Silver City - New Mexico - Rest day

Motel, Hurley, NM

The plan was to head into Silver City, get some food and supplies.  Wait for Pete and Greg to catch up, then head north and find somewhere to camp.  We'll avoid riding in the heat of the day (about 3pm-8pm)

It's hot, of course, and I'm drinking lots and trying to rest my body as much as possible.   Silver City is a wild west town! 

Greg needs time to recover, so we've decided to stay the night in town. 
The Palace Hotel, built in 1882.  We're all a bit dehydrated and tired.  The next 3 days in the Gila is going to be hard going, so we'll rest up and head out early in the morning to beat the heat.

Palace hotel

There is a drought on, worst for New Mexico in several years, so water is going to be short supply in the Gila Wilderness Area.  We asked at the local bike shop about water in the Gila...there's not much between here and Colorado.

The guy gave us lots of good tips, like digging down through the stream bed to get water, and to always fill up all our water containers whenever we find water. It's going to be a lean few days...