Trail of the Mountain Spirits to Gila Cliff Dwelling National Monument

We took the scenic byway known s the Mountain Spirits Trail to the Gila Cliff Dwelling National Monument

We stop at Lake Roberts to have a picnic lunch

Catch the view of the Copperas Mesa

and arrive at the Gila Cliff Dwellings

Because a few unresponsible dog owners ruin it for the rest of us, dogs aren't allowed on the Trail so Tucson is confined to Puppy Prison but he had adjoining Cell mates and it was better than home or the car.  I was glad that they had Kennels - otherwise we would have missed the Dwellings.

A peek from the trail

Getting closer

Room One was a communal kitchen the holes in the floor held pottery containers for cooking

These were the homes of the people of the Mogollon culture who lived in the Gila Wilderness from the 1280s through the early 1300s

It was proclaimed a National Monument by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1907

You actually get the chance to walk through the dwellings

 Now here's a room with a view!  The dwellings are at 5,875' elevation.  The trail up started at 5695'

Archaeologists have identified 46 rooms in the five caves, and believed they were occupied by 10 to 15 families. It is not known why the dwellings were abandoned

Inside one room is a Pictograph

Of all the cliff dwellings we've visited these are one of the most extensive.

Till Later,

Meanwhile, we keep on Trek'n

Melissa, Gary & Tucson