Leon: Walking North from San Juan de Otates

On the third day in Leon, we got on the city bus to the village of San Juan Otates at 6000 ft above sea level to have a little walk in nature. The walk went by a reservoir. We tried to reach a cascada (waterfall), but the scrambling was beyond our abilities. We saw our first roadrunner, first kapok (silver cotton tree) in bloom, and a possible desert ironwood tree. The open, arid, hilly landscape is a distinct departure from hikes back home in NC. I couldn't help wondering what the landscape was like 500 years ago, before climate change, before conquistadors, what about 5000 years ago....

On the bus to San Juan de Otates.


Corn stacks seen from the bus window.


Our plan is to walk NORTH from San Juan de Otates past the reservoir and hike up to the Casacada (Waterfall). It's 2 miles to the reservoir and soon we are out of the village and into the countryside with grazing cows, donkeys, and horses, and some farming in the valley, and rugged rock formations above.














The reservoir lake and dam.




Past the lake we make an attempt to climb up along/in the rocky streambed to the cascada but very soon stop for lunch near the pool below, then retreat to the road to continue up.


The road continued up, up to 7300 feet to a junction with pretty good views where we turned around and walked back to town the same way we came.


The kapok (silver cotton tree) in bloom.


A tree with no bark. Hmmm. A desert ironwood?


Turnaround spot.


Turnaround spot panorama taken by SL.


Another excellent SL pano.


The view back down to San Juan de Otates and beyond.








Almost back to town. Dusty boots. Whew.




The bus back to Leon.