Deron Dilger: Rantomatic: May 2012

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.