This is the view from the last standing tower, over a desert canyon.
The cable trails off the top of the tower, down one side and up
the other. If you look closely, you can see a dark line going up
the canyon in the middle of the picture. That's the cable. It's
thinness gives you an idea of the distance here.
It's this view that just bowled me over when I first saw it during
our first hike. I thought to myself, “What the hell were they thinking
in 1914 that they could pull a cable across this canyon in this
desert, a million miles away from nowhere!” This view has gripped
my imagination from the first time I saw it.
The dusty line snaking up the right side of the picture looks
like a trail to me. My best guess is that it's the no longer maintained
Boquillas Trail; it's only described in one of the guidebooks I have, but does appear on the map you can buy in the park.
Because it's close to the cable, I think it's a good candidate
to be a continuation of this service trail used by the workers,
but I'm not sure. That's a research question….
From here, you'll turn right and go around the canyon. The head of
the canyon is the highest point, at around 950 ft. From there, you
can look down the valley and see Boquillas Mexico . |
