Climbing at the Mexican Border

A few summers ago, on a late August Sunday, I seized an opportunity to go back out to the reservation to do some climbing. As usual, I drove out there very early – It was barely light by the time I reached the village of Gu Vo. From there, I continued south on Indian Highway 1 and drove all the way to the northern outskirts of the village of Ali Chuk. I found the dirt road I needed and drove west for a few miles and parked at the base of Peak 2750. The sun rose at about 6:00 a.m. as I readied my pack for the climb.

For a change, it was not humid. The monsoon had not been active for several days and things had had a chance to dry out quite well. No rain was in the forecast, and a high of about 104 degrees was predicted for the day. It took about 45 minutes to climb the 800 vertical feet to the summit where I found a nice clear morning with excellent visibility. There was a small radio repeater on the summit, “Property of the U.S. Government” written plainly on the side.

This is a steep-sided peak which drops off dramatically to the desert floor, which can be seen a thousand feet below in the above picture. Although it was obvious that the peak had been climbed before, I still left a cairn and register for future climbers to document their visit. Peak 2750 is in an interesting area. It is only 2/3 of a mile to the boundary of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument to the west. Mexico is a mere two miles away. From here, the Ajo Range stretches away to the north, looking very dramatic.This peak is actually in the Sierra de Santa Rosa, an offshoot of the Ajo Range. I love this next telephoto because of what it shows, a view you will only see here at the Desert Mountaineer. In the middle distance is Peak 2921 which is the high point of the Sierra de Santa Rosa – you can recognize it by the ridge which slopes uphill to the right and the large basin in shadow just to the left of the summit. And the peak directly over Peak 2921, on the distant skyline, is Diaz Peak, with Diaz Spire to its left. Mt. Ajo is the highest-looking point on the skyline. You’ll have to pardon my peakbagger nerdiness, it’s just that I get really excited about views like this.

There were terrific views way down into the Mexican state of Sonora. Here is a telephoto shot west to Cerro Cubabi.

Here is another telephoto shot, this one of the village of Ali Chuk with the Sierra de la Nariz in the background. The U.S.- Mexico border runs through the upper right portion of the photo.

And one more, showing the Santa Rosa ranch, in Mexico, its buildings sitting on the far side of the cleared land on the right side of the picture. In the far upper right corner of the picture can be seen a distant peak in Mexico. I don’t know its name, but it sits at a compass bearing of 160 degrees from Peak 2750, for those who might want to look it up.

I descended to my truck and drove back towards Ali Chuk for a mile or so, then parked again and climbed Peak 2150, a short distance to the northeast. On that summit, I left a register in a cairn someone else had built previously (no surprise there, as it was only 1.5 miles to the nearby village). I could look across the valley and see Border Monument 162 where the international boundary crosses a ridge – these are always interesting.

Once I returned to the truck, I drove into the village. Ali Chuk is literally at the end of the road. Highway 1 ends here, at the Mexican border. It has a population of 265. The name (“Al Jeg” is the proper spelling in the O’odham language) means “little opening”, most likely referring to the gap between the Cerritos de la Angostura and the Sierra de la Nariz which allows the locals to get over to Menagers Lake. This lake comes and goes with the seasons, its very existence depending on the amount of rainfall. It was dry today, but it can actually be a shallow lake up to 2400 feet long when it fills with runoff from the surrounding desert. There were a few pretty modern-looking homes here, as well as the usual preponderance of rather older and more run-down places. I did notice a large new building, probably a community center. This was no doubt paid for by revenue from casino gambling on the reservation.

At the edge of town nearest the border, I stopped and talked with a young U.S. Border Patrol agent. He was keeping an eye on the dirt road coming up from Mexico. I thanked him for keeping us safe. I think he was surprised to see me there, but he was also fine with the idea of my being there to climb. As I drove back through the village, I passed a number of individuals who were outside their homes. I nodded or waved to several of them, but there was no response – it was as if I were invisible. I wonder if they have become so jaded due to the never-ending influx of illegals passing right through their village day and night. Their land is being trashed, and it must be heartbreaking for them.

They must feel helpless that there is little they can do to stop the tide of illegal entrants passing through their ancestral home. It was with a feeling of sadness that I drove out of town, heading north. Not much more than a mile out of town I entered the Ali Chuk valley through which the Ali Chuk wash runs. I spent some time here exploring roads to the west of the highway to see if any of them went far enough west to give me a good approach to a peak I wished to climb at a future date. No luck. I then spent well over an hour exploring roads farther north in the vicinity of Siovi Shuatak wash, once again to see if any of them could provide access into another valley in which I needed to do some future climbing. I finally gave up and drove farther north along the paved highway.

I drove to the vicinity of Pia Oik (spelled “Pi O’oik” in the O’odham language). This small place has 53 people, and has its own tiny church and a cemetery. I looked around for a while to find a place where I could park discretely. I finally found a road heading east from Pia Oik pass and parked in a wash. From here it was a quick climb, under 40 minutes round trip, to the summit of Sweetwater Benchmark.

It was about one in the afternoon by now, and quite hot, well over 100 degrees. I found a cairn on the summit, no doubt left by locals, and placed a register in it. Once back down to my truck, I cranked up the air conditioning and drove straight home to Tucson. It had been another eye-opener of a day, getting the glimpse that I did of life on the border.

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