This January I was invited to be a part of a trip to a remote location in the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico. The goal of the trip was to confirm the location of a historic battle site. Not being a historian I went along for the sense of adventure and to get some assisted experience with taking the Toyota FJ Cruiser into Mexico.
Dale and I Joining up
The trip began with an early start (4:00 AM) from Colorado Springs so I could meet Dale in Deming NM. The following day Dale and I headed off the Douglas AZ on some back roads. Following Dale we headed south from Deming on Highway 11 to Pancho Villa State Park. Pancho Villia State Park preserves US Military history of an encampment that was created to protect the US during the Mexican Revolution. This is the only site where an attack has been made on US soil since 1812. The site documents the early development of mechanized military vehicles.
Leaving Columbus NM we headed west on Highway 9 following the Mexico, US border. Every few miles we could see Border Patrol trucks parked on the side of the road as well as some very sophisticated electronics used to spot illegal immigrants.
In Animas AZ we missed our turn and headed south on Highway 338 which shortly turned into a muddy dirt road. This gave us our first taste of the conditions we would encounter later in the week in Mexico.
Having to backtrack we made Douglas, AZ in the late afternoon. We had plans to camp but heavy rain were called for so we decided to stay in a local hotel instead. Chris met us in Douglas shortly after our arrival.
After an early meal we headed down to walk across the border and get our vehicle permits and papers for entering Mexico. With passports and titles to our Trucks and trailers in hand we proceeded to get the required documents to venture past the free zone in Mexico. This got us ready for a quick trip through the border the following morning.
More to come……………