Living in Puerto Peñasco, it is often challenging to wrap our minds around concepts such as flash-floods (Is that a pipe that burst?), or monsoons (oh yeah, the summer humidity). This year, with construction on the sole city bridge in Sonoyta connecting the North (or rather, anywhere coming from San Luis Rio Colorado to Lukeville) to the South (roads to Puerto Peñasco or further toward Caborca, Hermosillo, etc.) the monsoon season brings on a whole new meaning as the “detour” route has a tendency to – you guessed it – experience flash floods. Today was such a day.

The lively community event, which drew a nice crowd for a scorching Saturday afternoon, included police, back-hoes (that were serving as taxis at one point), a murky river that varied in depth along a stretch of about 200 feet or so, a cascading waterfall on the west side of the road and lines of traffic coming from all directions.  Mixed in with the police, community members had actually jumped in to direct traffic at the stop-signs, as well as to indicate to one side and then the other whose turn it was to lurch into the river in search of the other side.  The trick is to drive slowly…yes, slowly. This was further evidenced by a few adventurers who chose to race through the running water and quickly stalled … with community members coming to the rescue by pushing cars out – we even saw the backhoe come in handy for this.

After approximately a 2 hour wait, inching along when we could and then preparing for our “dive” into the arroyo, it was finally our turn – the water apparently looked deeper and faster than it was, and we managed through (in a Hyundai Santa Fe) just fine. A smaller sports car had opted out of the crossing just a few minutes before – good thinking.  We should mention the skies over Sonoyta were blue – no rain. The rain was up in the mountains somewhere either on the Mexican or US side and the rushing waters were the only evidence of the desert moisture.  Once on the other side, we maneuvered our way around backstreets of Sonoyta and somehow made our way to the backside of Circle K/Pemex and finally on the road up to the border. In the distance, we could see thunderclouds in the North – lightning bursts in the South – and could only imagine the water over the Sonoyta detour would be rising soon.

Mornings seem to be the best time to cross, as desert rainstorms appear to be more prolific in the afternoons. Crossing the “river” during the day would seem preferable to night, though the trick is to check with the police and community members guiding the way to see how deep and how fast the crossing may be.  On the first big day of the flash-flood taking over the road, Friday, July 13th, the road was closed for a few hours but then quickly opened as the water receded.  On Saturday, the 14th, we could still navigate through from South to North in a Santa Fe. Good luck! Stay safe!  Get some cold drinks, gas, and a bathroom break before finding yourself in line for the Sonoyta “detour” river crossing…. and patience… paciencia… ah yes, and  in the desert remember we are grateful for rain!

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