La Cañada Slot Canyons Part 2 of 2: the Middle Canyon, the 2nd Slot, and the Hidden Valley

Hikers pick their way through jumbled boulders along the base of the Second Slot. This is the most dramatic slot canyon on the route, with soaring walls on either side. Part 1 of this two-part series covered the approach to La Cañada Canyon, the First Slot, and part of the Middle Canyon. In Part 2, we'll continue through the Middle Canyon to the Second Slot and the Hidden Valley.

La Cañada Canyon is a fairly easy route to hike, although it does involve occasional boulder-scrambling. The grade is almost level and most of the trail is clear and easily walkable. Some stretches do get washed out by flash floods each year, but alternate paths are easily found. Getting lost is unlikely, because the whole route remains within the same canyon and side trails are few. When you have gone as far as you want, you just retrace your steps.

Our hiking group included two of the furry, four-footed variety. From the left are Gary, with Maddy the dog just behind him. Maddy's owner Chuck stands in the back row to the rear of Gary. To the right of Chuck are Jerry, Phil, and John. Luna the dog is in front. To the right of Luna are Jim and Carl. I, of course, am behind the camera lens. The group stands at the entrance of the Second Slot.

This party is fairly typical of the expat hikers in the Lake Chapala area. We were a mixture of Canadians and Americans, ranging in age from the late 60s to late 70s. When this hike occurred in 2015, all of these guys were in good shape and capable of some rugged hikes. Since then, unfortunately, some of them have suffered injuries or illnesses that have forced them to drop out. However, the pool is constantly refreshed by new arrivals from north of the border, as well as local Mexican hikers. 

The Middle Canyon

The sheer wall of a cliff rises from the bottom of the Middle Canyon's arroyo. In other parts of the Middle Canyon, the walls are further back from the arroyo (stream bed). In those places, the scree slope climbs gradually up 50 or 100 feet to the base of a wall, which then rises vertically to the top of the cliff.

John takes a break on a natural swing. This vine was quite stout and capable of taking the weight of a full grown man. It was always a popular spot for photographs. When I came through this area some years later, someone had cut the vine. This was disappointing since it had become quite a landmark. 

The tangled roots of an amate tree reach down the cliff face in search of water. You can clearly see the different layers of rock that make up this part of the cliff. The wall's lower rock face appears to be basalt. It is probably volcanic in origin since the whole area around Lake Chapala is filled with extinct volcanos. The upper section is sandstone, probably from an ancient seabed. 

Gary and Jim follow a faint trail through the rock-strewn arroyo. Parts of the stream bed are full of boulders and fallen trees that have been washed down in storms. It often requires a sharp eye to follow the trail as it twists and turns among all this debris.

The wider part of the Middle Canyon has brush-covered scree slopes topped by high cliffs. The Middle Canyon is heavily wooded, with lots of underbrush. We didn't see any animals, but this is the area where they are most likely to be found.

Salvia, also called sage. This plant is a member of the mint family, which contains at least 1000 species of shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annual. Salvia likes hot, dry climates. My friend and plant expert Ron Parsons made this identification for me. He has a website called Wildflowers and Plnats of Central Mexico.

Chuck, with Maddy just behind. I have hiked with this pair many times over the last decade or so. Chuck is one of those whose health has gotten in the way of his love of hiking. He bravely soldiered on, even when it became obviously difficult. In recent years, he has had to forgo these adventures. Maddy still loves to hike and is overjoyed when Chuck lets one of his friends bring her along. She is a great pooch and her friendliness earned her the nickname "the Gangster of Love".

Yet another rocky, lichen-covered cliff glows in the morning sun. At this point we were deep in the canyon and the base of the arroyo was still in deep shade. The dramatic cliffs captured our attention and we had to be careful lest we trip while gazing upwards.

The 2nd Slot Canyon

Hikers head into the mouth of the Second Slot. The passage quickly becomes quite narrow. The arroyo's base is filled with large rocks, which are often concealed by heaps of leaves. A good hiking stick to probe the leaves is useful when you are looking for pitfalls that could result in a twisted ankle, or worse.

In the middle of la angostura. Chuck and Maddy bring up the rear as the group passes between the soaring walls of the Second Slot. The Mexicans call slot canyons la angostura (the narrows).

The west wall of the Second Slot is composed of conglomerate. There are various types of conglomerates, formed in a number of different ways. This one may have been formed from debris laid down by a glacier. Other types form on the seabed or as alluvial fans extending out from the mouth of arroyos. Conglomerate is made up of small irregular rocks called clasts. These are held together by a natural mortar made up of clay and minerals.

Jerry and Chuck break out snacks during a mid-hike pause. After emerging from the Second Slot, we soon arrived at a flat area often used as a rest stop or a camping area. Stumps and downed trees formed natural seats. Once settled, we dug into the goodies we had brought. These included sandwiches, fruit, and mixes of nuts and dried berries, according to each person's taste. 

The Hidden Valley

Jim and Gary follow the leaf-strewn trail into the Hidden Valley. Often the trail disappears under a layer of large oak leaves. Only with a bit of experience can you follow the slight indentation in the leaves that indicates a trail lies underneath.

Vegetation of the Hidden Valley. The trees are scattered in the valley, with very little underbrush. A couple of spiky maguey plants can be seen in the middle distance. Just beyond the farther maguey, the cliff face rises up from the flat ground.

Phil and Jerry on the Hidden Valley's trail. Phil is a part-timer from Canada who spends about half the year in a house he owns in Ajijic. Jerry is a full-timer from the US who is one of the friendliest human beings on the planet. About two weeks after he had first arrived in Ajijic, he knew more people by name that I did.   

Hikers navigate fallen trees and boulders. In the left foreground, Carl ducks under a low branch. A few years ago on this trail, another hiker knocked himself cold by running head first into a large log which had fallen across the arroyo. When he came to, someone asked how he could possibly have missed seeing the enormous log. As it turned out, he had been watching his feet to avoid tripping over the many rocks underfoot. Sometimes, you are damned if you do and damned if you don't.

The openness of the Hidden Valley gives it a park-like feel. The change is welcome after traveling through the long narrow canyon. A group of hikers tends to spread out in the Hidden Valley, because the openness doesn't require close attention to the trail. The valley continues for some distance, with occasional trail branches heading up the ridges on either side. After an enjoyable stroll through the area, we decided it was time to head back.

The Return

Our hiking party passes a corn field as it emerges from the mouth of the canyon. The corn was ripe and ready to harvest. Next to the field, barbed wire is strung along a row of rough-cut tree branches. The fence is typical of the rough and ready Mexican back country. 

This wispy vine is Clematis. Although it was hanging down from a branch, it clearly was not part of the tree. There are about 300 species within the genus Clematis, and Ron could not be more specific. While this Clematis is clearly wild, these vines have become very popular as decorative plants. The name comes from the ancient Greek and means "climbing plant".

Traffic jam at the trailhead. When we returned to the trailhead, we discovered that our way out was temporarily blocked by a huge piece of farm machinery. Actually, it would be fair to say that we were blocking it. The farm workers had been trying to move the machinery into the adjacent corn field but our poorly parked cars had stopped them. Being rural Mexicans, they were very laid back and sociable. They probably welcomed the work break while they awaited the return of the cars' owners. We learned our lesson and now always park well off the road when we hike the canyon.

Like the proverbial 800 lb gorilla, we gave this vehicle all the room it needed. I nicknamed it "The Beast" because of the enormous "teeth" projecting from the front end. As it turned out, the teeth are removable, which is what the worker in the photo was doing. We headed home soon after he was finished, with another great hike to remember.

This completes Part 2 of La Cañada Slot Canyons. I hope you have enjoyed this jaunt into the mountains. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below, or email me directly. If you leave a question in the Comments, please remember to also leave your email address so that I can respond.

Hasta luego, Jim

 

The Slot Canyons of La Cañada Part 1 of 2

Torrents of water created the feature that hikers call The Chute. The power of water to carve through solid rock is quite impressive. The photo above shows only a couple of quiet pools remaining from the most recent storm. However, sustained rainfall can create dangerous flash floods through the canyon. We'll look at this formation in more detail a bit further in Part 1.

While looking through my years-long backlog of photos, I discovered that I have never used any of my shots of the spectacular route through La Cañada's slot canyons. I photographed the area on two occasions, once in 2015 and more recently in the summer of 2020. I ended up with so many good photos from these two shoots that I decided it required a two-part series. 

The photos of Part 1, taken in 2020, include the approach to the Canyon, the First Slot, The Chute and part of the Middle Canyon. In Part 2, I will show you the rest of the Middle Canyon, the Second Slot, and the Hidden Valley. 

The Approach

Map showing the location of the entrance to La Cañada's Slot Canyons. The hike begins with the Sendero Intepretivo la Angostura (The Narrows Interpretive Trail). The route starts near the small pueblo of La Cañada, at the end of a dirt road. In the map above, the mountains that overlook the North Shore of Lake Chapala are given the general name of Sierra de San Juan Cosalá. However, a more detailed topographical map names the specific ridge through which the canyon cuts as Sierra el Travesano (Crossbar Mountain). For a more detailed Google map, click here. 

If you want to try this trail, I strongly advise hiking with someone who is already familiar with it. For one thing, you may have difficulty finding the trailhead. Road signs in Mexico, assuming they even exist, are often misleading. In addition, it is never advisable to hike alone in these mountains. While you are  unlikely to encounter dangerous people or animals, an injury or fall is always a possibility as is getting lost. In some areas, you might have to wait days for someone to come by. To find a hiker with knowledge of La Cañada's Slot Canyons, contact the Ajijic Hiking Group.

Dirt road leading from La Cañada to the beginning of the Sendero Interpretivo. You head south from the pueblo for a couple of miles toward where the canyon cuts through the mountain range. The road from La Cañada is rough and a high clearance vehicle is advisable. 

The beautiful countryside passes between lush fields. In the early fall, when this was taken, the corn stands tall and ripe. On a road like this, it would not be unusual to encounter mounted cowboys out looking for stray cattle or a man on foot, leading a burro loaded with firewood. William Faulkner once wrote "the past is never dead. It's not even past." This is especially true in rural Mexico.

The Sendero Interpretivo begins at a rustic gate where the road takes an abrupt right turn. My fellow hiker and very good friend Anthony stands beside the sign. Like many rural gates, this one is composed of a few roughly cut tree branches held together by barbed wire and anchored to the stump on the left. Trail etiquette dictates that you should leave gates how you find them. In this case, the gate was closed when we arrived and we restored it to that condition after I got my photo and passed through. 

A well-worn trail leads through scrub forest toward the entrance of the canyon. Fortunately, the trail was clear because the brush on either side is thick and would be difficult to fight your way through. When that becomes necessary, we call it "bushwhacking", an accurate description of a rather unpleasant method of off-trail travel. It usually results in cuts and bruises and can be exhausting if attempted for more than a short distance.  

The Sendero Interpretivo passes through a lovely meadow just before reaching the canyon's mouth. Close by is a level spot that has regularly been used as a rustic campsite by those who want to explore the far reaches of the canyon. Be advised that there are no restroom facilities and no safe water source, so camping would indeed be rustic.

You next encounter a large field of piled-up boulders which must be navigated. The rocks, some quite large, were pushed by raging waters through the canyon until they piled up just outside of the First Slot. As I passed through, I noticed this teepee of boulders and speculated that it would be an ideal spot for the den of a fox or coyote.

The mouth of the First Slot. Partially blocking your way are heaps of boulders. Just beyond, you can see the west side wall of the slot canyon. The entrance is only a few yards wide, while the walls on either side rise almost vertically to one hundred feet or more.

The First Slot and the Chute

A massive rock overhangs the path as you enter the First Slot. While the scene beyond is very picturesque, it is well to remember that the boulders at your feet tumbled off the cliff above you. A few of them are the size of a Volkswagen. Such rock falls generally occur during the rainy season, but they can--and do--happen at any time.

A message from the ancient past. At first glance, the design looks quite modern. However, a nearby sign reveals that the rock was carved during the pre-hispanic period, possibly as early as the Teotihuacán Empire (100-650 AD). The design represents the cardinal directions of north, south, east, and west. The place where the four lines cross represents the center of the cosmos. 

The cardinal directions are sacred and each has its own color, god, and associated mythology. The design could be considered a map of the universe and pre-hispanic people revered it for thousands of years. In fact, the ancient urban planners of the mighty city of Teotihuacán laid it out in just such a quadrant. 

At the end of the First Slot you find the mouth of The Chute. From the top of the rock wall on the left to the bottom of the trough is at least twenty feet. The wall on the right has been cut with steps which did not exist when I first hiked this canyon. They were carved into the rock to create a safe way to bypass The Chute during times of high water.

Anthony climbs the steps of the rock wall. When they are dry, the steps provide a reasonably safe way up and down the wall. However, there is a small spring near the top that sometimes leaves the steps wet and slippery. You can see some of the dampness to the right and just below Anthony's left foot.

The Middle Canyon

View from the top of the rock Anthony was climbing. The arroyo has been scoured right down to the bedrock by torrents of water. This is the beginning of the Middle Canyon. From here, the canyon widens out and is filled with trees and other vegetation in some spots.

The cliffs take on a reddish glow in the morning sunshine. The cliffs can rise well over a hundred feet and are topped by trees and brush. The vertical drop reaches only part way to the bottom of the arroyo. At the base of the walls, there is a sloping debris field that extends to the bottom of the arroyo. Often there is an area on either side of the creeks that is relatively broad, flat, and full of trees and brush.

The Climber's Cliff is vertical straight to the arroyo's bottom. It is covered in some sections by bright yellow lichens. Although I have never encountered rock climbers here, they have left evidence of their presence in various places, which is how the wall got its name.

Carabiners attached to pitons can be seen partly up the Climber's Cliff. Rock climbing equipment like this is used for safety purposes. Pitons are metal spikes that are driven into rock cracks or seams. They provide firm support to which other safety equipment can be attached. 

Carabiners are large aluminum clips that can be attached to the pitons and are used to support safety ropes or as a place to temporarily hang equipment. The two carabiners above are connected by a nylon strap, also part of the safety equipment. I used my telephoto zoom to get this shot, since the pitons and carabiners were located about half way up the cliff's face.

A nest of wild bees or wasps perches in a nook high up the cliff. A Jewish hiker on an earlier excursion said the nest reminded him of the menorah (sacred candleabrum) used during Hanukkah and the name stuck. I have encountered very few aggressive bees or wasps during my thirteen years of hiking in Mexico. 

However, I have twice had unpleasant run-ins with africanized bees. They are extremely hostile and can occasionally be deadly to people or animals. Mass stings have even killed full-grown horses. The best strategy is to depart the area immediately. However, you should avoid swinging your arms at the bees because it only infuriates them.

A fallen tree has sprouted branches which have continued to grow upward toward the light. We found this tree trunk collapsed across the Middle Canyon trail. It had been in that position for quite a while, given the size of the vertical branches that have grown up since its original fall.

Brilliant yellow lichens decorate the rough surface of a canyon wall. Lichens are truly amazing. They are not plants, but composite organisms made up of algae or cyanobacteria living among fungi species. They have no roots to absorb water or nutrients, but get their nourishment through photosynthesis. 

Lichens are extremely hardy and have been found everywhere from the arctic to the deep desert. They even grow inside solid rock between the grains. Lichens are among the oldest living organisms and their slow growth rate allows them to be used to date long-past events.

Amate trees can often be found growing down the sides of cliffs. Amates are a member of the Ficus family. The roots mold themselves to the cliff face as they extend down toward the water at the bottom of the arroyo. The Aztecs and other pre-hispanic people used the bark of the amate tree to make the paper on which they painted complex hieroglyphs. Tragically, most of the great pre-hispanic libraries filled with amate paper documents were burned by Spanish evangelists who considered them instructions for devil worship.

This completes Part 1 of my two-part series on the Slot Canyons of La Cañada. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. However, if you choose to leave a question in the Comments section, PLEASE leave your email address so that I can respond.

Hasta luego, Jim

A hike to the mysterious rock balls called Piedras Bola

A rock sphere perches on a pillar of volcanic tufa. Piedras Bola ("Ball Rocks") is a protected area deep in the mountains overlooking Ameca, in the Mexican state of Jalisco. The area is famous for the large stone balls found there, some of them almost perfectly spherical. They can be found lying on the ground or, in some cases, perched on rock pillars. A few months ago, I visited Piedras Bola, along with several carloads of expat hikers. We were led by my good friend Jim Boles, one of the more adventurous of my fellow hikers.


Overview

Google map showing the area between Lake Chapala and Piedras Bola. The protected area is identified by the red marker in the upper left of the photo. My hiking friends and I all live on the northwestern shore of Lake Chapala, between Chapala and Jocotopec. The drive from Chapala to the protected area is about 113km (70mi) and takes about 2 hours.

Upon arriving at the park entrance, you can leave your car by the highway and hike in on a forest road. However, it's a pretty fair distance and all up hill. If you try it, make sure you have plenty of time, water, and are in good shape.

Alternatively, you can drive in, but a high-clearance vehicle is necessary. Four-wheel-drive is not normally required, but there were some spots where I found it tough going in my two-wheel drive Toyota RAV-4. I guess it all depends on your sense of adventure and how many people are available to push if you get stuck.

Flower of the Leonotus leonurus. I took this shot at the parking area on the highway next to the Piedras Bola entrance road. This plant is native to southern Africa, according to Ron Parsons, my expert on Mexican flowers. How it got to this remote spot is a puzzle, but Ron says that it naturalizes easily. I guess it is just another sign of how small our world is. Ron is a wonderful resource and his work can be accessed through Wildflowers and Plants of Western Mexico or on his Flikr site: https://www.flickr.com/people/95453157@N02/?ytcheck=1&new_session=1

An almost perfectly conical mountain rises in the distance. There were numerous spectacular views on our drive up into the mountains, as well as along the trail. The conical mountain is almost certainly an extinct volcano, of which there are many in Jalisco. I have climbed several volcanos in the area, including Nevado de Colima and Volcán Tequila.

The forest through which we hiked was open and park-like. High altitude forests in Jalisco tend to have very little underbrush, giving them a pleasantly open feel. By contrast, the mountains around Lake Chapala, where I usually hike, are much lower and covered with dense, jungle-like foliage.


The hike in

Three expats hiker along the park's access road. The man on the left is Beto, a Mexican-American who moved down to live full-time in Mexico. The two others are Marilyn and Peter. All three are great people to hike with.

Not far along the trail, we encountered a small lake. For reasons not clear to me, the shoreline was bordered with dead trees. Perhaps it has something to do with the water. Whatever the water's quality, the setting was lovely.

A little further on, we reached this small, rather odd cottage. Notice the sofa sitting on the edge of the roof on the right. It seemed a strange place to store furniture. There was no one around, so we couldn't ask about it.

A tall mirador, or lookout point, was attached to the cottage in back. When we followed the trail behind the cottage, we noticed that the cream-colored mirador had a door at the bottom. Since it was standing wide-open, we decided to take a peek.

A spiral staircase led up to the viewing platform. This was too much to resist, so several of us climbed up to take a look. When we got to the top, we saw that the rooftop of the house was flat concrete. The sofa was apparently placed there so that the cottage's occupants could enjoy the view in comfort. The only thing missing was a cooler for the beer.

Penny, Beto, and Brian were surprised to find us on top of the house. By this point, the warm weather had persuaded Beto to strip off his long-sleeve shirt and zip off the leg bottoms of his hiking pants. After checking out the view, we descended the spiral stairway. The cottage is apparently a public building used in administering the park. We never did encounter the people who use it.

Near the cottage are a couple of very rickety footbridges. Brian and Beto's wife Shari decided to give one of them a try. The rest of us looked it over and took another route. As they say, discretion is the better part of valor.

Not far from the bridge and cottage was a large stone amphitheater. Perched around the amphitheater you can see several of the smaller piedras bola. The cottage, bridge, and amphitheater are all apparently part of the park's infrastructure.

Piedras Bola formations

Beto and Shari lean against two of the rock balls during a break. Many of the balls sit on the surface or are partly submerged in the tufa (volcanic ash). There are a number of theories about the composition of the rocks, why they are round, and how they got here. As usual, some are convinced that they were crafted and placed here by space aliens. Skeptical of such claims, I decided to investigate a bit further.

Other rock balls sit on top of eroded pillars of tufa. Another theory proposed that the balls were carved by pre-hispanic people. This sounded somewhat more plausible than space aliens. However, while pre-hispanic folks did a great deal of stone carving, there is no evidence that they created these megaspherulites, as the scientists call them. While Mexico's native people have probably been aware of the piedras bola for millennia, scientists did not take note of the rock balls until the 20th century.

Tufa pillar with a partially round ball on top. Actually the first person to take official notice was not a scientist but a silver mine manager named Robert Gordon. Beside the entrance to his mine sat a huge piedras bola, which gave the mine its name. In 1967, following his retirement, Gordon decided to contact an archeologist named Matthew Williams Stirling. The archeologist agreed to look into the matter and quickly discovered an additional 17 rock balls in the area. Stirling theorized that the balls were man-made. However, this was based on very little except Stirling's previous experience in other areas where stone balls were crafted by humans.

Anthony enjoys a view of the mountains from a cliff top. In addition to being an enthusiastic hiker, Anthony is a yoga instructor who, with his lovely wife Katherine, has lived full-time in Mexico for a number of years. Word about the strange rock balls spread and, in 1968, a team from the US Geological Survey, National Geographic magazine, and the Smithsonian Institute arrived to take a look. In an article that appeared in the August, 1969 issue of National Geographic, they disputed the archeological theory because of a lack of evidence. (Being scientists, I doubt they gave the space alien theory a moment's thought).

Jim Boles, at the base of a vertical cliff. I asked him to pose here to provide some scale to this photograph. When I walked around the back side of the cliff, I was astounded to find that it was part of a single huge rock. One half of the rock apparently sheered away sometime in the distant past. The leader of the scientists was Robert L. Smith, of the US Geological Survey. Smith and the others determined that the balls are made of rhyolite, a rock that is formed from volcanic lava.

Remains of a wasps' nest formed an interesting pattern on a tufa formation. The National Geographic article postulated that the piedras bola began to form when a volcano in the area erupted 10-12 million years ago. Fragments of molten lava and ash shot into the sky, along with superheated gases. When they landed in the valley below, they were covered by layers of tufa ash. The glassy fragments began to cool, forming the nucleus around which surrounding material began to crystalize into spheres. The size of the ball depended upon how slowly the crystalization occurred. The slower it went, the larger the ball.

Anthony leads a group of hikers up from an arroyo. In 1998, a scientist at the University of Guadalajara proposed still another theory. Arturo Curiel Ballesteros agreed with the volcanic origin of the piedras bola. However, he asserted that the spheres were formed while still hurtling through the air and retained their shape when they landed in the soft tufa. This seemed unlikely to some of his fellow scientists (as it did to me) at the University of Guadalajara. Six of them got together and, in 2007, published a 266-page book on the subject, known as "the Bola Book."

Jim Boles passes by a large and partially fractured rock ball, on his way out of the park. The Bola Book agrees on the volcanic origin and chemical make-up of the rocks, but differs on how they came to be spherical. The authors assert that the piedras bola were the result of a pyroclastic flow--basically a hot, gaseous, avalanche full of lava and debris. As the incandescent lava bombs inside the flow were pushed along, their rotation caused them to form spherical shapes which they retained when their motion stopped. They were then covered with falling ash and remained entombed for millions of years. Natural processes of erosion wore away the tufa, leaving the rock balls fully or partially exposed.

Tasty tostadas from the restaurant where we lunched after our hike. One of the most enjoyable aspects of these hikes is the aftermath. Sitting around with good friends, comparing our hiking experiences, while enjoying a feast like this, makes all the effort worth while. So, which theory to believe? I'll leave it to you. Meanwhile, Scientists believe that there may be many more piedras bola deep under the surface. And, there may yet be other theories in the works about their origin. Stay tuned...

This completes my posting on the Piedras Bola. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, and would like to make a comment or ask a question, please do so in the Comments section below or email me directly.

If you leave a question in the Comments section PLEASE leave your email address so that I can respond.

Hasta luego, Jim