Determined to sleep in, I’m wide awake at 7 am. Oh well.

Silver City is perfectly organized for hikers. Hotel, food, coffee, gear store, laundry, and post office are all a few blocks from each other. We have a casually busy day visiting these places. They straddle a deep arroyo that runs right through town called the Big Ditch. It used to be Main Street until a flood excavated it over a century ago. The rest of the town survived partially due to the sturdy brick construction that is the norm here. Silver City probably owes its existence more to the establishment of a brick factory here than than the short-lived silver boom that launched it.

We do our laundry along the strip east of the Big Ditch, once famous for brothels with names like “Millie’s”. We’re amused to see that “Millie’s” is now the name of a senior assisted living home next to the post office.

Ann’s feet are better, but she’s still getting some pain in her Achilles tendons. Tonight we’re elevating and icing them, with more of the same planned for tommorrow.