Silver City is in my archipelago of geographic "faves." There are advantages to familiarity. But what if repetition wears out a place's "magic," as newbee as that sounds?
Silver City made it easy to forget about things like that. I found an odd "city park" on the edge of town, which was a mine in olden days. After walking up onto the hill for 15 minutes I got a commanding view of lay of the land. Isn't it remarkable how little climbing it takes to change your point of view?
Mines churn up rocks that a hiker could never see otherwise. So do dry washes and glacial moraines--they are just slower mines, actually. What is the explanation for these odd striations written in bas-relief?
On the way back we paused at this odd, lunar landscape--an old mining pit, presumably. The "cerulean" sky didn't really fit with the image I had in mind: an Edgar Allen Poe-ish mood, which needed ominous clouds in the background.
But maybe I needed to change images to a sci-fi B movie. Yes, now the sky and rock fit.
Soon we were mountain biking nearby when I saw this decoration of cracks by minerals leaching...is that the term?...you know, like "leaching to the surface"? A crack is two surfaces.
Now when I see one of my fave street scenes in old-town Silver City it will look a little different. Maybe the Granny J-principle of "looking closer" really is true.
It wasn't even 70 F. But the New Mexican sun was so blistering that we--all of us--were succored by the shade of this mud cliff at a dry wash. It was no more than twice a man's height, but it changed everything. The sun no longer oppressed, nor did the wind slice. A sharp rock could dig into this mud cliff and ensure survival from cold, heat, and wind--all on the same day of course--at least for awhile.
Just a hundred yards downstream a rivulet of water ran in this dry wash, from a spring presumably. Shelter, water, game, a balance of grass and trees. Firewood. We moderns wouldn't stand a chance with it like Robinsoe Crusoe could. But a place like this at least helps you imagine it.
I am still thinking about whether it's worth the gasoline to go and see the Gila Cliff Dwelling.
