At the risk of sounding like a downer (which I am DEFINITELY NOT), I would suggest on Saturday to bring something along to help cut down the amount of dust you are breathing. Unless it's raining or has just rained, which is highly unlikely based on the wx reports, the trip up to Silver City will be an hour or two of very dusty driving. Chances are, the driver will have the air conditioning on, but in our van didn't have it on recirculate and it was pulling in almost as much dust as if we would have had the windows open. I don't have COPD or Asthma or anything like that, but I was beginning to feel the effects of the dust as we got closer to Silver City. I noticed other people coughing, too. I'm going to bring a handkerchief or bandana or something along just in case. Of course, if you are in the lead van - great!

Also, the elevation at Silver City is about 6500' - up from 2800 at Murphy, so if you are a "flatlander" you might start to feel the effects of elevation.

I don't think we will be doing much "hiking". All of the mine sites we visited last year were easily accessible by van. If you want to climb the pile of ore (wait 'til you see these monsters), you will definitely want to have some sturdy shoes/boots. And, it will definitely be cooler up there.