And...he's off!

First thing Saturday morning, May 1st, we headed to the border to drop John off at the start of the trail. It was a little confusing, finding the dirt road which led to the start of the trail, but once on the right track, we spotted the unending line of dark brown corrugated metal wall which is the border. Surprisingly, the whole thing felt 'creepy'. I wasn't expecting that. Maybe it was that the whole place is crawling with Border Patrol, or the fact that Arizona just passed a sweeping anti-immigrant law, which was being contested in court and that scheduled today are protests around the country against the law. Or, maybe it was that it is out in the middle of nowhere, nothing much in site, except suspicious-looking police, and knowing that the people who chance to cross the border can be desperate--and some can be drug dealers.

Mexican US Border

Whatever the feeling was, it soon passed, as we were spotted by the Border Patrol who waited for us to approach them. They were sitting in their truck with binoculars sweeping the hills behind the great fence. I should say that the metal fence is one line of defense, then a dirt road, then a regular wire fence, then another dirt road, over which the Border Patrol constantly roam.

The obligatory pictures taken, with a kiss and a reassuring 'I love you', John was off on the trail. The Border Patrol agent said John was about the third person that morning to start on the trail. For my part, I went back to the motel, took care of some business including calling our daughter to wish her a happy birthday, and was off to take some pictures. I took a beautiful ride along the border, which was populated by small ranches, horses, and very nice houses. I was surprised at the prosperity of the places, as well as the fact that they were apparently not too concerned about being on the border, as there were no walls, bars on the windows, etc. Just people living in a beautiful, country setting.

John at Start of PCT-Border Fence in Background

I'm not usually the picture-taker in our family, so John had given me some instructions on how to use his Nikon D-4 digital camera. I quickly found that, "Hey, this is kinda fun." But, also, frustrating. I feel I cannot adequately convey the majestic scenery and the feel of this place in pictures. The landscape is truly dramatic. Big boulders, spring flowers, green pastures laced with yellow flowers--horses grazing. Nice ranch houses~~not like farms in the east, but REALLY western~~just like in the movies! (Including the fences; love those fences.)

However, I swear, every single time I stopped to take a picture, here would come a Border Patrol agent to check to see if I (or the car) was all right. I have very mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, I am a woman alone, and if my car (with its 245,710 miles on it) should break down, that could be bad. On the other hand, enough already! In talking to a woman who lives here that I met at an overlook, she is fed up with having to be stopped by the same person every day as she goes to and from work and the grocery store. She said she finally told the guy, "Look, I come by here and see you every day. Don't you know me yet?" Ah, life in a police state.