The F-16′s vs The Furry Little Bunnies

OK, I know what you’re thinking after reading that title. Roller Derby. But what I am actually referencing here is one of my very favorite locations, the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Preserve/ Bombing Range. That’s right, you did not misread this. Twenty years ago you could have called one of the nation’s great remaining wildernesses a dual usage area. When you got your permit to go out there you had to sign a paper waiving liability and indicating that you understood that you could encounter unexploded ordnance on the bombing range/wildlife preserve. Today it still qualifies as “dual usage”, however, the “wildlife preserve” part has been effectively replaced by “border patrol”. Most of the Cabeza is now officially closed to all traffic except for smugglers, coyotes (both types) and border patrol. I’m pretty sure that now it’s like a freeway out there.

Step back a few years. The “Camino del Diablo”, or “Highway of the Devil” had regained popularity for the 1849 gold rush in California. The Camino offered a short cut of sorts; seducing low budget travelers with the promise of avoiding the long and costly sail around the Baja Peninsula. But the route had its perils as evidenced by its reputation, and the little white crosses that mark the route to this day.

The hardest part of the Camino for the settlers to cross was the 130 mile stretch from Sonoyta to Yuma, with the trail following the springs and collective waterholes. This was the route that I drove at least 6 times during the 80′s and 90′s before border pressure overwhelmed the entire area. 115 miles of pure wilderness. Not a single person or car or building – going on and on. Of course, there were the ever-present F-16′s. I would hear them before I’d see them. An incredible roar would split the sky and a couple of F16′s would scream directly overhead about 200 feet above. I knew it would be a couple of pilots checking me out, and had they malicious intent, I certainly would have been toast. I always smile a little when I think of the F16 pilots lighting up the little protected bunnies with their fire control radar systems. Of course, it may also be the reason I only have one kid…

The Camino was also the first and only time I have witnessed complete and absolute silence. It was my first solo trip, and it was late spring, so it was hot—105° F hot. There had been a bit of a drought, and I had been noticing that the saguaros had that crispified “please-put-me-out-of-my-misery” look as I stopped for the evening. Later on, when the truck engine stopped ticking, I realized that there was not a single sound; not a bird, a cricket or the wind. Nothing. When I lit my camp stove for dinner the hiss seemed obscenely sacrilegious, so I turned it off. All I could hear was my own heartbeat. It still remains one of my finest wilderness experiences.

Even back then, I’d trip motion detectors and always had a border patrol welcome as I emerged from the Camino. The officers would relate how they had followed my progress all the way; and proving this by indicating my arrival and departure times from specific areas.

Bronica GS-1, 200mm, Velvia, 1 second @ f22: 2 stop ND Grad

Today’s image is “Teardrop Virga”. I’ve always considered this one of my signature pieces. I was out with my good friend and fine photographer, Colin McKay in the “Charlie Bell Pass” area of the Cabeza. As we watched the clouds covering the western horizon we thought we’d been shut out…then the sky opened and permitted just a few rays to pass through.

After we shot this iscene, we made a little fire with a fireplace log (I’m much too lazy to gather wood) and opened a bottle of Cuervo 1800. About an hour or so after dark, the Air Force decided to begin some night time Warthog exercises a few miles away. We sat and watched 15 or 20 Warthogs line up and make strafing runs until after midnight. Plane after plane would dive, blast away and pull up, the tracers leaving echoes on our retinas. A night to remember, and oh yeah, that bottle was a dead soldier by the time we finished.

One other thing. A little sickly kit fox kept trying to walk into our fire. We’d shoo him off, but he kept coming back. I was pretty sure he was rabid (one of the first clues is a wild animal acting tame), and we decided if he returned again we should probably put him down. Luckily for him and us, he gave it up….

the same scene the next morning

The entire border area of Arizona is feeling the pressure with closures and constant patrols. More than once I’ve had border patrol in body armor with M16′s come to check me out. Leave a vehicle by the side of the road and disappear into the desert and this kind of thing tends to happen, depending on the location. Let me tell you, you glance up and see some guy with an automatic weapon sliding behind a nearby cactus, its hands-in-the-air with loud verbal proclamations such as “I’m right here. I’m by myself”. Then another 4 guys materialize from the desert; and while they have never failed to be great guys doing a difficult job, it does kinda tend to diminish the overall wilderness experience.

And it’s not just the US border that has been overwhelmed. Pinacate National Park in Mexico, directly south of Organ Pipe is a major smuggling route and is patrolled by the Mexican Military. Another one of the most beautiful places in the world being turned into crap. Bottom line, I’m trying to find an optimistic spin to put on all this, but just can’t seem to find one. So I guess I’ll just wax nostalgic for the good-old-days when the wilderness was wild and rangers were unarmed. Not so nostalgic about the film. Oh yeah, and if you go? Be sure to carry ID at all times.

More From Ian Plant Dreamscapes

About George Stocking (17 Posts)

George Stocking is a professional freelance photographer, residing in Phoenix, AZ. He works regularly as a contract photographer for Arizona Highways, and his work often graces the pages of Arizona Highways Magazine, Calendars and Books. In addition to capturing the natural beauty of the Arizona Landscape, George also photographs the western United States and Canada. His work has appeared in numerous national publications, such as: Backpacker, Outdoor Photographer, USGA Golf Journal, Country Magazine, Audubon Calendars, Adventure West, America West Airlines Magazine, Portal Publications (posters), Impact, Towery Publications (books) and Smith Southwestern. Other publications include: Oregon Outside, Arizona Foothills, Arizona Adventure, and Plateau Magazine

5 Comments

Timm January 17, 2012 at 11:22 pm

Sounds like my experiences driving the A47 across Cambridgeshire, UK, listening to A10 pilots calling their targets via an airband radio – then realising the orange truck they’d chosen was the one in front as they pop-up over the trees and canals. Fortunately we weren’t crossing a live fire range.

Organ Pipe is somewhere I had hoped to get to one day – pity it’s being overrun by two-legged coyotes and smugglers.
- George Stocking January 18, 2012 at 12:52 am
  
  Timm, the A10′s hover, right? That would be cool to see them pop and shoot…
  
  Organ Pipe is still beautiful; the parts they let you see. I spent 4 days down there a couple of weeks ago. Small wonder, the place was almost completely devoid of humans. From that point of view, its actually a nice time to be there.
Margaret January 18, 2012 at 10:24 am

Hi, Ian. I do love this place in the spring of a good rain year. It is so remote and lovely.

It is a shame that wonderful places can be spoiled by the greed and deviancy of man. And, there doesn’t seem to be much of a solution.

Still, there are some lovely parts of Cabeza that are well worth the effort.

Love your pics.
- George Stocking January 18, 2012 at 10:56 am
  
  Hi Margaret, sorry to disappoint, but I actually authored this post, (Ians guest blogger). Sorry for the confusion. I am however, flattered that you might mistake my work for his.
  
  I am also pleased to hear that you still enjoy this area in spite of the pressures being applied.
  
  George
Bill Chambers January 25, 2012 at 2:21 pm

George,

Excellent and enjoyable read, and beautiful images. It’s a shame wilderness areas like this and in Texas are being overrun by smugglers, etc. Very sad.