Weather today was just too beautiful to ignore, and by 1pm I took all three dogs up Ash Creek, and opted to hike up the dry wash until I reached the spring 1.5 mile uphill. It was warm enough to leave my fleece sweater in the truck. I wore a long-sleeved cotton shirt and black jeans.
This was a pretty hike, and a trail I don't remember ever being on. I followed what looked like an old mining trail gently uphill, passing a prospector's camp (and their beer bottles and cans). The dry wash was narrow and filled with large boulders, and got narrower as I got uphill. Large oaks and sycamores, and smaller yuccas, chollas and agaves lined this pretty creek bed. The dogs enjoyed the shaded trail. We even hit a few icy banks along the north slopes.
The nice thing about today's little hike is that we heard and saw no hunters anywhere. We could hike in peace.
After the dogs had their water break, we returned the same way back down. Two USBP vans had driven up to the upper trail head; I waved at them. But as I approached my vehicle I came across two more agents coming from the lower trail head.
"Excuse, can I ask you what you are doing here?" asked me one man. This is the first time I've ever been asked what I was doing in the National Forest from a forest ranger or a border patrol agent. I had three plastic bags with me, one was full of trash, trash that I picked up from the prospector's camp. Most of the trash was local; it was not from Mexico, and the contents were clearly visible through the Target bag.
"I hiked up to the spring with my dogs, took photos and on my way down picked up this trash." This is exactly what I did today, this is what I do most days, except today's trash was a little more than usual. (Normally I pick up a few beer cans, crush them, and then stuff them in my backpack)
The agents seems surprised that I would pick up trash in the National Forest. There's plenty more where it all came from!
The agents thanked me for cleaning up the forest.
"We saw a few dudes earlier here and they were acting a bit squirrely" said one of the agents. When he said that I then remembered seeing an older dark van driving off as I was driving into the trail head. They had a boxer-type dog in their back seat barking at my dogs.
I hadn't seen anyone else anywhere on the trail, nor did the dogs act like there were illegals hiding behind the mesquites away from the trail. After a few more pleasantries we went our separate ways: they went uphill, and I resumed my hike downhill back to my SUV. I had hiked a tad over 1.6 miles each way along the creek bed.
When I got back to my SUV I saw six more people. Two of them were older men, one who wore an old army BDU jacket. Both men wore patches from the "Patriots Coalition" (PC) on their right chest pockets. The man with the black cowboy hat was taking photographs with an expensive dSLR and all look like they were assessing the area. And then I noticed two younger men, one, Patrick, with a press badge from the New York Times.
Patrick was working on a investigative report of this group that patrols the international border and also reports trash heaps to the local national forest offices. He's a Senior at the UA-Journalism school and this was his final project. The New York Times uses the best reports of graduating seniors in their main newspaper. (Oh uh...)
The photographer, who had the "Canon" trademark" taped over with black electrical tape to keep strangers from asking about his camera, took photos of the resting dogs through my SUV's open rear window. He even asked for their names and he wrote them down. Will their handsome snouts be in the NYTimes, too? They were following the PC members into these treacherous canyons and writing about their activities. Patrick was dressed in a dark-blue blazer and khaki pants, something that just doesn't suit these rugged mountains well.
Perhaps this is why the USBP agents were asking me what I was doing further up the trail: I, too had my Canon slung around my neck and the trash bags in my left hand. But I had nothing to do with these members of the Patriots Coalition. I prefer to hike alone because of the dogs.
The two agents came back, got into their vans (one was parked near my SUV) and went elsewhere. I stayed and chatted with the Patriots Coalition members. Lee, an army veteran sporting one tooth in his lower jaw, said he has been a member of the PC since 2005 and with other local members patrol these mountains for illegals and trash heaps. Dressed in a black cap and a dirty old army jacket, he looked more like a homeless man than a member of a border watch group.
"The worst part is along the southern foothills and the trails closer to the border" said Lee. That I could attest to. "When I patrol along there I always take my gun with me." We also mentioned other canyons that are prone to attract illegal border crossers: Brown, Hunter, Carr and Bear.
"You sound like my husband! If he had it his way he'd want me leaving the house with a pistol, a shotgun and a semi-automatic rifle. But I leave that stuff at home because I have my dogs."
Lee handed me a business card. "You can check out our website: patriotscoalition.com" I promised him I'd give it to Kevin who may be interested in checking this group out. I don't mind if he does, as long as he promises me not to do anything extreme.
We got back home at 3:30pm. My Foghorn Oregon Hiking guide had already arrived today! Now I just need the Benchmark gazetteer before I can make tentative plans for this summer.
Tomorrow will be a hikeless day, as I have errands to run in town. The local weather said it hit 70F today. After reading about the latest snowstorms across teh Midwest, and the week-long single-digit temperatures across Chicagoland, I am grateful I did not fly or drive back there over the holiday. I had planned on being back in Arizona by Friday.
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/fromcomments/324243.php
http://www.post-trib.com/news/1977979,snow0107.article
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/01/snow-begins-falling-over-chicago-area.html
No comments:
Post a Comment