As you probably know, we love a good walk/hike. We booked a 3-day/2-night hike in the Sierra Norte mountains northeast of Oaxaca. The area consists of eight Pueblos Mancomunados, a collection of eight communities (villages) that are self-governing. They help support themselves through tourism, offering guided treks between villages.
We left Oaxaca City’s 5000 ft elevation and mid-70s temperatures and arrived about 90 minutes later in Cuajimoloyes. The temperature was now in the 40s and we were now at an elevation a bit over 10,000 ft. We did a short hike upon arrival to a viewpoint over the town. We learned about some of the native vegetation and about the community.
The village of Cuajimoloyes:
After the hike we were taken to our cabin for the evening and shown the nearby restaurant where we had a delicious dinner. The cabin had a fireplace and they brought wood at 8p so we could start a fire and heat the cabin before retiring. The low that evening was about 30F, but there were plenty of blankets and the fire did a decent job of warming up the cabin.
The view from our cabin.
We awoke to a beautiful morning for Day 2. The hill in the right of the frame is the viewpoint we hiked the previous evening.
On Day 2, we hiked to Latuvi through dense pine forests. Here’s Leena and our guide.
We came to a mirador (viewpoint) at mid-day and stopped for the lunch they’d bagged for us. Not a bad spot for a picnic.
We had frequent views of the valley through the forest as we descended to the valley floor.
Orchids.
We came to a stream at the valley floor and had to “walk the planks” to cross.
Just after the stream was a trout farm. They divert water from the stream into pools and grow the fish. The largest trout are in the pool in the foreground.
Remember how we’d stopped for a picnic lunch? Well, that sandwich was just a snack. We were served trout for lunch. The trout was steamed in aluminum foil along with tomatoes, squash and onions. Fortunately, I have a big appetite.
After a decent climb, we stopped at a woman’s house to sample pulque and tepache. Pulque is fermented from the sap of agave plants. It’s an alcoholic drink, though generally a bit weaker than beer. The version we tried used the wood in the foreground for additional flavor. It was tart and yeasty. Tepache is pineapple rinds fermented with cane sugar (that’s a chunk in the middle of the frame). Sounds sweet, right? Indeed, it was sweet and thick. We both preferred the pulque.
We completed our climb to Latuvi. At an elevation of just over 8000 feet, we’d had a net descent of 2000 feet on the day. But it wasn’t all downhill. Though my Garmin watch says we descended 300 flights of stairs on the day (!), we also climbed 61.
The view from our cabin. Oh, yes, they had some Modelo Especial at the store.
On Day 3, we hiked to Amatlán. This was also downhill, though only about half as much as Day 2. As we continued to descend, the foliage changed. We passed by a number of farms with cows, horses, chickens, dogs and cats. We passed fields of corn, dormant after a December harvest. We passed beautiful rustic farmhouses.
The trees were soon covered in Spanish moss, and I may have become obsessed with finding a picture to capture how it was everywhere.
Careful, low clearance!
We enjoyed some stunning vistas in the early afternoon.
The edge of the village of Amatlán is in the right side of the frame. Our hike ended just behind the hill you can see.
Though Day 1 was a small hike to a viewpoint, we covered a bit over 15 miles on both Day 2 and 3. We were plenty tired by the end!