The Catwalk, Mogollon and Then Some

Wed Apr 13
If you thought the last one was long... How can anyone cram so much in one day? We first explored scenery around the grounds of the Los Olmos Guest Ranch in the tiny town of Glenwood.

Located there is William Antrim's cabin. He was Billy the Kid's stepfather and he lived and mined here most of the time while Billy and his Mom were living in Silver City.

We also saw the remains of the tiny Alma Jail that was moved from the town about six miles North of here. It is about ten feet long, six feet wide and five feet tall with two cells. Kinda cramped quarters don't you think?

From there we drove up to the trail head of the unusual Catwalk trail in the Whitewater Creek canyon. This trail is 2.2 miles round trip and includes a 250-foot metal causeway attached to the vertical rock walls of the canyon over the creek. The boulder-strewn canyon is 250 feet deep and only 20 feet wide in places.

Huge, gnarly but beautiful Sycamore trees with white trunks and branches are common, particularly along the lower end of the creek.

This was another extremely scenic trail

with a substantial elevation gain, many steps and bridges (one was suspended) and places with sheer drop offs into the canyon.

One particularly scenic place was below one of many waterfalls where there was a pretty pool.

There were also places to get off the trail down to the shade along the creek's edge.

From there we traveled about twelve miles North up another very narrow, steep and winding barely one-lane road

to the living ghost town of Mogollon. Only twelve residents live there year round but there are a museum and several small businesses that open for the summer season the first of May. This old mining town extends a long way along the bottom of a narrow canyon and many historic structures still exist.

We got to look in one gallery that was not open but the lady was preparing for business and let us in to look around.

From there we drove a few miles further North to the WS Ranch. Butch Cassidy and his men worked as hands at this ranch which is still in operation. Just inside the gate on a steep hillside is a tiny cemetery where US Calvary men who were killed in 1885 by Apaches in a battle at Soldier Hill about seventeen miles to the South are buried.

Upon returning to camp we spent the evening with Jim and Linda Small who had a very tame pet parrot. They are full-time RV'ers we met today, both on the Catwalk trail and in camp since they were camped in the campground with us.

They invited us to walk with them into town for dinner at the Blue Front Cafe and we then chatted around their campfire until well after dark. They were very friendly and, with twenty years of being on the road, were overflowing with valuable information about traveling and where to go and what to see around the country.