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FALL 2016 ISSUE 02 / VOL. 01
Left and above: I stayed at the Palace Hotel in Silver City, which originally opened as a bank in 1882. It was converted to a hotel in 1900.
Apache Creek through the Gila National Forest, some without warning, including a large gobbler that landed right in the middle of the road in front of me. Farther along, I had to wait for two cows and a calf to get across the road, and 10 miles after that a herd of mule deer.
I was glad to get to the county seat of Reserve, my next stop. A small ranching and logging town named for the area’ s forest reserve, its 400-plus people seem extremely friendly, and Uncle Bill’ s Bar is well known to motorcyclists far and wide. Uncle Bill opened the bar in 1890 and his granddaughter still runs the place. A smothered burrito at Carmen’ s Restaurant across the street hit the spot.
Heading south again on State Route 12 and State Route 180 became a beautiful cruise over mountains and through canyons with jagged rhyolite flows, tuffs and many lahars( volcanic mud flows). The country starts to open up along the San Francisco River and south toward the Mogollon( Muggy-YONE) Mountains that soar up to 11,000 feet.
Just north of Glenwood, I took the nine-mile twisty road( 10 mph means 5-10 mph) to the mining ghost town of Mogollon, which is in a nice valley with a stream running through it. It has shops, a museum