T-Dubing around the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge

Sunny but with a high of only 58°F (14°C) with a gusty breeze to bring on the wind chill.

While things were warming up, I geared up and rode Fiona the 11 miles to the Waste Transfer Stations I'd spotted yesterday while checking out the town of Arivaca.

Got there, dumped my accumulated garbage and returned back to the campsite.  Note: Next time, there's a closer waste transfer station at junction of AZ 286 and Arivaca Road, for the hamlet of Sasabe.

Once back, I switched to Yagi, my 2006 Yamaha TW200 Dualsport for today's riding.

I rode back towards the State Trust Land gate north of mile marker 17 on AZ 286 and decided to explore the left fork trail at the cattle herding area where I'd turned right to end up in Brown Canyon.

The trail was a bit difficult at times, very rocky but Yagi handled it with more aplomb than I exhibited.  I had to turn around after a small creek crossing when the way became a steep uphill path strewn with large loose stones.  Not something to try while riding alone!

I rode back the way I came and sighted a good spot to get pictures of a set of interesting hills:

 Looking back the way I'd ridden....that's Mildred Peak on the left,

with Baboquivari peak behind the hillside on the right

Once back on the AZ 286 Highway, I turned south and rode the 17 miles to the hamlet of Sasabe and the border with Mexico.  The town wasn't anything to write home about as expected, so I slowly cruised through it until I reached the border stations area.

I turned around as I had no plans to cross the border and besides, didn't have my passport with me.

I headed back through the hamlet of Sasabe and stopped briefly at the local church for a picture:

I then turned east at an entrance to the Buenos Aires NWR which extends all the way to the border with Mexico.  In fact, I found a trail that led right up to the wall at the border!

Looking West

Looking East

I continued heading east, riding next to the border fence/wall.  Perhaps a half mile later, I came upon a trio of soldiers, wearing masks to protect their identities, rifles in hand on the other side of the border!  

The just stared at me as I took a couple of looks as I passed them.  I soon ran into loose sand and decided to bail on the border road at the first opportunity to turn north.

A short time later, I was back in Sasabe and turned north on AZ 286 heading back towards the area near the refuge's headquarters and visitor center.

I explored several more trails, but only found one more picture worthy location.  The rest were just narrow trails, usually peppered with muddy spots, winding among mesquite bushes and tall grasses.

A view of Baboquivari Peak from near the Refuge's HQ

It was past noon at this point so I headed on back to the campsite and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing there.  The sun was nice and warm but the breeze was strong enough to add a bit of wind chill still.

Pretty good day of riding, managed to not drop Yagi and only minimal dabbing was involved on loose sand and deep mud situations.