Catwalk near Silver City, NM

Friday, we (Jerry and Kathy Millspaugh and their friends, Rosalie and Mike) drove north of Silver City to a place called Catwalk National Scenic Trail.

This catwalk was built for the silver miners to get up to the mine to take the silver down to the processing area. There was also a pipe for water to run their generator and to supply the town which had grown to 200.

These walks were built in the 1800's and have been rebuilt by the Forest Service.

Ed and I were not so smart......it said the walk was 1.1 miles. However, that was for only one way so we ended up struggling through an unexpected 2.2 mile hike!After I was over 3/4 of a mile in, I wanted to see the end. so I plodded on. Being with our friends added to the motivation.

The canyon was narrow, which added to the drama of the high rock cliffs on both sides.I'm always a sucker for swinging bridges. This was one of my "rewards" near the end of the trail.

Here we (Kathy Millspaugh, MaryMay, Ed, Jerry Millspaugh) are at the end of the trail.

The highlight of the walk was looking up to the top of the cliffs and seeing a bighorn sheep (female). We grabbed our cameras and got some pictures before they left.

Then one of the female sheep came out onto another high ledge and seemed to be posing for us. (top center of photo below)

Jerry took this shot. I was pleased that my little camera captured this.