I was able to convince Kevin to go on a walk with me along the river. The dogs needed their exercise and I was itching to get out anyway.
We took off shortly after noon. It was noticably cooler today, with more overcast grey clouds lingering overhead. I wore my fleece to the river and never took it off. The winds from Friday brought in the cold front.
The dogs, as usual, had a blast along the river, with the girls running in and out of the water at any given time. The cottonwoods, as expected, were in green bloom. Life is coming back to the river!
And shortly after we started our hike we saw our first Great Horned Owl perched quietly on a cottonwood branch.
Barely a mile along the river, with the dogs pranching ahead of us, we heard the screams of a woman. Oh shit, I thought, we had come across some annoying birders and the dogs were off leash. Sadie started barking and more screams ensued. I was expecting another woman to come running after me, yelling at me to get my dogs back on their leashes.
Instead, we discovered that we had frightened two Mexican women who were on the other side of the river.
"No te preocupes, los perros son muy tranquil" I reassured the women. The younger one didn't seem to believe me and got behind the older woman.
Kevin stayed calm too, keeping quiet and in the background since he knows no Spanish. I tried my best Spanish and asked them if they needed help. In all my nervousness I couldn't spit out one decent sentence. I'm normally better than this. The women did not run away, instead they came toward us, asking us if the water was shallow enough for them to cross over a snag. They wanted help.
We had no food or water on us, but after some back-and-forth I realized they wanted us to help them back to the road. I called 911.
A dispatcher told me to stay away from the women "because there may be others hiding in the woods." I knew the women were alone because the dogs would have been more aggressive if they had sensed more people in the area.
"Are you alone?" asked the dispatcher.
"No, I have my husband with me and we have our three dogs with us. I've been talking to the women...they got left behind by a pack of seven men last night and slept alone near the river. They are harmless and look very tired."
"OK, I'll have an agent meet you at the bridge in a few minutes."
Margarita clearly wanted us to accompany them back to the main road. They were tired. They were low on water, too.
The women, both from Durango, Mexico, had gotten lost overnight and lost the seven men they were with. One of the men was Margarita's friend. Some friend he was to abandon them in the middle of nowhere. They spent the night along the river. Both wore black jackets and dirty jeans. The black hair looked frazzled after a rough night. The women surely were cold last night as the wind had howled again.
The group was on its way to Texas to look for work. (I wish I could have told them that Texas was far, far away and that the interstate they were looking for was still 40 miles to the north.) I wanted them to know that the corridor they hiked through was also popular with narcotrafficos. If Texas is where they thought they were going, they were at least 300 miles too far west. Both women looked aghast when I told them how far away Texas was.
Margarita, the older of the two, took a liking to me. Berta, the younger woman, walked toward the rear, clearly afraid of the dogs. Even Margarita told her that the dogs, especially Sammy, were calm. Sadie barked at Berta a few times but I told the dogs to go on ahead and to be nice. Sara was more interested in romping in the water.
By the time we got back to Hereford Road the women knew the dogs' names. Sadie warmed up to the women and kept playing with them. We walked back to the pick-up, gave the women some water, and waited for the USBP. Berta was exhausted and lay right on the pavement to rest. Margarita and Kevin each smoked a cigarette. Margarita's hands were badly scratched from the willows and mesquite that she ran into overnight.
I felt sorry for the women but they seemed relieved to be off the river and in safety. The three USBP agents treated them kindly, offering them sandwiches which they took, and while the women ate the agents asked them the required questions. The Border Patrol agents were friendly and professional (they always are) and treated the women kindly.
"We have been pretty busy lately" said one agent to Kevin, referring to the illegals they pick up along our sector. Even the newspapers seem to be reporting more drug busts and illegal safe houses in town. "Thanks for helping us out" the agent said.
We stayed long enough to watch the procedure--this was Kevin's first USBP procedure--and then we drove off, waving at the women as we returned home.
"Thank-you!" said Margarita in perfect English as they entered the USBP van.
An hour after we got home it began to drizzle. Margarita and Berta were safely out of the cold rain. Had we not found them they would have wandered for at least nine more miles along the river before coming to the next road, Highway 90. They may have collapsed beforehand from fatigue. They had no clue where they were.
Seeing these two women today puts a humanitarian face to this immigration problem. I wish my Spanish were better so I could have talked more to Margarita. It's a long, long way from Durango.
Mar 8 Tonight
Windy. A few showers from time to time. Low 47F. SSW winds at 15 to 25 mph, diminishing to 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
Mar 9 Tomorrow
Mostly cloudy skies. High 66F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph.
Mar 9 Tomorrow night
Partly cloudy. Low 43F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph.
Mar 10 Tuesday
Sunshine. Highs in the upper 60s and lows in the low 40s.
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