We took delivery of a new 5th wheel trailer a few weeks ago, and needed a location not too far away for a shakedown weekend. With the cold weather we've been having, heading south seemed like a good idea. We chose Potrero County Park in San Diego County. This is a nice park, about 2 miles from the border, with partial hookups and a nice shared dump station. Prices are very reasonable as well.

Here is the rig just after parking.


And another view.


Potrero is just across the border from Tecate, Mexico. Yes, the brewery is there, and it is said that when the wind is right you can smell the roasting grain. Tecate Peak is on the U.S. side, and we decided to see the top.

This is just off the main highway, and that is Tecate MX in the distance. The U.S. side is largely undeveloped, but the MX side is a bustling city.


Here is a view down on Tecate. You can see the line of the monster fence between our two countries.


And here we are a bit closer to the monster fence.


Here is a view of Tecate Peak, with our little mule in the foreground.


At one point the road to the peak is within 200 yards of the border. Here is one of the markers. No fence up here on the mountain.


In this shot you can see Tecate in the distance, and notice that the monster fence simply stops when the terrain starts to rise toward the mountains. This view is toward the Southeast.


And this shot is from the same location, toward the Southwest. Apparently the terrain is consider a natural barrier, and the fence is simply barbed wire, which is falling down, or no fence at all. I don't know if you can see it in this shot, but the fence does begin again in the distance.


Here we are getting closer to the peak. This is a communication tower at the summit. We are at about 3,500' elevation here according to the GPS.


When we reached the summit we parked next to a Border Patrol agent who was sitting with high power binocs watching for intruders. He waved as I walked out to record a geocache find, and I am sure he had been watching us for some time and knew what we were doing. I chatted him up a bit before we left, and he was aware of the game. Then, just as I was getting back in the truck to leave, he apparently spotted something because he jumped out of his truck and moved out for a better look. I snapped a discrete photo before we pulled away.


This is the view from where he is standing. Much of the road we had traveled is in view from this location.


It is a good location for exploring, and the cooler months are a good time to visit. We saw plenty of Border Patrol, and stopped and chatted with another one on the road down. They were all courteous, friendly, professional, and seemed to know why we were there without asking. I guess we didn't fit the profile.

 

sounds like you had a good time.

nice truck too!

 

I spent 4 months working in TJ and commuting from San Diego. I found many aspects of this border difficult to describe. The scene from a distance of that city is very similar to these pictures. It literally looks like someone cut a city in half and slid it up against a fence in the middle of nowhere.

 

My wife found it creepy to be out alone so close to the border. I'm sure she was thinking of all the drug murders that have happened recently. She stuck pretty close to the truck, until we had met the ICE guys. I think that put her at ease a bit.

We passed a pull-out on the road where there were a couple of street sweeping type rotary brush things sitting. The kind you would pull behind a vehicle. I theorize that they pull those behind their trucks before dark, so that they can easily spot foot prints that have crossed the road.

 

She's being awful careful not to go past the mark in that pic standing on the rock. Booey doesn't look too concerned

Nice pics Bill, and nice write up. Looks and sounds like a pretty neat place.

 

Hey Bill,

I like your new 5th wheel! Guess one is never too old to pick up a Cougar.

Thanks for the pics, very nice.