Driving With the Devil Part 1- Empty Spaces and Abandoned Places

I'm the Rock Hopper. I'll be driving down the Camino del Diablo. The Devil's Road through a land of drug smugglers. A land where illegals cross the border. A land where dead bodies are routinely found decaying in the desert. A land called the Cabeza Prieta. Bad weather has changed the desert a bit. It's very wet now. Big puddles. All right, we're heading toward the El Camino del Diablo. I think we got to go through a portion of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument first. But, wait a minute. Whoa, wait, I see something. But first, let's check out what appears to be a tiny ghost town. That's a nice saguaro to the left there. Let's have a look inside here. All right, bras and panties. Yeah, a whole lot of old catalogs of some sort. Lots of junk. Lots and lots of junk. Stuff just left on the shelves. Oh, look at that. Anti-mating spray. Maybe you know some teenagers who could spray that on. I bet that motorcycle is a hard ride with no seat. I'm guessing these were like little roosts for chickens. Probably just to have their little roost right in there. And over here are the more traditional roosts for chickens. I don't think they make funnels like that anymore. Solid metal. And after you're done dousing those teenagers with that anti-mating spray, you can recycle them. You want to have a quick look in here? All right, let's check it out. Eh, not much in here. I got a whole lot of tickets. Not a lot in here. Just some old what looked to be a wheelchair there. No clothes in the closet. Just some hangers. Some old chicken coops and sheds out here. Looks like this was the main house. So let's go inside and have a look. Newspapers. What's the date on these things? 2009. December. A little wash basin there. Tub thing. That looks like an old crime mystery kind of book there. Run while you can. An honest cop turns criminal. 15 cents. Not a bad price. The VCR tapes. John Wayne video and flying tigers. Well I tell ya, I was flying high when I made that movie, Pilgrim. And much more. So let's have a look. A set of encyclopedias on the shelves along with other books. And right here we've got an old boom box. And just empty boxes of cassette tapes. Just the cases there. Classic rock. Led Zeppelin. And more classic rock. Over here we have books and cassettes. Madonna. Like a virgin. Hey! Julian Lennon. William W. Johnston. Savage guns. More Louis L'Amour. Only the rats are sleeping on that mattress anymore. Got a wheelchair over here. And junk in the shop. I think I look really good in these glasses. I'm going to show you around some more, okay? Yeah. Okay. A little baby shoe. Flice water and some spice. What was this picture? Is this like prom night or something? Where are you now? Looks like this was taken in the 80s maybe. Have a look at that sign there. Something motel and cafe. Here we have the French red liquid. Yes. This is the best for the guns, right? That's what it says. European master gunsmith formula. That is beautiful. Another shot of what must have been the main house. This looks like another little house here. Go in and have a look. Buckets. Clothes. Old wooden chest of some sort there. More books back there. What was a dresser over there? Cushions. Different books. Well, that might be an interesting read. Hmm. More stuff back here. That said, wife wanted. Single with children. Husband in time. What kind of reading material is that? An old shower with a towel still hanging up. Ready for you. Put those cheapy stick-em tiles. There's your sink. Well, I don't know who puts this in there. Pure chili paste. That's something you don't usually find in a bathroom. Boy, they sure like their Louis L'Amour stuff here. Woman's world. And this is back to May of 1995. Well, this kitchen looks quite inviting, doesn't it? Cans. Kitchenware. Throw the pot on. It'll be waiting for you. I can say this place is toast. Just a lot of junk. Kitchen utensils galore. A couple of old stoves right there. Vated memories in that photo. Maybe the kids lived here at one time. Probably all grown up now. Senior dictionary. I need to get a dictionary because I'm a senior. And maybe it's got really big print. No, can't read that. It's too small. Where are you now, little baby? Pull up a chair and watch some TV. This thing looks like something from the 1960s. Got a turntable in there and a stereo on that side. Clothes still on the hangers. Some old brick there. I'm your brick house. This house comes complete with a set of tires. A tackle box. Some lures. And a net. I'm going fishing. Dang it. Now, fire up the barbie, will you? Fire it up. Come on. Look at this little house. I like that cactus. On closer inspection, this is definitely not a house. Well, not for humans anyway. This is where they kept some animals. Okay, well, that's what's left of one of the animals. Okay, that's a little creepy. What is in there? I am not gonna stick my hand in there and rummage around and find out. And in this one looks to be a mix of newspaper and possibly some fur. So these were the little animal pens in here. Looks like they even kept bees here. Nice old tub there. Missing the claw feet, I think. Well, let's click add to cart. I'm taking this place. Back in the day, they had to goggle it because they didn't have Google. You wondered what was in that hamburger that tasted so funny last week? Here's your answer. I see they had dish network, ground control to Major Tom. Looks like they had quite the holding tank for water here. With this windmill that was once going. Let's have a look in the back. I see a truck. All right, we got an old Dodge truck. And I think I see Crazy Jimmy. Hey, Crazy Jimmy, you love trucks. Come on over here. Tell us about it. That's right, man. Crow, we got this Dodge truck. That's right. Look at this thing. This is spectacular. You're gonna love it. It has so many extras right here. Like, oh my goodness. Look at that fine interior right there. That is beautiful. Oh, that is cushioned all the way. Now it has automatic transmission. You'll love it. Oh, roll down windows. That's right. You crank them with your hand. Now look at the back. We're throwing all this in for free. Every bit of it. Extra tire, all kinds of wire and hoses and everything. Now come on down, check it out. This is a deal you cannot pass up. Well, why don't you tell us a little about this station wagon back here, Jimmy? Okay, so you say you're a family man. I get it. Yeah, your wife don't want no pickup truck. I understand. That's why we got this country square right here. This baby is beautiful. Look at that paint job. That is unforgettable. And you've got a roof rack. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You've got too many kids. You can strap a couple kids right up top there and they'll enjoy the ride just as much as being inside and you don't have to hear them yelling because they're out in the wind. Plenty of fresh air for them kids though. I'll tell you now. Look at that baby. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. You're going to love this engine. Power. I'm talking about power. That's right. And let's not forget about the spaciousness of this baby right here. Look at that. That paint job is what you want. Comes in special flack. That's right. Up, down, all around. Yep. Now, comes with clothing. Yep, enough to clothe your entire family right there. Mm-hmm. Man, look at that. This baby is a beauty. Do not pass up this deal. I'm telling you what. Comes with books and papers in the back. There you go. That's our other special deal for the day. Thanks for that commentary, Crazy Jimmy. Now, we're going to have another look at some more cars here. And this time, we have Roberto from Cuba who's going to give us a narrative. So, take it away, Roberto. Where do you want me to take it? I'm not sure. Anyway, I get it. You want me to talk about the car. Okay. Let me talk about the car. This one here. This one. Okay. This is not so good. All right. This one called a Corona. This car is like a virus. You do not want to get it. So, you know, I mean, in Cuba, we take really good care. We maintain our cars, which here in America, you know, this one not so good. Okay. I have to say, like if this car was in Cuba, we would have very nice paint job. It would run. I mean, we got some really old cars down there. And they still run. They look good. So, by our standards, you know, this American car here, it was actually a Japanese car, but it's in America. By Cuba standards, this thing is like something that got spat out of the back end of a dog. Okay, Roberto. Well, maybe you have a higher favorability on this car right here, this little pickup truck. What do you say? Oh, I am so sorry. No, I don't have anything better to say about this car. I mean, this thing is also like a piece of petrol poopo. Okay. No, it's not good. Even inside, it has like a rat's nest, right? Yeah, that's not so good. You know. So, in the back though, you know, you have the extras like the old boots, the old shoes, and you know, air filter that don't filter nothing anymore. You don't filter anything but your thoughts. And my thoughts on this are, this thing is also just really bad. Okay. Again, in Cuba, we would have this thing up and running. It would be nice. It would be beautiful. But no. Here in America, petrol poopo. Okay. So, Roberto's reviews is two thumbs down. Okay. No, not good. No bueno. Like I say, in my homeland, we take great pride in the maintenance of our vehicles and this no make the cut. Here's your washing machine set up and sink. A little touch of home decor. More touches of home decor. I don't think you'll have to shell out much for this place. There was a little break in the rain, but now it's returned. And there is talk of flash floods. So, we'll see what happens. Flash floods are a real danger in the desert. I mean, they do happen. Did you know it takes only six inches of water moving swiftly to sweep a person right off their feet? Yeah. As I'm learning, this place is swarming with Border Patrol, and I got one that looks to be following me right now. I hope it doesn't become a problem. I've had some serious problems with these guys in the past, and I may make a video of what I had going on. I don't know if you can see him in the rear view mirror there. There he goes. Yeah. So, in a nutshell, I was illegally detained by the Border Patrol for four hours, and they even stole something of mine. And so, that's what I might, you know, consider making a video of. I've still got the footage from 2013. It all started with a National Park Ranger who, I guess, thought he wanted to be a Border Patrol agent. And he did some pretty illegal stuff, and he called the Border Patrol in. They searched my car. After I was allowed to leave, then I contacted the Tucson newspaper, and with the help of the reporter there, you know, got the story going on, and it just snowballed from there, and it went national news, ultimately, coast to coast. By that time, it wasn't just me. There were three other people in there that had just horrific incidents with the Border Patrol, and that was in the newspaper, usatoday.com, abcnews.com, nbcnews.com, all those big guys. Yeah, they forced me into submission by pulling a taser on me. They didn't shoot me with it, but I knew they probably would if I didn't cooperate. So, they searched my car for all that time, and, of course, they found nothing, because there was nothing to find, but they accused me of having drugs. I've never had problems with illegals crossing the border, or drug smugglers, or anything like that. Border Patrol guys are the ones that I have to be worried about, based on previous experiences. The drug smugglers are kind of like rattlesnakes. They just want to be left alone, and like rattlesnakes, you don't want to get close to them, and you don't want to mess with them. Look at that bullet-riddled speed limit sign. Looks like this is the road to Lime Hill. Okay, we're back, heading toward the El Camino del Diablo, and, yes, we passed through Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument first, through the corner of it. So, we're heading toward that. I can tell this is going to be a pretty drive. Lots of good scenery. Looks like we've got another Border Patrol up ahead. What's this dude doing? He's just stopped in the middle of the road here, this Border Patrol guy. We've reached Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument boundary, so we're going through the corner of that monument. A little sign here lets you know this will be the first night's camp right here. It's a pretty scenic area. Got some nice views out there toward the hills. I got a late start due to all the rain today, so I didn't get very far. I'm right at the edge of Organ Pipe National Monument. You can see the posts. I'm literally a stone's throw away from the border, but you're not apparently allowed to camp anywhere along the road in the in your own national parks and monuments. At least not without some kind of fee, even though you're in the middle of nowhere. Looks like more rain's coming tonight. We'll see what tomorrow holds. A lot of strange flashing blue lights out in the desert at night here. Good morning! The clouds have lifted somewhat, but still linger. A truck went by on the main road at 2 50 a.m. and woke me up, so I had trouble getting to sleep after that, so I'm a little bit tired right now. It's been raining pretty hard the past couple of days, and that delayed me taking off on this journey. They gave me this before I left. Travel at your own risk. It mentions dangerous down here. Potentially dangerous downpours and flash flooding. Yes, that's true. It can happen out here, and it started happening where I was. The dry washes turned to creeks and rivers, and I thought it was best to wait a little bit before heading out. One can expect to see fighter jets in this region, sometimes pretty low. So we're on a little walk. Let's take a look at some of the natural beauty around here. Here you have a fish hook barrel cactus. Just a small one. Take a look at those spines there. You can see why it's called a fish hook barrel. It's got like a little curvature, like a fish hook. Got some blooms coming out on this cholla. Mighty pretty. This cholla is about ready to start blooming. Got your teddy bear chollas, and your organ pipe cactus, as well as saguaros in the region. Here's a closer look at the organ pipe cactus. Got our brittle bush in bloom, and lots of lupine. A nice little cluster of pincushion cactus there. Organ pipe cactus can grow to be over 15 feet tall, and live to be over 150 years old. That organ pipe cactus makes me think of an octopus, the way these arms are. That's a tiny little flower. All right, we're back on the road, and we're going through Organ Pipe National Monument now. There's the sign that tells you a little about the area. Smuggling and illegal immigration may be encountered in this area. Do not travel alone. Avoid encounters with suspicious groups. Avoid traveling at night. Well, so much for the traveling alone part. This washboard-y little road is looking pretty scenic. That's called a crown saguaro. See how that top is different than most all the other saguaros? I think they call that crystates when that happens. So it appears there's some kind of water tank here, and there's a flag. A blue flag right there, so I guess they do keep some water out here for people who are out in the desert maybe. There's all kinds of stuff out here I've never seen, like this thing says if you need help press the red button. So as I was parked checking out that crown saguaro, taking photos, a National Park ranger stopped at my vehicle and was checking it out pretty thoroughly. The mood of this whole area seems to be suspicion. I said hi to the ranger. He couldn't hear me at first because of the radio chatter in his vehicle, but then he saw me, and he was, you know, he's pretty nice. I talked with him for a minute. I guess they're not used to seeing too many visitors out this way. He asked me, you know, how long I was going to be here, where I was heading, and all that sort of thing. Looks like we found Bates Well. Let's have a look. This was Henry Gray's house. He was the last of the ranchers within the National Monument. He ran cattle here until 1976 when he died. There's a picture of him right there. Let's have a look inside. It's an old ranch house. An old stove. Nothing really in here. Just an empty house now. They sure have a lot of these signs around. Now we're heading toward the back of Bates Well. An old shack and lots of flowers. Look at that old windmill. Momsen Dunnigan Ryan Company, El Paso, Texas. Old corral and the windmill and water tank. They made that fence out of branches. Another old shack over here. Another little shack here. Just a rat's nest inside. Pack rat. And another little shack just across from it. Old corrals filled with flowers now. The sound of rain on a tin roof. Still have some rather large puddles out here. And it's starting to rain again a little bit. Pretty mountain ranges out here. Some of the cholla cactus here are really large. Almost like small trees. Look at the size of this one. This one's like maybe 10 feet high. I'm thinking that blue water bottle where that blue flag was was for people crossing the desert on foot. People coming up from Central America and possibly Mexico and whatnot. This is a very formidable and inhospitable place to be. Especially in the warmer months when it can get up to close to 120 out here. People do die out here a lot. I was told that recently there were 15 bodies found out in this desert. Three days straight of rain. I would venture to say that this is not the norm for Arizona. The rain certainly creates a different kind of mood and atmosphere though, doesn't it? I got to thinking. I wonder if those blue flashing lights I saw last night were indicating where those water barrels were. So people maybe out roaming around in the desert could have an idea of where to head for if they were in trouble. Dying of thirst. After the morning rush hour of all three cars, one a park ranger, another a tourist, and the third a border patrol, traffic has thinned out dramatically. Here's the turnoff for the Pozo Nuevo Road. I know what Nuevo means. It means new. But I'm not sure what Pozo means. Sounds like it'd be a fun name for a frisky dog though. Come here Pozo. Good boy, good boy. There goes the third one. Three border patrol vehicles all at once. Going fairly fast. We won't be taking the Pozo Nuevo Road, but we will be taking the El Camino del Diablo. That's the devil's highway. Highway is a bit of a stretch, but it is a road. You call this a highway? My driveway is better than this. The wind has really kicked in out there. It's blowing at about 30 miles an hour. Gusting maybe up to 40. I've come up to another one of these signs. If you need help, push the red button. Rescue personnel will arrive shortly to help you. Do not leave this area. And it's in Spanish and Native American. Can't tell if it's Tohono O'odham, but maybe. And these places are numbered. This one's number 25. Aha! I figured it out. Atop this thing is a blinking blue light, and that's what I saw in the night. Such beauty out here right now with all the pretty yellow flowers, all the desert marigolds. It belies the brutality that's to come in just two or three months. March is not so bad, but wait until late May and June when the heat really kicks in. We're coming up to something out here in the middle of nowhere, and I think it's like a an outpost for the Border Patrol guys. Yep, that's what it looks to be all right. It's like a prison. You got cameras, barbed wire fences, eight foot tall fences. Lots of cameras. Three cameras right there. Not the most warm and fuzzy and welcoming place, is it? Nothing says welcome like razor wire atop a tall fence. We are now entering the National Wildlife Refuge.