This was one of the first waterfalls we explored as kids, we don’t have any photos from the first few times we went – back then we did not all pack around cameras in our back pockets. These photos are from one of our adventures up in November of 1998 – we’re kind of surprised to look back and see we went in November, there must have been a lot of rain that summer.
Going back as adults was weird – I remember the hike into this fall being completely different, and maybe that’s because we hiked down from a rancher’s property before.
This time, we hiked up all the way along the creek bed. It’s just over a half mile but takes about 30-45 minutes to hike up. You have to jump from rock to rock the whole way up – there is no trail. Plus, around every bend, there’s some reason to stop, and listen, and take in the sights. There are enormous and impressive ‘zalates’, a type of ficus or fig tree that grow on rocks in our arroyos…these trees are magnificent. We also came across herds of cattle and running streams and pools of water the entire way up.
A lot of the rocks are loose, so you have to be really be cautious. Good tennis shoes are recommended, Wendy hiked it in rainbows though so, you do you (Shout out to Sparky!! If you know, you know…). A fall (as in injury, not water) up here would make for a less fun day. It would be difficult to return. And then cell service is about another 15-minute drive down the mountain.
The waterfall itself is treacherous, at least from my perspective as a mom – you see, as a parent, I feel I no longer have the right to elective injuries (OR an early death, for that matter). I understand either of these could happen to me whenever, I just have a responsibility to TRY to stay well for my kids. Part of this is selfish, if I get even a little bit injured, parenting becomes about four times harder. Anyway, back to the waterfall.
I thought about climbing up. I actually did go about 2/3 the way up the rock face. I was on the rock-climbing team in high school, but this face is tricky. First of all, you’re wet, you have to swim through a pool to reach the face you can ascend. We tried tiptoeing along the edge of the pool, we ALL slipped and fell comically into the water. It was a no go. Wendy actually initially climbed up a totally different route, one with more foot and hand holds early on, but then a lot of maneuvering cacti and boulders once she was up. At one point she thought she was stuck, and then found a narrow tunnel through some boulders. Was it safe to go through? It was really her only option. Coming down the way she had climbed up would be far too dangerous. I watched from below in fear AND excitement. I really wanted to be exploring too. But I was still recovering from having two babies back-to-back, still carrying quite a bit of extra baby weight. And a now (possibly overly) cautious mama. I would just watch. And hope she didn’t fall.
And she did not! She made it to the top of the waterfall, twice. (Actually, back up, her second time up, she DID almost fall, luckily a friend had scaled the wall right before her and was laying at the top reaching back just in case and he caught her…that’s the last third I decided not to climb).
This place is magical, and beautiful. And this year, since we had a nice amount of rain all summer, it was almost tropical. Add to it the first time we hike up last summer it was overcast and even sprinkled some rain at the top. We could barely see the mountain peaks above from all the wispy clouds or fog.
There are unpleasant things too – we passed a cow carcass in the water on the way up, mental note not to swim downstream on the way back. In the summer we also have to be careful of snakes, and there were huge water spiders and we’re pretty sure leeches up in the waterfall pool. But that’s just nature. It’s the risk you take anywhere, kind of.
Other unpleasant things are man-made – down at the road where we started our hike, there is so much litter. There are chip bags, beer cans and bottles, plastic items, and more…so much garbage is left behind. All of this trash then eventually gets pushed out into the arroyos. Part of this is a lack of education in understanding what trash does at a larger scale, and the other part of this is a lack of resources. They may live in areas with no city trash collection and driving to the dump and paying the fee to dispose of their waste is too prohibiting. The solution is in offering better and free city trash collections. If you go drive through some of the poorer neighborhoods in our area, you will see some have trash piles around their homes…and then drive up a little way into the back roads towards the ranches, you will find clandestine dumps. And another way of disposing of their trash? They burn it, although this has become more and more regulated and harder to get away with. So, if they can’t manage the trash they are generating at their own home, why would they take any trash back with them?
Growing up here, we’ve seen a little of everything when hiking into arroyos. A good rule of thumb is to enjoy the arroyo waters as far up as possible, even then, there are bugs, leeches, spiders and snakes. It’s part of the landscape.
(If you’re looking for less nature, there’s a water park in Caduaño, or even the Sol de Mayo waterfall in Santiago, except there you will get munched on by a bunch of little fish in the water)
Wendy and I were wondering aloud how we don’t remember the falls being so steep. It didn’t seem as scary to climb to the top of the fall. We can’t entirely remember which way we used to climb up, I want to think maybe there was a rope? But maybe not…. our family was so adventurous. It’s funny, I worry today because it would be such an ordeal to get someone injured back to the road, and then once at the road, cell service is still about 15-minutes away by car. But today, we have state of the art hospitals (plural!! As in more than one! Several!) nearby. Back when we used to go as kids, there was no cell service. And there was one little general hospital (I had x-rays there once for a little broken bone in my foot and none of the films were clear. Maybe I wasn’t still enough? It was a wonderful little hospital, but not one I’d really want to be injured in). And maybe there was one ambulance for the whole town. We have come a long way, maybe the isolation is what made us more adventurous. We had to be resilient, there was no choice.
Today, we have the benefit of incredible health care in Los Cabos, so maybe it should be easier to take some bigger risks…but, again, for me – it’s the mom thing. I really WANT to be around long enough, uninjured, to play with me kids. So, I hike up to the waterfall…I take a swim, and I enjoy the little waterfall slide. The big waterfall slide is reserved for the wild ones, like Wendy.
This rock-bed stream, arroyo, valley thing goes up the hill seemingly forever, up into the clouds – getting harder and harder to scale. I had some friends go adventuring into the hills and they too had a very precarious climb…From their description, I think they tried to access the waterfall from above. They have some beautiful pools (and then there was a proposal!!) but they didn’t make it to the big fall…the climb was too difficult.
Very few friends who tried to hike the area made it to the falls while some went back over and over again each week. This is a seasonal fall, so when there is water in the summer, one has to take advantage of how the earth, rock and trees just come to life in a whole different way. Going on an overcast day is a little risky (it usually means it is raining in the mountains, and there is such thing as flash floods) but it is the most beautiful. The clouds, the sun, the drizzle of rain, the running water…all sets the perfect environment for complete peace and relaxation. If you get a chance and are a savvy, confident and strong hiker, this might be a good adventure for you.
Keep in mind, there are no signs on the drive up, this is not in a park so there is no designated parking, nothing around for miles. It’s one of those places where you need to be well versed in the natural habitat, comfortable with leaving your car on the side of a dirt road, hiking up into nothingness, and asking a local for help (if you see any) should you need something.
If you are interested in finding this place, drop us a line, and we can give you some pointers, if we deem you worthy. Lol. Just kidding. Or are we?
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Such great memories!!! Wendy was always so fearless!!! Or at least she fooled us!!