Advertisement
Published: March 16th 2008
Chapter 9 Alamos, Sonora, Mexico to Silver City, New Mexico, USA
Photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Ches.Alli/Chapter9AlamosToUSA When we left you at the end of Chapter 8 we were in Alamos, Sonora. We ended up staying there for nine days and, as usual, we became quite accustomed to our campground and the small town of Alamos. We had several good friends in a short time and felt quite at home. Besides the short termers, such as ourselves, we enjoyed the company of the folks who come down every winter and stay at the Rancho Acosta and they of course knew the area much better and were a big help in showing us where to go and what to do. Alamos as we described before is in the foot hills of the Sierra Madre mountains and is very dry in the winter. The hills are a sort of scrub and before we left it became quite hot.
By Thursday, February 27 we were ready to roll again and set off for San Carlos, about 10 km north of Guaymas along the Sea of Cortez. We had been there twice before when we still lived in Santa Fe. It is a great vacation destination from
New Mexico because it is only about 5 hours from the border crossing of Nogales, Arizona all on 4 lane highways in pretty good condition. Though it is not your quaint little village it is a beautiful mix of Sonoran desert and Sea of Cortez. We checked into Totonakas RV Park where we had stayed both times before (
http://www.totonakarv.com/ ). Even though it is full of the big rigs, it is a nice park, well run with clean bathrooms and has wi-fi. It is also right across the road from the pebble beach and provides easy access to San Carlos. The town is small with many tourists but is pretty low key. It has a marina and many people come here to sail and/or fish. Our neighbors in the park were artists from Silverton, Co. traveling in a VW camper and had just bought a sailboat they were fixing up. They planned to spend there winters here.
Our first day there we rode our bicycles towards the mountains and into a very intense desert in search of an oasis we had heard about in our previous visits. After several miles of riding and scanning the mountains for anything green
we came to a trail with a sign pointing into a hidden, twisting canyon. Leaving our bikes we walked into the oasis thick with palms crammed between huge boulders and seeping pools of water covered by dried fronds littering the ground. It was an amazing place to walk from the bright sun of the desert into the cool moist and dark pools under towering crowded palms which were in turn dwarfed by the mountains forming the canyon, covered in stone and cactus. And just as we were to be turned around by the boulders some hikers came up behind us who knew a tunnel which led upwards to yet another series of pools. We hope to make it back to that spot again.
The next day we decided to take the local bus into Guaymas to look around and do some shopping in the mercado. Guaymas is a fishing port and a docking for the ferry over to Baja. It is a bit gritty and of only marginal tourist interest but they seem to be working hard to fix the town up with a new malecon along the bay so in the near future it may deserve another look.
As with San Carlos it is in a great location with desert, mountains, and sea all right there with easy access to Arizona. After a couple of more days in the campground doing laundry and cleaning the van inside and out we were ready to hit the road again and continue north towards the border.
Monday March the 3rd we set off again and after passing through the city of Hermosillo we made another diversion heading east on Mexico 14 for about 100 km. and then north on Sonora 118 (well our Guia Roji map calls it 118 but the roads signs used another number which was common on our trip) to the small town of Aconchi where we had been hearing for years about a hot springs. While we were in Alamos a couple of people had given us rough directions to the springs and now we had the time to look for them ourselves. As we drove out of Hermosillo we rose up from the desert towards the Sierra Madre Mountains way off to the east. The traffic was light and the scenery got increasingly nicer. We were roughly following the Rio Sonora and there were irrigated fields where the river valley flattened out and where the canyons were narrow there were few people and wild land.
When we turned north towards Aconchi we passed one last military road block. There had been a shootout to the north of here last year between the drug gangs, police and the military and so the military was a reassuring sight. Of the three groups, one can only count on the military to be who they appear to be. Being in a cargo van they wanted to have a look inside and were only slightly amused when we said we had a cat and didn't want her to escape. Of course the Kitty was no dummy and would always run way back and under to her favorite hiding place under the bed. After they had had a quick look around we were on our way and soon were in Aconchi, a small town of farmers surrounded by acres of irrigated fields.
As we started to look for the turnoff to the springs we were surprised to see signs pointing the way. In Mexico signs are a rarity and usually one only finds them when they are pointing straight ahead. Whenever there is a turn to be made there is no sign, no nothing. But in this case signs directed us the whole way. The springs were back about 5 miles on rough roads and required fording the Rio Sonora at one point. Fortunately the river was pretty low because it was the dry season and much of the water was being diverted for irrigating. Soon we reached the springs back up in a small canyon and tried to assess the place. We found a place to camp right next to one of the pools and we even had a picnic table, another rarity in Mexico. The place is run by the state and directly a man came to collect the $6 to camp for the night. There were no rules, no designated campsites, just pay the money. Besides 5 or so soaking pools they had a couple of larger pools which were empty for painting in preparation for Easter weekend which was coming up and is a huge holiday in Mexico. Also they had concrete tubs for doing laundry and private baths where one could use soap. It was a one stop shop for soaking and multi purpose cleaning and all in all a pretty nice place.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Ches.Alli/Chapter9AlamosToUSA On the Monday afternoon and evening we were there, a steady stream of people, both locals and gringos, stopped to soak, picnic, party or just hang out but it was never crowded. The weekends are another matter, and we decided to stay only one night.
The next morning we were on our way to the border. The drive north to the border was truly amazing. It was a twisting winding road in terrible condition but the scenery was some of the most beautiful we had seen anywhere on our trip. We continued to follow the Rio Sonora in places with its thread of greenery snaking along even having to ford it in places as they don't do bridges much in this area. But where the canyons got too narrow for roads we would wind our way up and over with dramatic views of the stark desert scrub bathed in colors of red and yellow earth and stone in endless vistas over the mountain ranges.
We must have been averaging 25 to 35 mph because of the condition of the road and in places one misstep would have sent us hurtling over the edge. Remember in most of Mexico there are no guardrails or shoulders and the roads are very narrow. We finally made it to Cananea just south of the Arizona border where we found the Banercito office where we were required to turn in our vehicle permit and off we headed to the small border crossing of Naco just south of Bisbee. The crossing was as easy as it gets with only four cars in front of us, a series of quick questions regarding fruits, vegetables, eggs and meat and we were back in the United States of America. We drove through Bisbee, gathering a few groceries at the co-op and heading to a night of free camping in the Coronado National Forest.
In Tucson the next day, we slipped back into the great American tradition of being good consumers. Our favorite food co-op/distribution center closed in January after 30 years in business, so we found another co-op in the funky, university part of the city. Efficiently we knocked off our list of things to purchase and headed to Catalina State Park near Oro Valley on the northern outskirts of Tucson. We were lucky to get a spot on Wednesday, because by Thursday morning, all the non-electric sites were taken.
The first night there we had a freeze and even the kitty who usually slept on top of one of us keeping close guard on the van wanted to crawl under the covers. Thankfully, the days were pleasant and great for hiking through the desert scrub, saguaro and barrel cactus and into the boulder covered hills. There are several trails as part of this park, and we hiked the Romero canyon trail twice to get to the reward of cool mountain pools. The switch-back laced trail was the longest 2.5 miles we've ever hiked and very steep as we climbed from the 2600' at the campground to 3700' by the time we got to the pools. We planned on leaving after only 2 nights as Ches kept his eye on the weather in New Mexico. We were becoming anxious to once again check out real estate in Silver City.
Rain was keeping her usual schedule of staying in the van even with the door open but was eager to check out the world and use the big litter box once 5:00 rolled around. She had proven herself reliable and cautious without the harness which Allison never succeeded in getting her to accept, returning if we called when we saw her wander too far from the van. The evenings were quite chilly and the warmth of the van was inviting - we were cooking outside but eating and reading inside instead of hanging out in the night air. It seems we all threw caution to the wind and Rain rolled with abandon in the open sandy area. At first we thought she must really itch, but then wondered if all this rolling was about hiding her scent or camouflage - she did it at every stop although Allison brushed her several times each day with the magic ZoomGroom. Rain checked back in with us (and on her food) several times and then, strangely, did not come for her 15 minute call back. And she never came back. We called each night and left the van door open all night long for the next several nights. Sadly, our ignorance of the area was probably her end. We were told the next day that Great Horned Owls live in this desert and were heard in the area. Yes, they are here too - not just in gigantic tall trees in forests. We decided to stay another 3 nights through the weekend while Allison looked for Rain and our neighbor who had camped here often over the years showed us potential owl nesting sites. We can't accept that she ran away after 9 months on the road and when we were presumably on the last leg of our journey, and we are grieving continually. By Monday March 13 we decided it was time to go and sadly moved on. We left our phone and email with the campground hosts and with some camping neighbors who will be there another 2 weeks in case they catch sight of her and we are pestering them often for news of a kitty siting.
We stopped again in Tucson to resupply (when everything is kept in a cooler, you purchase groceries every couple of days) and then we moved northeast to Roper Lake State Park near Safford, Az. where we had stayed back in November. We spent one night soaking in the hot springs there and then the next day made it to Silver City, NM.
http://www.pr.state.az.us/Parks/parkhtml/roper.html We have been looking for real estate for a week and so far have yet to find the perfect property. We expect to head north in a couple of days to take care of business in Santa Fe and check out property in northern New Mexico.
As we approach another crossroad in our lives, we hope all is well with each of you and that most of your days are filled with happiness. With love,
Allison and Ches
Photos of this leg of our journey are at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Ches.Alli/Chapter9AlamosToUSA
Advertisement
Tot: 0.181s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 10; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0721s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.1mb
