April 18, 2013 – Beautiful Drive, Ghost Town, and a Low Lake

This morning we woke to calm skies so we took advantage of it by going to the ghost town of Chloride.

Our first stop was at McRae Canyon:

 

 

Then we took NM 52 towards Winston and Chloride.  This road is a journey in itself.  We started out on the plateau and then up and down through the mountains – WOW!:

 

We arrived at the town of Chloride were there are 11 residents – 7 of them live here year round.  Here is a  little info on the town:

Here is the best information that I found out about the town:

http://www.pioneerstoremuseum.com/General_Information.html#history

In 1977, Donald and Dona Edmunds began buying the buildings and properties and started restoring them.

We started our tour here at the Gallery.

Our tour guide, Linda, then took us to the Pioneer Store.

 

 

The most fascinating thing for me was this.  In 1923 the store was closed and sealed with lumber and tin over the doors and windows.  All of the original furnishings for the store and the Post Office, along with all of the items of merchandise, including food, were left in the building.  When the Edmonds bought this building in 1989, all those items were still there.

Our tour guide, Linda, who is the daughter of Dona and Donald:

The other building that was open was the Grafton Cabin:

  

Other buildings in the town:

 

“Initially, Chloride also did not have a jail. The live oak tree that still stands in the middle of Wall Street, known as the Hangin' Tree, served the purpose to some extent. We were told that if the cowboys or miners got too rowdy from too much booze, they would be dunked in the stock tank, then chained to the tree until they saw the error of their ways. The village of Fairview (now Winston) was started a few years after Chloride by the gentle folk who could not abide the rowdy element in Chloride. “

And the two best pictures of the day:

TV in the Bathroom???

The gate is the only part of the fence left – LOL:

Nearby is the St. Cloud Mine that started as a silver mine – many of the people who lived in Chloride worked that mine.  Many years later, zeolite was discovered and now this is the largest producer of zeolite in the world.  No public access – :-((

What a wonderful little place!  And well worth the visit if you are in this area.

Our return trip to Elephant Butte Lake was just as picturesque:

 

We continued our journey by checking out some of the other areas of Elephant Butte Lake and were shocked by the many areas that are shut down.  Here is one of the boat launches:

Another boat launch that is still ok for now.  The water use to be where those cars are parked:

The white lines on the cliff are where the lake should be:

According to what I could find, the lake is only filled to the 5 % level – now that is scary.  It is due to the lack of snow melt and severe drought in the area for the past few years.  Released water from this lake is used for irrigation and drinking water for towns downstream.  Really Scary if there is no water!

It was another great road trip day.  Stay tuned for tomorrow and enjoy today!