By 9:00am we were ready to set out hiking. We wanted to do a difficult section of the Ruta del Peregrino (The Pilgrims Trail), a religious route running between the towns of Ameca and Talpa de Allende.
The trail is hiked often, but is really only busy the weeks leading up to Easter. Yesterday, we didn't see anybody else on the trail until we returned to the base where there was a group of school children setting out.
Igor enjoyed a beautiful sunrise in the farmer's field.
Ruth, the cow whisperer.
People leave behind a lot of this kind of thing.
Notice the empty water bottles lying on the ground.
Ruth thinks that they must clean up the empty water bottles once a year before the busy season begins, but I'm not so sure.
A beautiful morning for a hike!
It wasn't long before we started seeing these crosses.
We liked this t-shirt that somebody left behind.
It's obviously a "thing" because several of the crosses had t-shirts on them.
Starting to get some beautiful views.
I took a short video for you... turn up your volume...
People like to leave a lot of things saying they were here.
It's unfortunate that they leave a lot of other things also saying they were here.
Ropes to help you climb up.
Another beautiful view.
Can you see Igor?
There he is!
Ruth, enjoying the view.
Ruth, adding our "we were here".
Another great view.
Igor.
Kevin with the crosses.
The path ahead.
This mirador is a really interesting design.
There are circular stairs on the inside that go to the top and then back down another set.
Ring the bell as you go by...
This is obviously another popular rest spot.
It's a fairly tough uphill climb in places.
Heading higher.
Notice the bulldozer marks.
Yes, there was a full size bulldozer up here. Not sure what he was doing, because he was actually making some sections more difficult to walk on!
By the time we made it to the highest mirador, there were a lot more crosses!
So we made it to the highest mirador, and I took a video. I did not take any still photos. Then last night when I was uploading the photos to the laptop, I realized that I hadn't hit the "start" button for the video! Oh well...!
A lot of interesting crosses!
The cross is made with horseshoes and the Jesus is made with wire.
Scenery along the way.
Heading back down.
Back at the bottom, we had done 8.6 kms (5.2 miles) with a 536 meter (1,758') in altitude. It was a good workout!
There are several food stands at the bottom that cater to the pilgrims. It's still very early in the season, so most of them are not yet open. But we stopped in at the friendly lady we had spoken to the day before, and asked if she had any lunch available for us.
She made us a couple of tasty quesadillas each!
Margarita, making our lunch.
They were delicious!
We sat and talked to Margarita and her husband Arturo for a while. They spoke no English and his accent was really tough for us! But we still had a good conversation, and they are such nice people. They live in the city of Tepic, but come here every February to open their food stall for the two months leading up to Easter to serve food and snacks to the pilgrims. They actually live in the back of the food stall for two months. It's pretty basic!
Ussie with Kevin, Arturo, Margarita, and Ruth.
Then we walked back to Igor, and packed up and hit the road towards Ameca. Ameca itself is nothing special, and we've driven by it many times although have never stopped in. But there is one church that kind of stands out as you drive by the city, and Ruth wanted to make an effort this time to go see it.
It was closed up, and appeared to not be used as a church any longer.
The steeples are different, and they look more like they should be part of a castle rather than a church.
Igor's propane tank was finally getting close to empty! We were still on the same tankful that we last filled up in Ottawa in October before we passed Igor onto our friends Bjorn and Freya. That's almost four months on a tank of propane, and Igor's tank isn't all that big.
There was a convenient place at the outskirts as we were leaving Ameca, so we stopped in there to fill it up. It cost 235 pesos ($16.35 CAD, $11.50 USD). So happy with our 12 volt fridge!
As we were leaving Ameca to head through the mountain pass to Etzatlan, some dark clouds had moved in and it actually started raining! This is dry season, so we don't normally see any rain at this time of year.
Following a sugar cane truck.
View going over the mountain.
Really dark looking towards Guadalajara.
But by the time we made it to Campadritos RV Park to see Bonnie and her daughter Sam, things had cleared up.
We've stayed here quite a few times over the years, but the last time we was in December of 2019 with the last caravan group that we led through Mexico. So, just over five years ago. Hard to believe! Really nice to see them again, and we're looking forward to spending the next week or so here with them.
We have a nice little patio here!
Igor, parked at GPS 20.7741, -104.06518
Just outside the town of Etzatlan, Jalisco, Mexico.
There are three other RV's here, but they are Mexican RV's in sites that are rented by the month.
Bonnie says it's been a slow season for RV's. Which is too bad because it's a nice spot and the town of Etzatlan is worth a visit.
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Great deal on this Magnetic Block Toy Set.
And in Canada...
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