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Viva la Revolution!

None of us knows the shape of the future. This half-century of disorders teaches us that the future is a secret which is divulged neither in the works of Karl Marx nor in those of his adversaries. But we can say this much to the future which a few impassioned young men are somewhere building: every revolution that stifles criticism, that denies the right to contradict those in power, that prohibits the peaceful substitution of one government for another, is a revolution that defeats itself - is a fraud. My conclusions will irritate many people. No matter: independent thought is almost always unpopular. We must renounce outright the authoritarian tendencies of the revolutionary tradition, especially its Marxist branch. At the same time, we must break up the existing monopolies - whether of the state, of parties, or of private capitalism - and discover forms, new and truly effective forms, of democratic and popular control over political and economic powers and over the information media and education. A plural society, without majorities or minorities: not all of us are happy in my political utopia, but at least all of us are responsible. Above all and before all else: we must conceive viable models of development, models less inhuman, costly, and senseless than those we have now. I have said before that this is an urgent task: the truth is, it is the task of our times. And there is one more thing: the supreme value is not the future but the present. The future is a deceitful time that always says to us, "Not yet," and thus denies us. The future is not the time of love: what man truly wants he wants NOW. Whoever builds a house for the future happiness builds a prison for the present.

- The Other Mexico (1972) by Octavio Paz (1914 - 1998)

Formato #4, Agente #036

I could have SWORN I posted this last time we did our Mexican visa renewals, but can't find it anywhere.  My buddy L is doing his MX visa renewal this month, so this goes out to him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXWZ3uAEKsw

When to use a Long Cage vs Short Cage Derailleur? Ask Speedub.Nate

Time to buy a new rear derailler (yes, derailler. I speak English, not French - i.e. "derailleur"). Stoopid rock! Wait, mountains are made of rock. Ok, stupid loose rock with a bad attitude. So do I need a long, medium or short cage Derailler? Well no better answer to that question than the one posted by Speedub.Nate on MTBR.com http://forums.mtbr.com/drivetrain-shifters-derailleurs-cranks/when-use-long-cage-vs-short-cage-derailleur-205890.html You da man, Speedub.Nate!

Back to the Peak and Over the Back

Jeff, Jose, Oliver, Deron and Ginger's
 2012-05-26 Hike to the Summit of San Felipe Peak and Beyond

(San Felipe del Agua and San Pablo Etla), Mexico.

Summary:

Starting Location:

 5617ft / 1712m, San Felipe del Agua

San Felipe Peak Summit:

 10174ft / 3101m
 (From GoogleEarth. Actual GPS reading on SF Peak Summit is probably due to margin-of-error)

Highest elevation obtained:

 10174ft / 3101m

       (3128m GPS reading on SF Peak Summit is probably margin-of-error)

Hike End Location:

 9278ft / 2828m, N17.18065 W96.70014

       (i.e. we caught a ride down into San Pablo Etla and then returned to SFdA via auto)
Total Distance Traveled:
       35.3miles / 56.8km
       (i.e. by foot, truck, collectivo and VW Bug)
Total Hours of Outing:
       12 hours, 27 minutes

Total Distance Hiked:

 11.4miles / 18.km (16.8km + 1.6km)

Total Hours of Hiking Portions:

 9 hours, 13 minutes (~ 5.25 hours moving: 4 hours stopped)

Total Hiking Ascent: 5492ft / 1674m

Total Hiking Descent: 2011ft / (538 + 75m)

Note: click on pictures to view larger image.

On Saturday, May 26th, 2012 four of us (plus one of Jose's dogs, Ginger) met at 6am to hike to the top of the San Felipe peak via the previously posted Duende Tierra route.  Our intention was to then walk east to the fireroads intersection and follow the north/northeast road to see if it went down to San Pablo Etla.  Examination of GoogleEarth's satellite images of the area seemed to indicate that it would connect with San Pablo Etla (SPE) as a road labeled as Sin Numero No. 3 (aka Road SN3) in GoogleEarth.  That "Possible Rd to Etla?" track was estimated to be about 8miles of steady descent to SPE.

The day was overcast and the sun not yet up when we started.  A light rain had fallen earlier in the morning but the ground was more damp than muddy. As the day lightened to show a thick cloud cover that threatened more rain, we hiked to the peak with two or three breaks for snacks.  The passage through the Duende Tierra area was especially magical with the air thick with mist.  Since there was no rain and the trail was much more well worn and obvious than the last climb in January, we made good time to the false summit (with the gravestone) and on to the true San Felipe Peak summit.  It seemed we were above the rain level as it was thick clouds below with an overcast sky, yet no rain on us.....yet.  We went onward east over to the cross of yellow pipe (Cruz de la Tubería Amarilla) before continuing east along the ridge to the trails intersection with three fire roads. We turned north down the road assumed to lead to SPE and passed meadows full of flowers as a light rain started. We came upon several road intersections and trails crossing the road.  All of the former were well-marked with signs. Almost an hour later (3.7km with 175m descent) a man and his family in a pickup truck overtook us.  It had continued to rain and we were thinking of the planned stop for Chinese food near SPE so we asked for a ride.

We rode in the back of the man's truck for 45 minutes (14km and 1130m of descent).  Along the way the man stopped at a gate house so we could pay the "entrance" fee to exit the San Pablo Etla "park."  We were asked for 30 pesos each but they accepted the 100 peso note we offered for the four of us.  We eventually were let out at the SPE Municipal Water District offices (at least that is my attempted translation of the sign) where we discovered that the man driving the truck was the Presidente of San Pablo Etla (i.e. the "Mayor" or jefe grande).  We didn't have any reasonable bills to offer him for the ride and he told us not to worry about paying him.

From there we walked for another 30 minutes, heading down the road through SPE to the highway where we eventually got a collectivo to the Chinese restaurant.  Imagine the poor girl already in the small Toyota taxi as four sweaty, wet guys and a dog (plus our backpacks) try to cram into the car with her and the driver.  After a filling lunch and some beers at Mia Arroz (the Chinese restaurant), Jose's wife came and picked us up in there VW bug.  Good thing we got practice packing ourselves into the collectivo.  From there it was back to San Felipe del Agua.

Here are some photos and GPS charts from the outing.  An interactive GoogleMaps map of the GPS data (via a KMZ file) is located at the bottom of this post.

Jose and Ginger take a snack on the way to Duende Tierra

Snack break #1 for the boys. SF Peak in the clouds on the far right.

Oliver approaching Road JRR crossing

Jeff approaching Road JRR crossing

Oliver at the Road JRR crossing. Time for breakfast break!

Ginger, Jose, and Jeff entering Duende Tierra

Jeff, Jose, Oliver and Ginger enter Duenda Tierra

Rain layer trying to rise up into Duenda Tierra against west side of false summit.

Gringo in the maguey patch!

Jose in the maguey patch in saddle on sw approach to SFP false summit.

Jose and Ginger on gravestone on SFP false summit

Jeff, Jose, Ginger and Deron on SFP false summit.

Clouds over Etla as Jeff and Jose approach the cross of yellow tube

Jeff and Jose approaching the cross.

View to the SW from Cruz de la Tuberia Amarilla

Oliver and Jose at the Cruz de la Tuberia Amarilla

Deron, Jose, Jeff and Ginger at the Cruz de la Tuberia Amarilla.
Jose seemingly grumpy about no cute Chinese girls being located.

Oliver at the Cruz de la Tuberia Amarilla

Jeff at the Cruz de la Tuberia Amarilla

Wildflowers in the wetlands near the summit of SFP

Oliver and Jose at the end of of the day in San Felipe del Agua

GPS Data Summary & Elevation Profile (Overall outing):

GPS Data Summary & Elevation Profile (Initial Hike over summit until ride down in truck started):

GPS Data Summary & Elevation Profile (Ride in the truck down to SPE):

GPS Data Summary & Elevation Profile (Hike through SPE to catch collective):

GPS Data Summary & Elevation Profile (Collectivo ride, lunch at Mia Arroz, and ride back to SFdA):

Overall Route of Outing on San Felipe Peak Hike 2 - Satellite View

Overall Route Map for San Felipe Peak Hike 2 

 (Red is route hiked, pink is taxi ride home):

View Larger Map

Use GoogleMaps to see most of this hike data in full-view, as well as details of waypoints, click here

Or better yet, use (free) GoogleEarth and download the KMZ file for use of ALL the hike data. Click here for the KMZ data file.

Garmin BaseCamp v3 Track Color Codes

Continuing my forehead flattening fun migrating my GPS data in Garmin BaseCamp into a MySQL database to allow for future scripting delights I needed to know the appropriate RGB color codes in hexadecimal for the colors that are assignable to Tracks in BaseCamp version 3.  Here is an image of my cheat sheet which would more accurately be named "Garmin Track Colors and their closest match to a Named HTML Colors (along with the RGB hex code)"

Click color table for full-size image.

Deron and Meredith’s 2012-01-06 Hike to the Summit of San Felipe Peak

(San Felipe del Agua, Etla, and Huayapam), Mexico.

Summary:

Starting Location:

 5638ft / 1718m, San Felipe del Agua

San Felipe Peak Summit:

 10159ft / 3096m

Highest elevation obtained:

 10575ft / 3223m

  (explanation in the ramblings below)

Hike End Location:

 5685ft / 1732m, Huayapam

 (i.e. returned to SFdA via taxi)

Total Mileage Hiked:

 16.5miles

Total Hours of Hiking:

 9 hours, 35 minutes

Total Ascent: 6126ft / 1867m

Total Descent: 6089ft / 1856m

Note: click on pictures to view larger image.

Elevation Profile (Hiking part of route only):

Route of D & M on San Felipe Peak Hike 

 (Red is route hiked, pink is taxi ride home):

View Larger Map

Use GoogleMaps to see most of this hike data in full-view, as well as details of waypoints, visit: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zB2kha2APj7g.kQotupOJnzA0&usp=sharing

Or better yet, use (free) GoogleEarth and download the KMZ file for use of ALL the hike data. Click here for the KMZ data file.

Also available on WikiLoc.com: http://en.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=2386694

Meredith and Deron at the San Pablo Etla sign:

(at junction of Duende Tierra trail & Juarez Ridge (dirt) Road

(see map waypoint “DT + JRR Jct”))

                                                             

 

After we came across the dirt road (JRR) and this sign, we (mistakenly?) went east on the road until the road died out.  At that point we began bushwacking to try to get back to the top of the ridge (to our north).  Once we did, there we found a singletrack trail right on the ridge.  We probably missed a singletrack cutoff to the northeast as we walked along the road.

But at least we got to see the first of the many large (then later, HUGE) maguey plants:

Map close-up of our bushwacking section you should avoid.  It is just west of the area we think is Jeff and Oliver’s Duende Tierra.  Blue is probably the actual route one should take.

Here is Mer  after we finally cleared the bushwacking and made it to the strangely-vegetated saddle on the ridge just west of the steep climb up to the false summit of San Felipe Peak.  If we have the right location, this is Jeff and Oliver’s “Duende Tierra.”

Here is Mer (looking sooooo happy) as we struggle up the steepest part of the climb – the western approach to the false summit of San Felipe Peak. Note the amount of fallen pine needles and leaves covering the “trail.”

The “headstone” at the top of the (west) false summit of San Felipe peak:

Deron at the best viewing spot on San Felipe peak, the cross of yellow pipe, east of the true summit.

Same location (Cruz de la Tuberia Amarilla),looking south over Oaxaca de Juarez:

After we left the peak, we headed east as we decided we’d prefer to take the Upper Hauyapam Access Road (Road UHAR) down into town instead of trying to go down the slippery, steep slope we'd taken up to the peak.  While heading east we entered a four-way intersection (i.e. our trail from the west, three fire roads on the other compass points).  As we were now beyond San Felipe del Agua and mostly north of Huayapam we were surprised to find another Etla community sign at this intersection.  It would seem the Juarez Ridge Road (Road JRR) has an offshoot that comes around the San Felipe peak on the north and connects in here.

After following the east fire road (and then a slight shortcut up a trail henceforth known as Cava Cagarruta (Trail CC) we connected with the UHAR.  Seven miles (down!) and 2.5 hours later we made it to the center of Huayapam.  From there we grabbed a taxi home to San Felipe del Agua.  Here is a picture of the church in Huyapam (taken on a previous visit):

Explanation of how maximum elevation is higher than the San Felipe Peak summit.

Our maximum elevation reached was 10575ft / 3223, reached NOT at the SF peak summit but instead 0.1 miles east of the CC + UHAR junction.  This is because there is a higher peak to the north east of this intersection.  That peak is 10803ft at its summit and the UHAR appears to go straight to it (to service the towers on top of it, probably).

Suggested alternate route for getting to Duende Tierra with children.

To get to the Duende Tierra area as easy as reasonably possible, I suggest skipping going up Martillada trail (Trail Ma) to get to Duende Tierra trail (Trail DT) and instead drive up the Libramiento Norte road (Road LNR) to its summit to the west.  From there use High Flyer Ridge trail (Trail HFR) to connect to the top of the Ma trail and then over to DT trail before heading up to JRR and then on east to the Duenda Tierra area. It is probably possible to stay on the ridge on HFR trail  and go past the Ma trail turnoff, instead climbing straight uphill to connect with the DT trail.   See GoogleMaps/GoogleEarth satellite views for a peek at the vegetation/path you’d be going through.  Here is elevation data for using HFR versus straight up Ma.

Comparison of trail elevations between going up Martillada (950ft elevation over 1.6 mi) versus driving up Libramiento Norte Road and then using High Flyer Ridge trail (500 ft elevation gain over 1.7 miles):

Suggestions: 

I would recommend NOT using the route we used to get to the SF Peak summit.  Instead I would do it in reverse, i.e. starting in Huayapam and using the UHAR to get up to the top before heading west over to the summit of SF Peak.  This would mean you’d miss seeing Duende Tierra area but you will see much of the same strange vegetation as you head up the UHAR and the road, though very steep, is still better than the west approach.  If it was earlier in the dry season when perhaps there is less dropped leaves/needles, the west approach may be more reasonable (though it will be damn steep still).  Good luck.