Border Road 100

Great pics! I grew up on the AZ/NM/ Mex border in the 50-60's. Much different place then. No dopers.

Rode some of the same route last Christmas time. Was disappointed that the road to the Skeleton Canyon Geronimo Surrender site is closed from the Arizona side. Do you happen to know another way in?

Wow..... haven't seen those cave glyphs since the late seventies. Glad they're still in good shape. So much of that stuff has been vandalized into oblivion.

Exactly what do the folks in D.C. mean by "secure" when they say the Mex border is more secure?

Fantastic report and highly entertaining, interesting pictures. No wonder so many people stream across the border, such a joke in what appears to be many long stretches. Yeah, secure, right. Amazing shots of the petroglyphs, though I have to say some of them look like some of the fences along the border!

I hope there's more to come! Thanks for taking the time.

I haven't explored too much yet west of HWY 81, but hopefully I will get to in the near future. It really is a desolate but beautiful area down there.

Yeah, whats weird about some of the drawings is that they almost resemble the skyline of a city. The repeating tic mark drawings almost look like some sort of calendar or way to keep track of time.

Awesome report. Very well done.

I used to ride the border road from Yuma, AZ back to the East about 40 miles or so in 1990/1991. Back then, there was a border fence at San Luis to keep pedestrians out. It went for maybe a mile or two. From there the fence changed to simple 4 strand barbed wire, which eventually disappeared into nothing more than a USGS headstamp set in the sand about every 1/4 mile or so. I would guess that is what our government means when they tell us or border is secure. Compared to 1990, it is more secure than it was, but...

I had been stopped by curious Border Patrol agents in the area more than once while I was riding my DR350S. Most were preety decent, though some could be real harda$$e$. It's a pretty thankless job with a lot of frustration on their part.

-Joe

Bullitman281 standing next to some metates. These are holes carved into the stone floor by the natives and used to grind corn and other food.


The amount of effort required to create these numerous holes is amazing. Using nothing but rocks to carve an almost perfect circle into stone would have taken years. Another metate next to a full sized Glock for size comparison


Looking out from one of the caves towards the border


Back at camp we set up our tents


While unpacking the supplies, the backpacking stove did not show up. I had triple checked the list and was positive I had packed it, but it was no where to be found. This elevated Bullitman281 into an excited state because he left his at the house when I assured him I had packed mine. He wasn't keen on the idea of drinking water straight from the spout of a windmill and began weighing his options on how to purify water for cooking and cleaning the mouthpiece for his camelbak (since it fell into a pile of cow crap when he set it on the ground earlier). Since iodine drops would make the water taste like crap, we decided a small campfire was necessary for cooking and Bullitman281's relentless quest for purified water.

I had no qualms drinking the water straight from the pipe. Here he is purifying water the long and hard way.


Carefully building up the coals while 3 cans of dinner sat nearby


Not a bad campsite


The sun began setting and the landscape seemed to brighten




In the morning while packing up the gear, my backpacking stove appeared. Both of us had torn through all of our bags repeatedly and couldn't find it, but come morning it popped out of a pocket we both overlooked. This discovery put Bullitman281 in a cursing fit and I nearly fell over laughing.

That morning we headed East from camp back towards the border, passing another old ranch house lost in time


Arriving at the border we were greeting by a rather fancy house on the Mexican side


Just to the south of that was a shack that housed a family


We continued south, towards the bottom corner. The road varied from decent to washed out. Here are some more lovely silt beds



At this point the road vanished into badlands and made for an interesting crossing. That is the border fence on the left


Looking south, the bottom corner of the bootheel is tucked away behind those hills


At the base of the hills the road disappeared and all that was left was an ancient jeep trail leading to the corner monument



We had finally made it to Monument 53, surrounded on three sides by Mexico

Our journey would was now no longer taking us south, but to the West. Here you can see that there is no real border road along this portion, but only stretches of trails that wind along in a maze like fashion


Looking NW from the monument


We stumbled upon another old homestead site along our path.



The earliest date I could find in concrete was this one, 1881, over 30 years before New Mexico was even a state


Obviously this homestead had been added on to for the next 60-70 years. The inside was in decent shape and not too vandalized



Out front was a natural spring that formed a small pond/swamp area


Immediately over the next hill the landscape became hot, dry and barren again. Ocotillos dotted the hillside

Still traveling West towards HWY 81 our trail raced through the desert landscape with washed out roads, until we arrived at the old Custom's house from a time forgotten.


I'm not sure when this structure was first built, but you can see it had several additions made to it.




I'm guessing this was the front door/entrance


Just to the West of this we finally ran into blacktop again and followed HWY 81 South for a couple of miles until we arrived at the new Port of Entry


Looking South into Mexico

Great RR

Awesome RR. I hope to make a similar journey soon. But not right now. it's hawt down here.

It is pretty warm down here now, and no rain in sight. We will probably do the same trip again or something similar next year.

great stuff


Thanks for providing a link to this report. I've been wanting to do this for awhile but things always seem to get in the way. Your narration is top notch. It gives a lot of details to the things you see along the the route - Chipas, rammed gates, cut fences and better detail into the demise of Evans. I didn't know he was working on the border fence, I assumed it was mining related. Zona Despoblada indeed.

Like you say. This area is desolate. Even though it's in the US, you still get a big time adventure.

I've heard those caves are on private land and the owners are dicks if they catch you? Also, they keep putting their own locks on gates?

A couple of years old, but this was still a great report! Awesome!!

Glad this thread got bumped. I liked it as much now as originally. Surpsied I didn't say something back then. Excellent adventure, well told, in a fascinating spot.

Great!!

What these guys never realized is that they were watched all the way from Columbus. The BP has very accurate positioning sensors all over down there. They know who is at, and who is crossing that border. We really don't need a fence at all. Just a good way to deal with those caught is what is needed most. A fence is easily defeated by a few good men with shovels and picks or a cherry picker and a rope ladder, or cutting torch. But those sensors and cameras know you are there.

There are several routes you can take. Alamo Hueco Rd has gates and they are locked at random times. You can also head in from Monument 40 and make your way south (probably the best chance for no locked gates). The road from HWY 81 @ mile marker 1.5 is usually always locked.

I know very well indeed. I can't give any details about the sensors/cameras but there is some truth to what you say.
I can't post any pics of the pickle suit, but here are some collateral duties:

Great pictures and very well written. Great job, Rugged, and very cool trip. Kudos, Man.