Addendum to Sabbath Hike . . .
If you click here on Shower Wisdom, posted by husband Sherwin, you will see the saga of our hike to Fort Bowie. It was a lovely day but I had one encounter there that was mine alone that I found most interesting.
While Sherwin wandered up and around all the ruins one more time to make sure he got all the photos he wanted I looked for details near the ranger station. All the other hikers who we had seen were disappearing over the edge making their way down but I noticed two men in uniform wandering about where I was. They came close to me and I am not particularly shy so I asked if they were rangers.
They were close enough, by then, for me to see they were Border Patrol. I smiled at the notion that they would have work to do there. We were about 80 miles north of the border at this point and I wondered aloud what they would find in these hills.
Both men were very friendly, answering all my nosey questions about their work. Apparently the illegals like to hide out in these hills, making there way into civilization easily.
After telling them where we were from, about our winter home in Vail, they told me that a number of their agents live in Vail. When I said that must make Vail a very safe place for us to be they just smiled. They did acknowledge that Vail has a low crime rate.
One of the soldiers/guards pointed out the inadvisability of the location of Ft. Bowie. He mentioned that militarily it was in a very unsafe spot. The hills around made ambush a constant threat, considering the fort was there to get the Apaches under some sort of control. Times do change.
It was a lovely chat.
This truck was at the trailhead when we returned from the hike to get into our car to return home. But as we drove away we met another truck coming up. We are never far away from That Border.
Stay safe and be well!!!
While Sherwin wandered up and around all the ruins one more time to make sure he got all the photos he wanted I looked for details near the ranger station. All the other hikers who we had seen were disappearing over the edge making their way down but I noticed two men in uniform wandering about where I was. They came close to me and I am not particularly shy so I asked if they were rangers.
They were close enough, by then, for me to see they were Border Patrol. I smiled at the notion that they would have work to do there. We were about 80 miles north of the border at this point and I wondered aloud what they would find in these hills.
Both men were very friendly, answering all my nosey questions about their work. Apparently the illegals like to hide out in these hills, making there way into civilization easily.
After telling them where we were from, about our winter home in Vail, they told me that a number of their agents live in Vail. When I said that must make Vail a very safe place for us to be they just smiled. They did acknowledge that Vail has a low crime rate.
One of the soldiers/guards pointed out the inadvisability of the location of Ft. Bowie. He mentioned that militarily it was in a very unsafe spot. The hills around made ambush a constant threat, considering the fort was there to get the Apaches under some sort of control. Times do change.
It was a lovely chat.
Now we were getting to the end of the day with the sun sinking quickly. We were ready to get down the hill but it looked like they were there for the night. Sherwin came back and we started to scoot down the hill, wanting to get down before it became too dusky.
This truck was at the trailhead when we returned from the hike to get into our car to return home. But as we drove away we met another truck coming up. We are never far away from That Border.
Stay safe and be well!!!
I think *we* should say to YOU: Stay safe and be well!
ReplyDeleteOdd that they are still hunting people down, 80 miles inside the border... seems like they would have been caught before that?!
You know, I didn't really think of the danger we could have been in until I started writing this out today. Hmmm...
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