Sierra Madre, Mexico
Spring 2003This Memorial Day weekend, my brother and I made a bold
escape from the Los Angeles workweek to the remote alpine solace in the Sierra
Madre mountain range in Western Chihuahua Mexico. The destination
was the tiny ranch Mesas Coloradas which site atop a Mesa near the
continental divide. This was my grandparent's ranch and the place
of countless childhood memories for my brothers and my cousins.
Mesas Coloradas lies at about 7500 ft above sea level. Getting
there from the north,
(Bisby, Arizona) requires a desert border crossing at Agua Prieta, followed by a series of infinite dessert plains and awesome escarpments that must have reaked havoc on General Pershing's troops when they went there in the 1910's, chasing after Pancho Villa.
Of course, General Pershing wasn't equipped with a 289 V-8 four-wheel-drive Chevy suburban, with GPS, air conditioning and plenty of CD's..
The Sonora Desert is beautiful. There were times, when it seemed that we were looking at an African plains. It was a comfort to see a place with so much history, yet looking like it still hadn't been conquored by the bulldozer and the backhoe.
The ecosystems changed rapidly as we climbed into the Sierra Madre.. Below is the view of "Picacho Peak" as seen from the ranch Mesas Coloradas. This entire trip was taken by my father on a motorcycle, to propose to my mother. At the time, the road was far more remote and primitive. At one point, he had to spend several nights in the town of Jovales because he couldn't get across a swollen river there, which was keeping him from his true love. Poor fellow. So young....so in love.
The ranch today has only a fraction of the activity that it did in the 60's and 70's, when it was a functioning business of my grandfather's. But the place has a timeless character about it.
Yes we went prepared with everything possible, star-charts, GPS systems,
books, periodicals, flashlights and bandaides. But ultimately we go
because we want to do things the way they used to do them.
Mesas Coloradas lies at about 7500 ft above sea level. Getting
there from the north, (Bisby, Arizona) requires a desert border crossing at Agua Prieta, followed by a series of infinite dessert plains and awesome escarpments that must have reaked havoc on General Pershing's troops when they went there in the 1910's, chasing after Pancho Villa.
Of course, General Pershing wasn't equipped with a 289 V-8 four-wheel-drive Chevy suburban, with GPS, air conditioning and plenty of CD's..
The Sonora Desert is beautiful. There were times, when it seemed that we were looking at an African plains. It was a comfort to see a place with so much history, yet looking like it still hadn't been conquored by the bulldozer and the backhoe.
The ecosystems changed rapidly as we climbed into the Sierra Madre.. Below is the view of "Picacho Peak" as seen from the ranch Mesas Coloradas. This entire trip was taken by my father on a motorcycle, to propose to my mother. At the time, the road was far more remote and primitive. At one point, he had to spend several nights in the town of Jovales because he couldn't get across a swollen river there, which was keeping him from his true love. Poor fellow. So young....so in love.
The ranch today has only a fraction of the activity that it did in the 60's and 70's, when it was a functioning business of my grandfather's. But the place has a timeless character about it.
Yes we went prepared with everything possible, star-charts, GPS systems,
books, periodicals, flashlights and bandaides. But ultimately we go
because we want to do things the way they used to do them.