The Canyon of Guadalajara

There is a canyon to the east of Guadalajara, something like five miles from the Cathedral.  I had to see it!  In my research, I came across three options:

1. Mirador Independencia Park: viewpoint only, no trail
2. Barranca de Huentitán: steep trail goes down 600m to the river
3. Barranca de Oblatos: paved trail (5km RT) goes part way (100m+) down

Feeling lazy, we picked a leisure outing to the third option. Since Hurricane Rick seemed to be heading towards Guadalajara, we had the added bonus of shade, even misting rain, part of the time. It was amazing to see such an interesting geological feature, so close, practically in a city!

From  the 1922 edition of Terry's Guide to Mexico: The Barranca de Oblatos, a deep gorge on the Oblatos Hacienda, 5 M. (to the S.-W.) from Guadalajara, is connected with the city by a highway and a tram-line. It can be reached on horseback in about 1 hr. from the hotel. The ride is a very pleasant one and on the outward and return journey a fine view of the surrounding country can be had. Horses for the round trip $2. Apply to the hotel. If you want the animal at 6 a. m. order it for sharp five...The view into the canon is magnificent; recalling, in a way, the Grand cañon of the Colorado (U. S. A.) at Bright Angel Trail.

 

Sunday in Guadalajara (with a trip to Tlaquepaque)

As with the rest of the modern world, every Sunday Guadalajara closes miles and miles of streets to cars and buses to let bicyclists and pedestrians enjoy the city's roads (more info).  Our plans for participating were thwarted by the finicky bike share system - it did not like our credit card.  Worse yet, it didn't approve the Mexican credit card the lady ahead of us was using, and all her friends had their bikes and were just waiting for her to get her bike!  We have to try again next time we come to Guadalajara.

Reworking our program in real time, we got on Mi Tren (the metro) to go to the artisan city of Tlaquepaque.  Being a Sunday there are lots of people enjoying strolling about.  It dawned on us that we love Mexican cities so much because they are lively but chill at the same time. 

In the evening we went over to the neighborhood Plaza Expiatorio for the weekend evening fair, which takes place Saturday and Sunday evenings.  Sunday evening seemed even busier than Saturday, as if it's the weekend finale.  How come not all neighborhoods are like this?!

Cyclists enjoying the "open" Avenida Juarez in Centro Guadalajara.  

 Independencia Station - Mi Tren, La Linea 3.  

 The Band Stand in Tlaquepaque Plaza.  

We spot a Day of the Dead Altar. Dia de los Muertos is Nov 2 in Mexico, just a few days from now.

 

 

The City Sign.  

The work of a local indigenous artist.  

Dancers in front of the Templo.  

 

Sunday Night Fair in Plaza Expiatorio. Couples Line Dancing.

Vegetariano Food Stand.

 

 

Rock and Roll Band.  

Plaza Panorama.

Bicycling along Lake Chapala

From Ajijic, west to Jocotepec, east to Chapala, there exists a 28km bicycle path (ciclopista).  The section from Ajijic to Chapala is known to be recently refurbished.  There are plans for the other parts.  We found two shops that rent bikes for $10US a day.  Cycling plan ready to be executed!

We first rode west towards Jocotepec.  A few kilometers out of Ajijic, the ciclopista turned into ciclopista-under-construction.  We just went over and bicycled on the road.  All the drivers are super courteous.  The road/path was relatively flat with very gradual inclines.  The only uncomfortable thing was parts of the road were dusty.  Along the way we saw a dozen teams working on the bike path at various spots.  On the way back from Jocotepec, I realized that I was riding on parts of the path that were just completed that day!  

We were charmed by Jocotepec's beautiful square and its traditional, chill, tranquilo air.  Chapala is larger, popular with visitors.  When we rode by the Telcel store, we popped in and picked up a new SIM with 26 days of unlimited calls/texts (including US) + 2GB of data for $7.5US.  Slim's monopoly rates are still much better than Oligopoly rates in the US.

Conclusion: I cannot really tell that I'm at altitude when bicycling on flat roads, but I can tell that I don't sleep well at altitude.

Sun-Ling and our rented bikes on the newly refurbished section of the ciclopista:  https://www.accesslakechapala.com/2020/10/19/lake-chapala-ciclopista-newly-built-in-2020/  

Jocotepec sign in the plaza.  

John with bike in the Jocotepec Plaza.  

 

The Mercado in Jocotepec. That's SL in right foreground checking out possible snacks. We ended up getting a chile relleno plate to go (see below) from the Comidas section of the Mercado.

The Jocotepec Malecón (waterfront esplanade) at the western end of Lake Chapala.  

After cycling 25 kms into the wind from Jocotepec to Ajijic to Chapala, we headed straight for lunch before heading to the famous Chapala Malecón.  

The Chapala Malecón.

Hiking above Lake Chapala - El Tepalo to Las Tres Cruces

There are a mess of trails in the hills above Ajijic. They start right where streets end at ~1550 meters elevation. We picked to go up the El Tepalo trail by the waterfall, dry as expected, to the ridge, then along the ridge trail to Las Tres Cruces at ~2350 meters. Total elevation gain with all the ups and downs will be about 1000 meters.   

We were relieved to find out that after the almost-two-year hiatus, we could still do such a hike, however slow.  The trail was well maintained and traveled, at least half of it was in the shade, the tropic sun is unrelenting.  I'm not sure if I could have made it if the kind clouds didn't shield me part of the way.  

I love views high above bodies of water.  The views along the trail, at viewpoints, were every bit spectacular as I had expected.  There were several dozens of wildflowers blooming all along the trail.  

The trails were well blazed, with signposts at junctions.  There were more trails than marked on our offline map (openstreetmap), but the Strava heat map helped us pick a different route down, from the signposts.  They all seemed to have steep parts.  It was an exhilarating day of hiking!

This sign shows the route elevation of our walk. Las Tres Cruces (The Three Crosses) is basically the same as El Chapinaya.

 

The scene from the first viewpoint above the waterfall.

 

Steadily making our way up through the wild flowers.

 

At one point we were in the clouds.

 

 Moving along the ridge at 2300 meters.

 

The sun finally burns off the clouds and mist and we have a clear view of Lago Chapala below and the far shoreline.  

We take a break at Las Tres Cruces with Ajijic way down below.  

 The descending trail was steep and narrow in places, but well marked.

 

Almost back to town we pass a shrine to San Miguel Arcángel.  

And our reward is vegan pizza and a cold Corona at Old Town Vegan restaurant.

Active in Ajijic

 Our main purpose for this Mexico sojourn was to visit John's cousin Danny in Aguascalientes and attend our friends Dave & Marybeth's son's wedding in Playa del Carmen.  Normally this would have been a cue for a 3rd bus journey across the country; however,  we decided to fly from Aguascalientes to Cancun this time. Not letting COVID curtail our ambitions completely, we prepended Guadalajara to Aguascalientes. and prepended Ajijic to Guadalajara by taking a taxi directly from the GDL airport.

Ajijic is a village on the north shore of Lake Chapala, the largest natural lake in Mexico. We picked to be based in Ajijic because there is a Wednesday tianguis (traditional outdoor market) and the hiking trails up the mountain start from town.  Ajijic area is also home to a large contingent of North Americans, though right now it is not yet freezing cold in the north, so the place doesn't seem to be overrun with gringos, though there is plenty evidence that it could be.

Ajijic kept us occupied the whole time we were there.  We spent a wonderful day hiking (more later) and another day bicycling (more later). The first afternoon we had a hard time getting cash, as we never had to before.  We made the rounds to the half dozen of ATM/banks, one more than once, to deduce that the lowest local transaction fee could be ~2%, provided we withdraw at least $250US.  Though it is on the high side, we quickly accustomed to the idea.  However, the banks also wanted to saddle us with currency conversion (the bank that owns the ATM decides on the exchange rate instead of our bank) resulting in an effective fee of 10%!  After a dozen of questions, we declined the extortionary currency conversion, and the ATMs refused to give us any money. We were feeling quite desperate, when we walked by a machine that was out of order earlier. We were so relieved when cash came out and we paid less than 1% in fees. The machine must been out of cash earlier; everyone else must have been in the know.  Markets are fine, when there is perfect information.  Most times there is not.

It's easy to get to Guadalajara from Raleigh: RDU to ATL to GDL. We took a prepaid, no hassle taxi from the Guadalajara Airport (below) directly to our Airbnb in Ajijic.

The Wednesday Market in Ajijic was not-too-big, colorful, and lively. I don't remember if masks were required but every person was wearing one.

Figs.
 

Waterfront (Malecon) walk at sunset. 

 

Typical street.