Well .... first of all "The Wall" is a joke. While there are 3 miles of 16' high metal fencing installed ("The Wall") ... they have it going over the top of a hill that no one in their right mind would choose to cross when the valley floor is so easy to walk on ... and the valley floor has these wimpy little metal posts with 2 strands of barb wire. Really .... that is the best we can do?? Three miles of mountain top fence and 27 miles of nearly nearly nothing right next to a major Mexican highway ... And you want to know why there is a problem??? Apparently this can't even keep the cows on their own side as they kept telling us about all the time the Park Service has to spend chasing them back over the highway.
So we spent an hour bumping along a dusty dirt road in a caravan with the ominous looking black SUV with armed Park Rangers in the lead and our two white vans (with targets painted on top??) following. We were told in our mandatory 'safety' meeting before departure that any 'activity' in the area would cancel or delay our trip and to please not take photos of the guards as that can cause issues with their future safety. We figured that all would be fine even though this was a new venture for them as we were the first vans of tourist to go. Our guides said that last week's dry run had been delayed for an hour when there was an issue on the border so we needed to be flexible.We figured
they have it covered.
We pass two Border Patrol vans coming our way and one weird Border Patrol 'station', and have two Border Patrol/ Park Rangers (hard to tell the difference) on separate ATV's pass us like kids out on a joy ride but going our way. So, on the way out, about half way into our trip, the radio our driver carried started talking about activity and we come around a corner and there are two Law Enforcement types with bullet proof vests, fully loaded strapped on other weapons, and carrying large automatic weapons, walking behind two Hispanic men with their wrists tied in front of them. They are marching these prisoners towards our road maybe 150ft from where we drive by. OK. So ... granted they don't look very scary ... as a matter of fact they look like teenagers or young adults and they look very poor. So we decide that it wasn't really such a threatening situation and I guess we should not be concerned. They are probably just some 'kids' trying to come across for a chance to escape poverty. A little uneasy, as this was obviously "activity" in our opinion but hey ... what do we know? We are in the care of Uncle Sam.
When we got to our destination there was another SUV parked there with 2
armed/vested guards with automatic type weapons waiting for us and then we saw
two more armed/vested guards on the hill behind us watching the small bowl we
were in. While we toured the site they hovered in front and behind us watching the surrounding areas. Lots of radios crackling with code numbers and we felt like we were in a low budget, barely believable premise spy movie and we were the stupid tourists who did not know if the CIA was the good guys or the bad guys. A little hard to concentrate on the Naturalist guided tour, but we tried.
Quitobaquito is a historic site within a few hundred feet of the border and this place is a traditional crossroads and trading site for the Native Americans because of it's rare spring fed oasis in the middle of the hot dry desert. The endangered pup fish and desert turtles are here and several species of water fowl, it was very beautiful and peaceful, (except for the spy types lingering on the fringes supposedly protecting us). It is still used by the local natives as a place to honor their ancestors with stone circles and offerings that are left on a regular basis. There are a lot of artifacts and graves in the area and there needs to be digs but it's location makes it nearly impossible to have crews there safely.
Our return trip becomes even more perplexing. We are in the last van in our caravan and the guards that were at the oasis with us are now in the lead and the team that was on the hill is supposed to be following somewhere behind us, but we haven't seen them. Suddenly one of the earlier ATV guys comes out of nowhere and goes speeding by us on the left and goes to the front of our caravan and the other ATV guy goes screaming by on our right along the border fence and off into the distance. The first one pulls up even with our lead car and motions to them and we all stop.... in the middle of the road ... right next to the border and this busy Mexican highway. The guys gets off the ATV and the lead car guards get out with their guns and German Shepard dog who proceeds to sniff all over the ATV and he finally 'sits'. Our guards go over and give the dog a reward as we gawk at this scene ....the ATV's both have the backs loaded with burlap covered parcels that they appear to have just picked up in the desert.
Ok ... so we definitely think that this was "activity" that we should not have been exposed to ... I don't understand all the security hype telling us Uncle Sam has our backs and then they allow us to be in this situation. Even our driver is thinking this is strange and there was no warning about it on the radio he carried. Maybe it is not dangerous to be sitting in the middle of a caravan by the border when the cartel guys just got their expensive shipment confiscated and it is sitting in a hot little mess right next to us ... who says they aren't watching too??? What if they decided they wanted to take it back? We think this is just a bit too much.
Our friends that were with us think the whole thing was a set up to impress the "tourists" with the effectiveness of our Homeland Security. I suppose it is possible....it seems like a real waste of money and resources to try to impress a few unconnected dumb sightseers who have no authority or status.
We think maybe the 'good guys' are just delighted when they actually find something and could not help being show-offs for us. Who really knows ... The whole thing to us was more than a little creepy and we are still trying to digest the entire bizarre experience.
So today we stay in the campground and read books and think about moving on to someplace else in the next few days. Too bad. It is 80 today and beautiful.
Predictions are for the strongest storm of the winter to be hitting on Sat and lasting until Monday. Winds are estimated at 45mph sustained with gusts to 70mph. Snow levels will drop to 2500 ft or lower and thunderstorms are predicted along with blowing dust/sand on the highways. Hard to believe that this summer like weather can turn so quickly. We have moved down to Borrego Springs (about 50 miles) where the State Park campground is and cell service, groceries, laundry, and showers. We are ready for the showers after over a week on the trails. Friday night was uneventful, hard to believe that the weather was going to turn. Highs in the 80's still and slept with all windows open. Saturday afternoon things turned blustery and we moved into the section of campground with electric hookups to ride this out. Doug and Frankie took their A-frame pop up and went about 100 miles north, out of the park, and into the suburbs of Palm Springs to a sheltered campground. Their pop up can only handle winds to about 45mph before it can be damaged. By 8:00 at night the winds were rocking our little boat ... actually it felt more like turbulence in an airplane ... or maybe a Mexican bus ride. It was still pretty warm and we were in shorts and t shirts and trying to keep a few windows slightly cracked for ventilation. Gusts were really strong but our little van was faced into the wind and we remained cozy. Winds slowed sometime after midnight and then the rains started. Rained most of the night and when we woke up the snow was on the mountains just above us and it was much cooler. Maybe into the low 50's. Today is still rocky with on and off winds and blustery conditions, a little hail, no thunderstorms yet, cool and we have holed up, done our shopping and laundry and catching up with everyone. Tomorrow should be moderating and most of this storm will have blown on through Arizona and into the midwest where it will probably cause some havoc. We think this is the same storm from he Pacific NW that dumped all the snow on the Oregon Coast and gave Larry & Gina a real ride outside of Florence. So we hope to have a few more days here in Anza and then move on to Joshua Tree if the weather improves. I am sure they got a lot of snow with this system as they are a lot higher in elevation. We will continue to work our way home, but are not quite ready to end this adventure.
