went from desert to mountains to lava beds and back to desert, stayed at a few great free campgrounds, saw the most gorgeous double rainbow, and dipped into Arizona for the most exhausting hike of our lives.

The stats

Hikes: 4
Hiking miles: 22 (2,800 ft elevation gain)
Miles in Layla: 420
Eclipses seen: .5
Elk herds seen: 3
Ospreys chased: 2

The sights

City of Rocks State Park

We were here for all of one day, but it was breath-taking, made up of house-sized rocks formed 34.9 million years ago when a volcano erupted. The park was situated right up in the rocks, so you could walk up and down/around/over them, and among the ocotillo and cacti. Not busy at all, either.

Lots of cute little hares and lizards too.

Silver City

Took the Geronimo Scenic Byway/Highway 152 to the Gila Cliff Dwellings, which was a really pretty drive through the Gila National Forest. Stopped at a few pull-outs to take in the panoramic views.

Took the easy, well-maintained one-mile walk up the ravine. The dwellings themselves were pretty genius adobe houses built into the caves by the Mogollon Indian tribes in the 1200s. They were only here for about 100 years, but it seems like a pretty sweet spot.

We drove up highway 35 to get there, and went back on 15, which was more windy and surrounded by Ponderosa pines.

Popped into Silver City for a hot second and went to Little Toad Brewery, which was super busy but had great beers. Between Jess’s flight and Bri’s pints, we managed to try them all. Also got a four-pack of watermelon-jalapeño mules to go, which were delicious and strong.

Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, Arizona

Dipped over into Arizona for two days to hike Mount Baldy and loved it! So different, with tons of spruces and firs and mountainous terrain. Took a nice driving tour on the back forest road and passed a lot of dispersed spots. Saw lots of elk herds in the more open plains, mainly females.

Our second day there, we hiked Mount Baldy. On our way, we saw a sign for bighorn sheep—and then immediately saw a whole herd of them just chilling on the side of the road.

The hike itself was quite an experience. The first couple miles were mainly spruce and fir trees along a picturesque creek. Then it opened up into this crazy forest of fallen trees as we climbed higher and higher toward the top. Could see miles around us on the way up, and had to climb over and under the fallen trees, which was rough on the hips/knees (#old).

Made it to the “top,” but it was a bit anticlimactic so we kept going another ¾ of a mile and added 1.5 miles on top of our trip—making it a solid 15 miles total. It was pretty rough for last five or so mil;es, but there was gorgeous lighting and we finally made it! Definitely met our limit, especially considering the top didn’t have a big view.

El Malpais National Conservation Area

Interesting transition from mountains to a giant lava formation with huge flat-top mesas, junipers, piñons, big sandstone rock formations, and miles of giant lava beds. Definitely reminded us of the Lava Beds National Monument in California.

Took a peek at La Ventana Arch, a huge sandstone formation and one of New Mexico’s largest natural arches. It was pretty spectacular, and there was absolutely no one there!

Ventured along the east side of the park through sandstone bluffs and were treated to expansive views of lava beds and the central/west side of the park.

Drove to the entire other side of the park to Big Tubes, which was a relatively easy hike over miles of lava bed and broken rock. Very pumice-y, and had to pay close attention to the cairns lest we get lost. Also very cool bridges and cacti everywhere, and a few openings to caves that were closed off. So cool!

Details, details, details

Both nights we were at City of Rocks we heard the coos of a great-horned owl that seemed super close.

Got up to see the stars at City of Rocks and were treated to an incredibly clear sky and the Milky Way. So amazing.

Right after we got to the Cosmic Campground and set up, it started hailing/raining for a bit, and then got really sunny. And then we saw an incredible double rainbow, followed by another one. All three were absolutely amazing!

We are now officially the owners of the entire John Wick series. Cringey smile.

We passed the Continental Divide on our way to Cosmic Campground and were reminded it’s where the water flows toward the Pacific and Atlantic on each side. Cool.

The scenic route to Cosmic Campground was really beautiful.

On one of our drives around Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, we saw a controlled burn. Still scary.

Along the trail to Mount Baldy, we met Bob the big white dog along the way, who froze mid-trail until we walked around him.

Saw a gorgeous moon rise at Joe Skeen campground, and were pumped to see the lunar eclipse the next night, but it was too cloudy : (.

On our drive to the other side of Malpais, we saw a crazy dust storm that had picked up steam and was whipping around substantial pieces of insulation.

And then this happened…

Bri drove from Silver City to Demming to get an Amazon order and picked it up at the “Cookie Jar,” which was a shut-down bakery. Interesting.

Silver City was pretty dead otherwise, though we did see the “Swedenborgian spiritual center,” which we had just found out about in the very scary (not recommended) movie on Netflix, Things Seen and Heard.

On our way to Mount Baldy, we saw half of a moose carcass on the side of the road, ribs and all.

After the moose carcass, we saw a pickup truck and the entire bed was filled with antlers.

One of the kitchen drawer clasps broke and it kept coming open when we drove. But a little epoxy fixes everything. Okay, most things.

Bri set up our solar panel and it works! Basically keeps us from having to run the engine or generator if we’re boondocking for three days or less (unless we want A/C of course).

Now we know

There are lots of campgrounds in Gila National Forest that looked awesome, especially Lake Roberts.

When we went to get propane, Bri put the new tanks in the back of Eric, then went inside to pay for them. Jess rolled down the back right window to get some fresh air flowing but totally forgot it didn’t work… traumatic for about two hours until Jess finessed it back up. Phew!

Forgot to open the water tanks when we were filling up after Rainbow Campground but were all flustered because there were people waiting behind us, so drove a bit, figured it out, then circled back around and successfully filled up.

Where we stayed

Nights one and two: Spot 17, City of Rocks State Park, halfway between Silver City and Demming

Bri got us the most amazing spot! Super secluded right on the edge of the campground and surrounded by these huge rocks. It was also very level, with a table and fireplace right next to the spot, and access to the trail that wound around the park. Was amazingly clear at night, and a lovely spot for sunsets.

Nights three through five: Spot 20, Manzano RV Park, Silver City, New Mexico

Night six: Cosmic Campground

Free and gorgeous! International Dark Sky campground with a little circle where you can set up your telescope, should you have one. Also quite a few boondocking spot on the way in. Saw the Milky Way again. Not over that yet.

Nights seven and eight: Spot 8, Rainbow Campground, Arizona

Pretty sure we switched into eastern time here, but not really sure because we didn’t have great service. Big campground at about 9,000 feet elevation with around 165 spots and tons of Aspens and Ponderosas. Our spot was great, and the guy across from us was carrying a two-foot fish inside when we pulled up (the campground is right next to an apparently very fruitful lake). We’ve also got our eye on site 37 for next time.

One annoying note is that the dump station is an additional $4 even if you pay for a campsite.