GILA CLIFF DWELLINGS, LAKE ROBERTS, AND OLIVER LEE

By now our trip to the Gila Cliff Dwellings seems like eons ago - I think it was only about 4 days ago! We went there as a day trip from our "base camp" at Lake Roberts (staying at the Mesa campground).

Some cliffs near the beginning of the trail

There are many bridges over this creek as you cross on the way to the dwellings

The first view of the Cliff Dwellings

A closer view from the outside of one of the caves

Inside a room in the caves

Other rooms in the caves

A view from inside one of the rooms out to the cliffs across the way

Another view looking out from inside

This is a two-story dwelling; there would have been a roof across where the beam-holes are

Not sure if this guy actually lived in the caves or was just a tourist, like us

A sunset seen from our campsite at Lake Roberts

Sunset the next night at our campsite

We decided to head back down the state to visit White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo, NM.  Last night we stopped over at Percha Dam State Park, and today we ended up at Oliver Lee State Park campground. We're thinking of staying here for several days - the internet is good, Alamogordo is a nice town, the campground has showers and bathrooms, and the price is right ($10, but with the ten dollars off from our NM Annual Pass, FREE)!

Here we are at Oliver Lee campground site #40

This is the view towards the east, from our chairs just behind the Chinook