Day 82 - Mexico and a Hike

We drove down to the Boquillas ferry crossing located a short way from the campground. The ferries are small boats rowed across the Rio Grande and cost $5 round trip. Once on the other side, you can ride a burro or truck for $5 or a horse for $8. Or walk. No matter your choice, you get a guide who stays with you the entire time you are there.

The town is small with a number of people selling souvenirs in front of their homes. There are two restaurants and a bar plus some other small shops. I gather that this tourism is the only income source for this community.

We opted for the burro ride. These burros must have made the trip many times as they pretty much run on automatic once you get on. There are only the two of us and the guide. We saw other groups and most groups were just two. We even saw two women walking and there was a guide. I should’ve brought more money for a bigger tip. I didn’t expect him to hang around the whole time we were there. Even while we had lunch.

I’ve been joking that up until today, we have rarely gone out for Mexican food. Even after all the time in Arizona and Needles. I think we met Mike and Pat from Fairbanks at a Mexican restaurant in Mesa, AZ, shortly after we arrived in Casa Grande. This is where we had an early lunch. Jose Falcon. Kind of expensive for what you got but it was tasty and not at all like Taco Bell. That was a good thing.

This afternoon, I took a hike from the campground to the historic hot springs. It was 3.51 miles with a fair amount of hills. Maybe ¾ of the trail was up or down hill. Very little level hiking. Quite a bit of climbing over rocks or walking on broken rocks. Boots with a stiffer sole and ankle support would’ve been better than my sandals.

There was one area where the trail crossed a wash and the running water had carved out interesting depressions in the rocks. Some of the depressions still had water from the last rain. If you like rocks, you would enjoy this trail.

The hot springs looked too crowded for me and I didn’t care to walk to the car (¼ mile) in wet shoes. I only walked one way as Bridget drove to the other end of the hot springs trail to pick me up.

Nice hike. Enough uphill to get a decent cardio workout without running. 66 minutes of high intensity or extreme according to Apple...