Thursday February 8, 2018
After the previous three day’s exertion, I once again woke up with stiff calves that made walking across the room an effort. But, I knew I had a full day ahead of me and I wanted to get out there. The sun was coming up as drove through the park.
The couple from Arizona had suggested the trail out to Mule Ears Spring . It’s a relatively easy two miles each way. Just perfect for my day. From the parking area, you can easily see where the name Mule Ears comes from. Those spires are cones from very old volcanoes. The erupted at separate times and they’re not as close together as they look.
The trail out was more rolling hills than steep inclines. It was just what I needed to start the day. Considering the fact I was hiking into the low sun, most of the photos are from the hike back.
Out of the blue, I came across an unexpected rock wall. Upon further investigation it made sense. This is a stone corral, adjacent to the spring.
As for the spring...
The trail continues on and connects with more trails. I could have spent the day in this part of the park. But, I had an adventure ahead of me and it had a hard time limit. So, I walked another half mile or so before turning back. Close enough to call it five miles round trip.
These are from the hike back...
Back at the car I knew it was time. Time for a true adventure. I was headed somewhere I had never been. It’s about a forty minute drive to the very edge of the park road. That’s where you find the border crossing for Boquillas del Carmen, Mexico. I was headed to Mexico for lunch.
First, a little vague yet disgusting backstory. In the spring of 1986, my college roommates and I took a walk into downtown Glassboro and had dinner a chain Mexican restaurant. They were all fine. I wasn’t. Think about the worst case of food poisoning you’ve ever had. Now stretch that into three days. I’ll spare you the details. But, it took me years until I could sit across from someone eating Mexican food and not have my stomach churn. As years went by I just avoided it altogether. Many of you have heard me say “anything but Mexican” when asked about dinner plans.
So no, I haven’t touched anything beyond chips and salsa since 1986. It was time to put it behind me in a big way and have some real Mexican food, made by real Mexicans…in Mexico.
There's a Customs office and border crossing within the park. Boquillos is close enough to see from their parking lot.
I drove in behind a red Jeep and parked. I was surprise how many cars were there. That’s also where I met Patrick from Dallas. He hadn’t done the border crossing either, so we got to talking. We’re both into ghost towns and he told me about a long abandoned mining facility near where he was camping. His Jeep handled the road just fine. I wasn’t going to risk the brand new rental car on this trip. A slightly used one, perhaps.
It all begins in the Customs office. There were two Customs agents with badges and guns and one guy from the Park Service. He explained how the crossing works and showed us examples of things we wouldn’t be allowed to bring back. I understood the food and animals. I even understood that non-varnished wood could bring in bugs. But, you’re not allowed to bring rocks back either.
Once briefed, it’s out the back door to the river. You can either wade across or pay the ferryman $5. On the other side he gives you a ticket for the return trip. Note the woman in the red dress...
Once in Mexico, you can either get a lift in a pick-up to town, ride on a burro, or you can walk. We chose to walk since it’s ten minutes. That woman in red rode a burro. We still beat her to town.
Once there, you have to check in with Mexico’s Customs. There are some weird stories on line of this taking a very long time. We were in and out of the trailer in minutes, passports stamped. Though I will admit, the agent’s stamper really needed more ink. I was a little disappointed it was almost illegible.
From there, you’re on your own. It was quite evident their biggest business is selling crafts to tourists.
It's pretty clear what they think of the proposed border wall. It wasn't just on the t-shirts. It was on the hand stitches beer can cozies, wrist bands and just about everything else.
Patrick and I decided to slip into the town's one bar for a beer. The bartender spoke perfect english and handled every transaction in american dollars. The place seemed dead, so Patrick asked if there’s a busy season. The bartender told us it only gets busy in January, during spring break and during the big chili cook off every November in Terlingua.
Some shots from around town...
There are also two restaurants in town, both owned by the same family. One has a patio overlooking the river...
The other had a guy with his guitar singing Mexican folk songs. The Chihuahua was an added bonus.
They're not too happy about the wall either.
As for lunch, I chose the chicken and cheese tamales. They came with salsa and a small bowl of jalapeno. I knew I couldn't touch those. The rest...delicious.
So, while I highly doubt I'll ever do fast food mexican ever again, I'd do something like this. As for that guy playing mexican folk songs, I was actually grateful when a woman at another table asked him some questions about the lyric's meanings, and he stopped playing.
After lunch, we decided to head back. Truth be told, there really isn't much to do here. But, I don't regret spending part of my afternoon here one bit. As soon as we left town and started back, this dog decided to escort us. He walked us all the way back to the boat.
Once you're back across the river, there's only one way to go, back to the Customs office. There aren't any actual agents here since it's such a small crossing. Instead, there are two kiosks with telephones on the side. Slide your passport into the scanner, pick up the phone and you're checked back in by an agent in El Paso. We were both done within five minutes.
Patrick and I shot the breeze in the parking lot for a while before he headed back to his campsite and I headed back the length of the park to the hotel.
My lunch hadn't been that big, but it was late enough that I didn't feel any urge for dinner. Instead, I chilled in my room for a while to be out of the sun. But, sunset did await.
I worked my way back to the hotel's bar and chatted with some tourists and a few locals before calling it a night.
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