More Gila

Okay guys! So we finally got the internet here in Corvallis... and it is working wonders! So i can finally impart to you all the left over pics from our trip... and then we shall get back to Oregon. Sorry this has all been a bit messy... but i think the time and resources to complete are finally here :)

So after we left the area of the 'cliff dwellings' and wall painintgs we finished up our hike down by the water.... by exploring the rocks... Chris and I believe we expertly found the rocks used to create the painintings in the last 'picture' blog. They were a soft red stone ( perhaps a deviation of sandstone?) that were all over the place.

and tasty tooo!!!!!!!!!!! :)

After we finished our hike, we headed back to Silver City, for our second evening in the motel there. The drive from almost anywhere in Gila to anywhere sleepable was about two hours. So, by the time we returned back to base it was dark.... and dinner time.

This is Chris in our motel room cooking. We opened all the doors and windows in the place for better ventilation. It turned out to be a pretty mediocre meal of dried tortellini in ragu sauce.... but it was fun to cook! none-the-less. The next morning we woke up early (?) to hike to the hot springs that were recommended to us by a bunch of different people. The picture above is the trail head. It was a pretty much unmarked trail going through the middle of wilderness. Neither of us had any idea how long it was or what it would look. We ran into aboslutely nothing we expected. :) (sorry about the underlining.... my computer is acting kinda funny... won't let me turn it off up there)

the hikeviews from the hikethis is the very small 'river' where the hot srpings were fresh water crest on the shoreline

the hot springs!!! They were sincerely just very hot and very muddy springs coming out of the bottom of the bed... like very small jets. Other people have designated the place of them by laying out rocks... making it easier for the ignorant (like us) to find them. They were really hot! and felt really wonderful after the hike. We soaked for about half an hour.... and then were on the trail again. I must admit... that sitting in the middle of a river without a soul in sight and the silence that pervaded... was both liberating and beautiful all at once.

Toph.... after the hot springs.

these were the cacti all up and down the trail... that i found absilutely fascinating. They were gorgeous. And really prickly.

i couldn't get over these colors. I thought some of you artists out there would be inspired by the diversity of shades and colors. (throat clear sound... hannah). And i thought even for you un-artist or undercover artists... they were just incredible!!

!