Jeep ride to Patagonia, Arizona

Thursday, March 15, 2018 – Location:  Las Cienegas NCA near Sonoita, Arizona

A cold front came through last night bringing cooler temperatures and windy conditions for the next few days.  High of 62 degrees today, but with the winds, it will feel cool.  Luckily, the sun is going to shine all day.

Awoke fairly early this morning to turn on the Wave and got back into bed.  Did some blog reading and when it was warm enough, Yuma and I went for our morning walk.  Down in the valley, the wind was not bad. 

As I was fixing breakfast around 9 o’clock, I looked out my window and saw two riders turn and come up our lane.  Grabbed my camera and the leash for Yuma and stepped outside to greet them.

I asked if I could take their pictures and they said sure.  I then asked if they were part of the endurance run and was it this weekend.  They  said yes.  It starts tomorrow and runs through Sunday.  Hooray!  I timed it just right.  Got here early enough to get the best seat in the house, same as last year.

I told them I was here last year and just loved watching all the horses go by my camp.  One of the women said she remembered me from last year.  That’s great!

If I’m going to visit Patagonia, it better be today.  May have other things to do over the weekend.  Around noon, Yuma and I jumped in the Jeep and headed south through Sonoita, turned right on highway 82 towards Patagonia.

Looks like a cowboy following his cow and calf on the hilltop going into Sonoita, but it is actually made of metal.

Patagonia is 12 miles south of Sonoita, so it didn’t take long to get there,

Patagonia is a colorful small town not far from the Mexican border.  There is a lot of border patrol activity in the area.  No stop lights and a number of colorful buildings.

The marshal has a distinctive car.  Hope the bad guys stay on the main roads.  Actually, it is his personal car and not his patrol truck.

 

Note the PIGS.

After walking down the main street, I decided to take a drive south on Harshaw Road.  It goes past the the now ghost town of Harshaw.  Not much left. 

Drove back into the area where the town was located, but ran into a farm house that looked occupied so turned around.  Got this picture of this old house as I turned around.  Lots of Keep Out signs everywhere, so didn’t feel comfortable.  People living back here want their privacy.

Drove another ten miles south but didn’t see much of interest.  The road was a forest road and very poor.  I did see a lot of building going on back in the mountains.   Saw a sign saying no video or cameras allowed to be used in the area.  So, no pictures.  There was a lot of big earth moving equipment in the forest building a road up the mountain.

Appeared that the government was building a look out compound on top of one of the mountains to watch for illegal aliens passing through the area.

Coming back north on highway 82, I saw this beautiful gate and had to get a photo of it.

When we drove by the horse camp this afternoon around 3 o’clock, I could see many more horse trailers. 

Ahead of me on the road were two horses and riders heading down the trail.  I think they are scouting out the area in preparation for their rides tomorrow.

Two more riders came along before sundown.

See you later.