Just a quick note and a few photos. We made it to Flagstaff Arizona for the Thanksgiving week. Monday was meant to be basically a straight driving day. Travel literature picked up in Silver City NM mentioned an location called ”The Catwalk”. It was just a 5 mile detour off our planned route so we decided to give it a try.
The Catwalk dates back to the mining days of the late 1800s. The geology and topography of this area of New Mexico were impacted by a caldera formed by a series of volcanic explosions. This is evident by the bowl shaped region and by the volcanic rocks along the walls of the canyon. Gold discovered in the mountains above this canyon presented difficulties in operating a mill to process the gold-a lack of water. Resolution was to construct the mill at the end of the canyon below the mines and construct a water pipeline from water sources higher in the mountains down the canyon to the mill.
The bolts used to attach the water pipeline are still evident in the sides of the canyon. The mill only lasted 10 years. In the 1930s, the CCC installed a wooden recreation trail along the canyon. In the 1960s, the U.S. Forest Service installed a metal railing and upgraded it in 2003. This is what we walked along. The brief delay and short hike were well worth the extra 40 minutes in travel time.
The rest of the trip was uneventful. Pleasant mountain and desert scenery. We passed previous travel attractions such as the NPS Petrified Forest, the town of Winslow, and Meteor Crater. We will be in Flagstaff for the next week.
Ed and Chris, Monday Nov. 23, 2021
Chris Klejbuk and Ed Heimel travel adventure 
I love the information and photos about The Catwalk. Looks lime a beautiful area.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.