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| Scene along the Los Filtros hike above Morelia on January 18th |
On the 19th I led a group of friends - 3 of whom had never been there before - through
Mal Pais. Then we ate at the German restaurant, and I splurged on
a roast rabbit dinner with a glass of Malbec for $13.00. Delicious.
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| Selfie by Scott of the happy hikers: Henriette, Edith, me, Scott and Jane. | | | |
On the 22nd I took a combi out to Jaracuro to check out the birds in the wetlands by the bridge.
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| Sparrows (?) in a treetop |
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| A little egret |
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| A bigger egret |
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| White pelicans in flight |
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| White pelican in the water |
After a bit of bird-watching I walked back to Patzcuaro, mostly on country lanes.
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| Fields and mountain |
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| Colorful wetlands with mountain backdrop |
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| Squash harvest in a courtyard |
I had heard several times that there had been some excavating of ancient ruins in the
area behind the town of Uricho but work had stopped - and I always
wondered where this had been. Then as I was leading the exploratory
group toward Mal Pais on the 23rd, a man came up the hill riding on a
burro with his young son - and asked if we were heading to the pyramid.
We said no but we wondered where it was. He said it was on his land and
led us there. Above a field planted in alfalfa was a small hill
covered in scrub, trees and cactus that was obviously stonework. He
said it was a ritual platform from before the Purepecha settled here,
and the archeologists had found grave sites and artifacts in the field below. He also
said there were petroglyphs farther up the road and gave vague
directions on where they were - so I need to do some further exploring.
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| The farmer and his son on a burro |
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| The platform pretty much looked like a little hill, but you could see some of the stonework |
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| Around the back the stonework was more visible, with an indentation into the square that the farmer referred to as the entrance. |
On the 24th I climbed El Estribo again and went up the 417 stairs, with fewer stops to catch my breath this time, and took a different path around the crater rim.
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| Painting on the ceiling of the pavilion at the mirador. I have no idea what the story behind this is. |
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| Agave in full bloom |
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| View to the southwest |
Fifteen of us traveled to Angahuan on Friday, the 25th, and on Saturday thirteen of us
hiked to and climbed the Paricutin volcano, which was born in a farmer's field on
February 20, 1943.
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| Old
photo of the volcano erupting. The lava eventually destroyed several
villages, leaving only the shell of the almost-completed church in
Parangaricutiro still standing. |
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| The volcano today, seen from the viewpoint where we spent the night in comfy little cabins after a delicious traditional meal. |
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| We
set out before the sun rose. The first part of the 21-kilometer
(13-mile) hike was through forest. At one point we were rewarded with
this view of the tower of the destroyed church illuminated by the rising
sun |
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| Photo by Pat of the group taking a break before our guide, Jorge, led us through the lava field. |
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| At times the way was steep and rough |
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| Getting closer to the volcano. |
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| We climbed to the top of the side cone, where steam from fumaroles rose and surrounded us. |
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| We enjoyed the simultaneous sensations of warm steam and cool breezes |
Then we climbed steeply to the rim of the crater
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| Pat up on the rim. |
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| The
climb wasn't enough exercise for a couple of the guys, so Fermin walked
quickly all the way around the rim of the crater and Dolf (seen here)
ran it! |
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| We descended steeply in a chute of ash, moving quickly as the ash sunk beneath our feet with each step. |
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| Looking
back as we left the volcano we could see how steep our descent had
been. With all the ash in the road, it was a dusty walk back to
Angahuan. |
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| We stopped briefly at the church. This is a window in the choir loft - the entrance is below, in the lava |
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Emma
and Lucy below the one completed tower of the church.
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From here it was
a short walk back to the cabanas, where we quickly packed up to head
into town for a meal prepared by Juana Bravo, who has traveled the world
as a cultural ambassador, preparing the world heritage food of Mexico.
We then had quite an adventure getting back to Patzcuaro. Protestors
had taken over the toll booth on the highway.
After about an hour and a half stuck in the slow-moving line of
traffic, we finally were told by a policeman that the booths would not
be opening. So we turned around and made our way, on a very rough road,
to the non-toll road - and that was blocked as well. So with the help
of cell-phone access to maps of the area we found an obscure little road
that was even rougher and eventually made our way around the problem
area and got home about 9:45 - after a 6-hour journey that usually takes
2!
On January 28th I walked
up on Cerro Blanco and down to El Estribo Chico, then continued down to
the dock where boats leave for the island of Janitzio.
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| Panorama from the look-out on Cerro Blance . |
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| Unusual flowering shrub on Cero Blanco. |
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| Tour boat heading out to Janitzio. |
I took friends James and Krista through Mal Pais on the 31st.
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| Bromelad on the outskirts of Mal Pais, with an upright green scape and inflorescence and a slim purple flower. |
On
the way back to Patzcuaro we noticed that the older, smaller church in
San Bartolo was open. I had been wanting to see the inside, so we
stopped. It turns out the door was open because they were replacing the
roof, so the church would be preserved. Here's the inside - very
simple, with a painted wooden ceiling:
On February 1st, our hiking friends from Morelia came to Patzcuaro and climbed the steps from the mirador on El Estribo up to the crater rim. After walking around the rim and circling back to the cars, we drove to Arocutin and hiked the Mal Pais loop.
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| View from the Mirador on El Estribo |
On the 2nd, the Patzcuaro group hiked on a hill near Tsurumutaro.
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| Panaorama from the hilltop |
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| The colorin bushes have started to bloom. It's one of my favorites. |
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| Narrow-leaf milkweed on the hillside. |
I have just 3 weeks left here in Patzcuaro before I head back to Vermont - but I'll probably get in a few more hikes....
Parting shot, from my bedroom window:
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| Canyon Wren on Tile Roof. |
