Canyoning Sycamore Canyon Video by Nogales, Arizona

Canyoneering Sycamore Canyon Photos

Canyoneering to the Mexican Border

One of the intriguing ideas of the Sycamore Canyon route was that at the end was the international line separating Mexico from the United States. With the continual fight and debates over illegal immigration from Mexico, I couldn't pass up the idea of myself hiking to the border to see what is there.

A note about Sycamore Canyon: it may be the least technical canyon I have down yet; it is the most abusing on the body of any outdoor activity I have done. I have climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and hiked plenty of more strenuous miles before in a day though I wasn't prepared for what 10 plus miles of constant hiking in sand, rocks, boulders, and water would do to my feet and my hips on down. I was never physically exhausted just physically worn down.

Sycamore Canyon runs straight into Mexico so if you follow it long enough you will reach the Mexican border. I had read that there is fence protecting the international border and this is something I wanted to see. I wanted to see what is blocking people from crossing into the United States.

It was almost laughable once we arrived. My first view of the fence was that there was a ditch underneath it that allows anybody to easy slide underneath the fence. It is possible that the ditch underneath was man made.

It gets better when I look to my left I see this fence of international protection just lying on the ground. This is the photo shown in the post. Yes, you don't even have to go over or under the fence to get in you just have to step over the fence.

I find it literally fascinating the big official borders with all the officers asking you questions when just a few miles away you can just walk in and not even have to figure a way around a fence. Not that the fence would really stop anybody who wanted to get in just the personal idea that you can bypass the lines at the gate to just walk across yourself.

Sycamore Canyon Canoneering in Southern Arizona

I just finished Sycamore Canyon which is just a few miles west of Nogales. Yes, Nogales which means we were practically at the Mexican border. You have to read my up coming post if you want to find out what happened when we got to the Mexican border which we did.

I chose Sycamore Canyon for one important reason; I didn't want to freeze my butt off. The last canyon much farther north at Christopher Creek was the coldest I had ever been. I take that back summitting Mt. Kilimanjaro was the coldest I have ever been. Yes we could have brought wetsuits to Christopher Creek though it was 80 degrees outsite and Christopher Creek is open to the sun.

Sycamore Canyon has constant running water though the canyon is wide enough with a little scambling and climbing most of it can be avoided if you don't want to get wet. This was precisely my goal since it is now November in Arizona and not June any more.

Because you are not getting wet it makes canyoneering Sycamore Canyon mostly a hike. There is one stretch of narrows where we did swim two pools which were freezing to say the least. I did my best Bear Grylls jumping jacks in the sun to warm up. These pools can be avoided with some decent climbing skills though I had a new guy with me that I was going to make sure got wet at least once.

We covered over 10 miles of sand, rock, water, and boulders which is a lot of miles for going through a canyon in one day. I guarentee you will feel your hips after this canyon.

Sycamore Canyon is an out and back so you can turn around when ever you want. The scenry doesn't change much past the narrows though I would spend a little more time beyond. For those who want to put in the miles you can keep going all the way to the Mexican border where a fence tells you that you have reached the international line.

I recommend this canyon if you are looking for a winter canyon trip that you don't have to worry about getting cold. By the way we climbed around the two pools we swam on the way out.