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Sun_Hiker and I are considering doing the Bearpaw Rock & Pete Mountain Loop on Saturday. See http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=1747

Does anyone have any information about about illegal activity in this area over the past year or so? Is it safe?

You should have no problems Joe. I hike up there all the time without incident. In fact I'm heading up Wrightson tomorrow morning (and I frequently hike alone). If I don't end up going to Flagstaff for the photo event, I might be willing to join you if you like.

That area is swarming with Border Patrol.

Was it full of undesirables as feared?

Personally I'd prefer to be by the border with all the patrols than in the open range around Table Top west of Casa Grand where they exchange

Ironwood is pretty bad, too. The last time I went through there we found a huge pit full of discarded clothing, backpacks, and trash. Some of the dozens of sets of tire tracks looked like they had been left earlier that day, too. Very sad.

joe bartels wrote:Personally I'd prefer to be by the border with all the patrols than in the open range around Table Top west of Casa Grand where they exchange

I certainly agree with that Joe.

+1 on the area west of Casa Grande being a hotbed these days. It's so far inland that BP presence is next to nothing (if even that.)

Anywhere south of CG though is gonna carry that risk, and it ain't getting better either... especially the area the OP posted being quite close to Nogales.
Something to consider, using the Bearpaw hike as an example, is that most border crossers don't have much desire to take the difficult terrain, nor do the coyotes who are escorting them. The traffic seen in more rugged locations is more likely to be actual drug traffickers (less likely) and those working for the cartels to direct traffic. A prime example would be the recent incidents where cartels have been using caves in the Sawtooth mountains as lookouts.

This might all change as the weather gets nicer though. It's easier to justify the rugged terrain so that one is better hidden on their illegal trek across AZ when it's not 110 degrees in the shade.

Jim_H wrote:Was it full of undesirables as feared?

For the record there was no sign of illegal activity anywhere on Saturday the 9th. No trash or no clothing and debris fields, no nothing. At the roundup trailhead there was moderate hiker traffic but I was the only hiker on the Vault/Aqua Caliente/Pete's route and Carrie Nation trails. That is another good thing about the BearPaw Rock - Pete's Mountain hike. All other hikers went to Wrightson that day.

So, I take it you hauled out no bales? They sometimes have to ditch them, you know! ;)

The Border Patrol trashes that area worse than any illegal immigrants ever could. Which is not to say the the opposite is not true, elsewhere; Organ Pipe being a prime example.