Mexico Day 57: Stress test

Jalpan de Serra to La Canãda, Querétaro //

We wake to a pleasing temp and the sun rising into a clear blue sky.  Mist rising from the water is creating an ethereal scene.  If you look out at the view and not down at all the cow poop, this is a beautiful campsite.  The sun is tempting me to stay but Mark assures us there is rain in the forecast and goes on to make a good point that spending the day in a soggy mud/cow pie mixture could get pretty gross pretty fast.  By the time we are packed and ready to leave, a thick layer of clouds has settled in above us.

Today’s drive is a climb that will take us much higher into the mountains.  The ascent eventually brings us into the clouds and reduces our visibility to a single car length.  The same factors as yesterday are ever-present and now the fog adds to the challenge of trying not to hit anything or anyone.  We continue to climb and when we reach the town of Pinal de Amoles at 8,900’ we drive out of the top of the clouds where a crisp blue sky is revealed.  Finding propane and water is on the docket today and Pinal de Amoles is our best shot at locating them.  It’s a small town with even smaller streets and there’s not so much as a place to pull over to figure out how to get where we need to go.  We get all the way through town, and nearly a mile past, before finding a patch of dirt to get off the road and take a closer look at the map.  

Mark and Adam decide that we’ll turn around and give it another shot.  When we get back to the center of town the poorly marked streets are disguised by haphazardly parked vehicles.  What is technically an intersection feels more like a sea of people and cars with no rhyme or reason.  With no stop signs or traffic lights to mitigate the chaos, a police officer stands in the middle of the road working to keep the flow of traffic moving without it turning into one giant collision.  The street we need to be on is a sharp left and requires a three point turn in the middle of the mayhem to get us pointed in the right direction.  The officer helps see that we’re clear of the myriad of obstacles around us while all the surrounding traffic and pedestrians wait patiently.  So far, thankfully, road rage and general impatience from driver’s is practically non-existent in Mexico. 

In the very moment we’ve managed to get ourselves onto the road we need to be on, Adam calls over the radio “I think we’re going the wrong way”.  Mark responds “no, this is right, keep going”.  While I’m snapping a photo of this very narrow and steep side street, I hear Mark react with alarm to something, but what I don’t know.  Adam, while watching the obstacles on the left side of his truck, dragged his awning along a low-hanging concrete roof that was protruding into the right side of the road.  Seconds later he calls over the radio “this is a dead end, we have to back out”.  Mark and Adam are now faced with the task of backing up 200’ down what is essentially an alley and into the lion’s den of an intersection that we’d just come from.  While Mark remains calm and collected, by the time we’re clogging up the town’s main thoroughfare for the second time, he has no interest in trying to locate the actual street we’re supposed to be on.  We return to another dirt pull-off on the side of the highway feeling dejected and without the resources we need.  Collectively we decide that we will conserve the last of our propane and water and that getting to our destination for the night sounds way more appealing than doing any more driving.

As if Mexico knew that we could use a boost to our spirits, we soon lay eyes on a view that makes us eager to pull over as soon as possible.  We stop in front of a school and walk across the street where buildings are precariously built on concrete stilts on the edge of a steep hillside.  We stand at the edge of the cliff that is higher than most of the terrain around us, allowing for what is one of the most expansive and impressive views we’ve seen in all of Mexico.  The cloud layer that we drove through looks like a sea in the sky and has settled in over the mountains that stretch out before us.  The clouds spill over the edge of the ridgeline creating a visible cascade of moist air that looks like a waterfall.  We purchase a bag of tostitos from the tienda we’re standing next to, sit on the park bench in front of the school, and take in the magnificent view.

The turn-off to our destination for the night is only a short ways down the road.  We’re all ready for some down-time and our hopes are high that our chosen campsite, which only has room for two vehicles, is available.  A bumpy dirt road that accommodates two way traffic but is only as wide as our trucks takes us a mile and a half to the home of the Eden family.  Noe greets us upon arriving and shows us the way to the backyard where there is just enough room for our two trucks.  

It’s only 1:00 o’clock in the afternoon by the time we’re settled and we are all relieved and ready for the chance to relax.  The sweet smell of pine, the sound of the wind in the trees and the warmth of the sun’s rays cause us to all bask in our chairs for the remainder of the afternoon.  

The last two days in the Sierra Gorda mountain range has felt like some kind of maniacal Mexican stress test for us weary gringo travelers.  But minus one banged up but functioning awning, our rigs and our senses of humor are all still intact.  And hopefully that remains true because at this point, I can only imagine what else Mexico has in store for us.

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