January 30, 2023
Names like the one in my title are similar to tongue twisters often given to new Spanish students, and I had to learn when a language student. But today was a day for me to go there.
I made the mistake of deciding to eat breakfast in my hotel and wait around for the bank to open. This put me way behind for a planned volcano hike near Eranaricuaro, 1/3 of the way around the lake going clockwise. By the time I had taken 3 combis ( little vans that are similar to a VW van from the 70s), it was already 11:30 by the time the trailhead if you could call it that.
It was very, very bright with no shade as I started my hike. I was aware of having forgotten any kind of sun protection for my arms and it might be a hot day. But I had a lot of water and I could turn around if I needed to. The initial 3/4 of a mile was fairly straightforward cobblestone road winding up the mountain. However, after crossing a train track, the trail was to head off into the brush to the left and off the main road. It took some scouting around, but I did find what looked like a horse path heading in the correct direction. But coming to barbed wire fence I started to have doubts about going forward. There were no signs that this was an accepted public trail . No DNR. No local or stated emblems or markings.
I slid under the barbed wire fence on a bed of pine needles and continued. The path became worse with multiple faint and intersecting horse trails. At this point I made an executive decision to head back down. I did not want to come face to face with a landowner who is angry for me for being on private land. I retraced my steps down the hill never encountering a single person.
As I crossed the road there was a mezcal factory there and some people lined up at the service window. The people looked more affluent the most of the people in the area, with a nice vehicle and fancier clothes. We greeted each other and they encouraged me to have some mezcal, which I refused as I had a long today of buses and walking ahead. But we chatted a little. It turned out the guy I was speaking with lived in Chicago as a little kid. He would have been about 4 years old when I was a resident at South Lawndale Clinic and he was a patient there. Small world! I excused myself and headed on to find a bus stop for the combi heading back into town.
After one combi passed me leaving me standing, I decided I was stationed in a bad place on the road to be able to flag them down. I walked on 1/4 mile and came to a bus stop and tope. Topes are the all to frequent speed bumps in Mexico, but in this case would certainly slow down the combi that I needed to pick me up. Sure enough, in another 15-20 minutes and newer combi pulls up and I’m lucky that it goes all the way to Patzcuaro.
By 2 pm, I made it back to town and was very hungry. I stopped at Restaurant El Patio for a very nice lunch of chicken breast and mole and some traditional tarasca soup.
After a little nap I headed out for a little shopping, and later heard from my retired anthropologist friend, Shelly, that she was having a light supper and could be get together for a chat about the upcoming New Years celebration starting tomorrow. I quick walked down to the open air restaurant and we chatted. We have a great plan to get over to Erangaricuaro around 4 pm tomorrow and see the beginning of the ceremony.
A couple on a bike
It was a good day, and the next two days are the day I’ve been waiting for.