Hauser Mountain Trip Report
3,808 ft
I had a unique experience hiking today that accrues
from living at the edge of Anglo America (indeed, at
the very SW corner).
After a successful summit of Hauser Mtn (just east
of Potrero in south San Diego County), one of
innumerable little mountains (at least by western standards)
in San Diego County, I was hiking back to civilization when ...
...a band of perhaps one dozen hispanic men came the
opposite direction along the trail, that is, heading north.
They were men in their twenties or so. I said "hola"
("hello" in Spanish) followed by "buenos dias"
in order to appear friendly.
I then intentionally went down the
wrong trail to mislead their leader ("coyote") so that should
they try to harass me (or worse?) I would duck in
the brush and head x-country to the right trail leading
back to my auto miles away on route 94.
This was a very remote hike since none of the trails
I was on are documented and are completely
unmaintained (which is probably why they were going
that way).
Unless you were born yesterday on Mars,
you just have to know what they were up to.
I considered using my cell phone to notify the
border patrol ... but decided against it since I personally
don't mind illegal aliens so long as they don't steal
jobs from Americans. They generally take work
that Americans won't touch such as picking lettuce.
I watched my back carefully and decided to go
class 2-3 boulder-hopping down a ravine lest
somebody try to follow me (I figured they would not
have the requisite climbing experience).
After discussing this incident with Edward Earl
(who was not present), Edward said that the last thing an
illegal alien wants is to be thrown in an American jail
for a criminal offense. Thereby they try to mind their
own business.
These local hikes are standard practice for me until
the Forest roads open after the snowmelt and allow me
to collect more counties (of course there IS Costa Rica
in just one month).
This hike was a case of "living on the edge" in more ways
than one!