Chiles, Emory Pass, and Gila Hot Springs

Gilly's Chiles

Hatch, New Mexico claims to be the chile capital of the world and is famous for the hot pepper that bears its name. In line at the grocery store, a tan and wizened man in a cowboy hat and dusty jeans told us we just had to try his salsa and invited us to his shop up the road to have our picnic lunch. He picked up a bag of tortilla chips and led the way in an old white pickup.

Gilly sat down at the picnic table beside us and proceeded to tell us his whole life story--from the girl he didn't marry (he's a bachelor for life, it seems, unless, as he put it, the good Lord sends something his way), to enlisting in the military, serving in Vietnam, and traveling the world on extreme ski trips while on military leave. He liked to ski so much, in fact, that he went 15 days AWOL, but got a break from his officer. John and I learned a lot about the views and opinions of a single man in New Mexico. Gilly has plans for a four-star hotel on his property, maybe a nightclub too, once his pension from the railroad comes in. We must have stayed at that picnic table for hours listening and eating salsa, which was, by the way, excellent. So if you're ever in Hatch, ask for Gilly's Chiles. He even outfitted us with matching Gilly's t-shirts. John and I give the place a ringing endorsement.

Emory Pass

John and I put the salsa and chiles to work the next night near Caballo Lake. We met up with Joe and Brian, two cross-country bicyclists from Santa Cruz, and had a Mexican-style feast, complete with Coronas and fresh-made guacamole. We got the low-down on Emory Pass, elevation 8228 feet, which the guys had just come down.

Even though the ride up the mountain was slow, with a strong headwind for us, John and I made it up the ridiculous hairpins and switchbacks without a hitch. Hwy 152 is just an insanely steep road, with lots of gorgeous pine forest. We descended down the pass just a few miles to a forest service picnic site with little log shelters, the perfect place to camp on a windy mountaintop.

"Downhill" to Silver City

Having climbed about 3800 feet in 35 miles, John thought the next day just had to be easy--we were wrong. Emory Pass seemed to be uphill both ways. A vicious headwind took the joy out of our big downhills and not to mention the highway has you winding up and downhill all day. Going "downhill" to Silver City was probably the toughest 40 miles we've biked on this trip.

Gila Hot Springs

John and I got to take a welcome day of rest, since we had planned to meet up with Adrian and Jim Friday in Silver City. We were psyched about rest--and not biking through the mountains again--so we decided to pick up a car and drive the 44 miles up to the Gila Cliff Dwellings national monument and Gila Hot Springs. I drove North on Hwy 15, and I have to say the craziness of this road topped Emory Pass--so many curves and climbs, it took almost two hours to get there! It was worth the trip, though, to see the five caves built into the Gila River canyon. They were built by the Mogollon around the 1200s, and today archeologists believe they were used more for ceremony and ritual then for actual habitation. John and I topped the day off with a visit to a one of the many natural hot springs in the area and had a good long soak.

Back in town, we met up with Adrian, who faced the same tormenting headwind we had the day before. (I hope it's not like this all the way to San Diego...). Unfortunately, Jim had to head back to El Paso in order to make his flight back to Quito, Ecuador, where he and his wife live and run a hotel. Today, the three of us mobilize for the Arizona border (near the unusually named town of "Three-Way"), heading straight into the wind.