Hiking the Sierra Travesaño

Standing at 1,500 m (5,000 ft) in Ajijic looking up at the 2,500 m (8,000 ft) Sierra Travesaño made us want to put on our hiking shoes and find a trail. We found several hikes out of town in a guidebook by Teresa Kendrick (2007), including El Tepalo. Her directions were simple and straightforward – from Calle Jin (the main east-west street) follow Incarnación Rosas to Callejon de Tepalo up (north) to the entrance of El Tepalo – the canyon of the waterfalls. It was the end of the dry season, so we didn’t expect any water (and there wasn’t any). Our objective was the ridge where several white crosses were visible with binoculars from the village.

Looking up to the Sierra Travesaño

Just below the entrance to the canyon at about 8 AM, we met a tall, thin woman with an English accent who lived in Ajijic. We exchanged greetings and remarked on the construction project of cement blocks and rocks at the entrance to the canyon. She said the government was building a caseta (entry station) and that, in the past, the canyon had been used by kidnappers and drug dealers, and the government was increasing its presence to make it safer to hike in the hills. She wished us well on our hike.

Only a few trees had green leaves

Kendrick’s directions were to hike to the top of the third waterfall where we would find a field of Opuntia and a trail that forked left and right. What Kendrick failed to mention was the extensive social trailing in the foothills. Some of the trails were marked with painted blazes on the rocks and plastic tape on the trees; other trails had no markings.

Dry waterfall

As we crested what we guessed was the third waterfall, we met an older gringo with binoculars. He was coming down; I asked him about the birding – “the canyon was quiet, but it was better a little higher up.” We remarked on the level of noise coming from the small black cicadas clinging to the bare branches of the trees. He said that when you hear cicadas, the Mexicans say the rainy season is six weeks away. We didn't see other hikers until late in the day.

Trail

There were three trails leading away from the dry waterfall. We never found the field of opuntias and ended up following the white blazes painted on rocks, and occasionally on tree trunks, for several hours as it climbed higher and higher up a spine coming off the ridge. I assumed, wrongly as it turned out, that the most heavily used and conspicuously marked trail was the one we should follow. 

Trail passes to the right of this oak tree

We chanced upon a Mexican or brown vine snake (Colubridae) and several piles of red bugs. The vine snake was pencil-thin and over a meter long. It swayed gently as it inched its way up the leafless bushes; without close inspection, it could be mistaken for a vine. It is mildly venomous, grows to about two meters (6 ft) and preys on lizards, frogs and birds (link, link).

Mexican vine snake

The red bugs (Pyrrhocoridae is the Red Bug family) were common and often in small aggregations along the trail. We watched individuals walk several feet to join the aggregations comprising a few large individuals and smaller ones. [Thanks to What's that Bug? for the identification (link).]

Aggregation of red bugs

We had great views of Lake Chapala and Ajijic as we climbed through the dry forest. The trail became steeper and the footing less secure. We should have brought our hiking poles. Rande waited while I scrambled up a steep section and scouted ahead. At an opening in the forest, I could see the white crosses; we were about a half kilometer east and a couple hundred meters below them. It was hot and getting late when we called it a day and headed back to the village.

Ajijic and Lake Chapala from the foothills

At the top of the third waterfall we took a trail that followed the canyon wall, which looked easier than climbing down through the rocks. We passed a Mexican family of five coming up the trail; they asked us if we had been to the crosses. We said no, that we ended up too far east following a trail marked by white rocks. They were dressed in shorts and sneakers and didn’t seem to have any water, but they were smiling and full of energy.

Epiphytic bromeliads survive in the dry forest

Farther down the trail we came upon a shrine for “La Cruz De Las Piedritas y La Virgen Campesino” (the cross of small stones and the virgin of the farmer). There were flowering plants, some leftover Christmas decorations and plastic containers of water behind a makeshift fence.

Shrine along the trail

A sign in Spanish asked people to water the plants. Farther on we passed a cleared field with a small hut and a man readying it for planting before the rains came.

Detail of the shrine

Back in Ajijic, I poured over Google Earth, located the crosses and what I thought were trails leading up to them. I found the spine coming off the Sierra Travesaño that we followed; we needed to be one more spine to the west. Three days later I went back by myself to attempt the ridge of the white crosses. At the top of the third waterfall I took the left fork of the white rock trail – it was also marked with orange plastic tape tied to trees. The trail went directly up the spine I had seen on Google Earth. I crossed two barbed-wire fences surrounding a cleared field with a hut on a south-facing slope.

Farmer's shack on small field in the foothills

A man was working the soil with a hoe getting it ready for planting. His large black dog was resting in the shade by the side of the trail; it didn't bark, which surprised me because most dogs here bark furiously when you get close to their property.

Farmer working a field in the foothills

The trail crossed the spine and I could see the ridge with the crosses. I was sure I was on the right trail. I passed several small campsites with “No Tirar Basura” signs (don’t throw trash). After crossing the spine, the trail dropped into a canyon to the west. This part of the trail was little used; the vegetation was thick and the tree canopy covered the trail.

Small valley in the foothills

I thought the trail would turn north any minute, but it didn't until I crested the next spine to the west. I was still following the white rock trail; maybe I could still get to the crosses. I hiked in the midday heat; the trail steepened and the footing became difficult due to the loose soil and rocks. I was glad to have a hiking pole for sections I can only describe as sketchy.

Crude wooden cross tied to oak trees along the trail

I thought about turning back a couple times. From open areas, I could see that I was too far west. I must have missed the trail I was looking for when I crossed the spine. As I went higher, the vegetation turned into an oak woodland with large agaves and Opuntia the size of trees. This was the native vegetation – not many people climbed this far up to cut trees and clear fields for planting.

Agave

Opuntia

The trail skirted under a rock wall several stories high and then climbed up through a narrow crevice. I shortened the hiking pole and used it more like an ice axe. Six black vultures perched on the top of the wall flew off as I got closer. Large areas of the rocks were white-washed with their droppings.

Ajijic and Lake Chapala

Forty-five minutes later I crested the ridge; Lake Chapala and Ajijic spread out below me. The white crosses were half a km to the east and a hundred meters below me. A “No Deje Basura” (trash is not permitted) sign was nailed to an oak tree.

The elusive white crosses

The sign says trash is not permitted

At the high point were two black metal crosses that looked like a memorial to someone who died several years earlier.

Black cross

It had taken me over four hours of hard hiking in hot, dusty, dry conditions to gain the peak, which on Google Earth is 2,426 m (7,960 ft). I ate my meager lunch of fruit, dried fruit and hard biscuits, checked my water – I had consumed slightly more than half of the two liters I brought with me. 

Oak leaves at the end of the dry season

After taking some pictures, I started back down. Part way down the spine I saw a several cleared fields and shacks closer to town. There had to be trails from the shacks into town, which would significantly shorten my return hike, so I set off to find them.

Field and hut above Ajijic

The trip down took about three hours. I entered Ajijic several blocks west of where I began my hike and came upon this sign, which makes the hike look pretty simple. What I called a shrine is probably the chapel on the sign.

Trailhead for the white crosses at Calle Colón -- note the simple tail map with the crosses and chapel

In all, I followed trails with five different marks – white blazes, blue blazes and white blazes outlined in red, and orange and white plastic tape – and trails without marks. Some trail sections had pink figures painted on the rocks, which was probably graffiti. I didn’t make a third attempt for the white crosses, but I'm sure if I had enough time, I could find another trail to follow.

T.A. Kendrick. 2007. Mexico’s Lake Chapala & Ajijic: The Insider’s Guide. 2^nd Edition. Mexico Travelers Information, Austin, Texas. 417pp.