There are miles of protected bicycle paths along the carretera between lakeside towns. Also many hikes in the surrounding mountains/hills, according to several publications. I was not interested until I saw on my map of Ajijic "pedestrian walk to El Tepalo waterfall (15 minutes)". That looked doable, and the trailhead looked to be only about a mile walk from our house. So about nine on Sunday morning I headed out. Got to the trailhead in about 20 minutes. From there it was fun! We are near the end of the dry season, so there was no water. But the hike soon turned into a climb, requiring both hands as well as both feet to ascend some of the rockier parts. The air is thin here at 5,000 feet, and gets thinner as you get higher. I started panting, and stopped when I heard voices. I soon met 3 Canadians, one of whom had climbed this route several times. (By the way, there are Americans here from almost every state, but we are outnumbered by the Canadians, and I have not yet met one whom I did not like.)
They let me join them, and we reached the falls after a half hour. I then continued on up with them. Higher and higher. After another 45 minutes their leader told them that they were going to circle the summit, then cross over and circle another summit--and try to get back well before dark. That is when I left them, and I found going down even harder than going up. Some spots were so steep that I had to turn around to climb down backwards. What amazed me was evidence that people had recently ridden horses up that trail. And hundreds of feet up there were several cattle grazing in the woods. They must have found water somewhere.
I got home a little after one pm. My water bottle was empty by then, as 15 minutes had become over 4 hours of fun!-------posted by Pete
They let me join them, and we reached the falls after a half hour. I then continued on up with them. Higher and higher. After another 45 minutes their leader told them that they were going to circle the summit, then cross over and circle another summit--and try to get back well before dark. That is when I left them, and I found going down even harder than going up. Some spots were so steep that I had to turn around to climb down backwards. What amazed me was evidence that people had recently ridden horses up that trail. And hundreds of feet up there were several cattle grazing in the woods. They must have found water somewhere.
I got home a little after one pm. My water bottle was empty by then, as 15 minutes had become over 4 hours of fun!-------posted by Pete
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