Hola, amigo

Our buddy, Ryan, made it to Mexico City Thursday night. We took him to this great looking pizza and mezcal place that we passed during our many miles of walking since he’s a big pizza fan. Pizza Nosferatu did not disappoint! Between a huge list of very unique pizzas, micro brews, a mezcalería that you can order from next door, and the sweetest waitress, we had a great time! We wandered around Condesa until we came across an Irish Pub with a Mexican metal/rock band show. We stayed for a drink and then continued popping in and out of a couple spots until we called an Uber to take us back to the hostel.

Early the next morning, we took the trolley to the Central Bus Station and grabbed a bus to Santiago de Querétaro and then one to San Sebastián Bernal. We were subjected to a ridiculous children’s film on the second bus and couldn’t get the high pitched “Fixies” out of our heads. Expecting a bus station, we almost missed our stop in Bernal as the stop was just a spot in the middle of the main road in town and there were no announcements. Our bus driver had a good laugh at that one before helping us with our bags. Across the street, a line of taxi cabs with no drivers were waiting. One man was fiddling under the hood of his taxi and so I approached him to ask if he could give us a ride to Chichidho, the eco park lodge which we were greatly looking forward to staying at. He nodded, closed the hood and helped us get our bags in the trunk. Our driver, who introduced himself as Ignacio, gave us several good tips for the best local things, mentioning to try cactus flower (flor de nata) ice cream, gorditas with corn truffles (huitlacoche), and to climb Peña de Bernal. We actually came to Bernal in order to climb Peña.

Peña de Bernal is a giant monolith of the edge of town. At 1,431ft tall it is one of the largest monoliths in the world. A popular tourist attraction, there is a via ferrata (a protected climbing route) which visitors come to climb. There is a small shrine and crosses at the top of the monolith and it is a type of pilgrimage besides being just a little outdoors fun. It is also wine and cheese country so the town is a very cute, colorful, and welcoming.

Chichidho is an eco-lodge that has overs the years attracted many rock climbers and high liners (a form of slack lining but up high, usually between peaks). There is limited solar-powered electricity and water, a shared kitchen and amazing views. The three of us stayed in the hostel style room with many beds but there was a large weekend crowd of campers as well as private cabins. It was easily one of the coolest places that I have ever stayed.

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The entire place was built by a man named Fernando and his family. His son, also Fernando, currently runs it and we ended up spending much time talking with him about the future of the lodge and how he would like to protect the environment around the Peña from the quickly encroaching town. We quickly befriended the two very friendly house dogs, one of which often joined us for hikes. I also spent a day going out to Fernando’s orchard with the volunteers and some of his friends to help clean, trim, and pick fruits from the trees.

There are many different types of climbing here. Of course, the most obvious being the opportunity to multi-pitch climb the Peña, but there is also bouldering and roped climbing. We dabbled in all areas (expect for trad) across the five days which we stayed here. Jon and I climbed our first multi-pitch climb (320 meters) up the Peña, but I think that may require it’s own post as it was one of the scariest, most difficult and also rewarding mental experiences either of us have ever had.

We woke around 6am every day and would go on hikes to different views around the Peña to catch the sunrise. We would return to the lodge for breakfast and discuss plans for the rest of the day. Almost every day we would take the 45 minute hike up and down hills and around the Peña to town. We bought fresh bread from bakeries, exploring the many foreign flavors and combinations. We went to our favorite ice cream shop every day for some of the cactus flower ice cream we immediately fell in love with. This sweet grandfather would come out from behind a screen that divided his living room from the shop front and insist that we always try every flavor that he had. He would get so excited to see us return every day. On the last day, the boys arrived while he was feeding his grandson and got so excited that he accidentally dropped the baby’s spoon onto the table and scrambled to recover. His wife stepped in and said that she would take care of the customers but when she told Jon that they normally do not serve the lime flavor in a cone, the husband again jumped up to assist and told her “No, no, no, they can have whatever they want! Lime flavor in a cone is just fine.”

One particularly wholesome morning, we hiked to see the sunrise and found a gravel path with horses on it. We decided to continue down this path, hopeful that it would bring us into town for some café de olla (coffee made in a clay pot with cinnamon, vanilla and some other spices) and a bite to eat before we could pick up our laundry from the only laundry shop in town. Little did we know, we had found an art trail! Filled with sculptures from local artists, they depicted local animals and insects, a giant Quetzalcoatl (a feathered serpent deity of ancient Mesoamerican culture) in stone, wood, and metal. At the end of our walk, we reached what we believed to be the actual beginning of the path; a parking lot and small building where two very confused men stared at us appearing so early in the morning (the town isn’t quite awake until 9am). We waved hello and began to exchange greetings when I was equally surprised by a four month old puppy jumping up towards me from out of sight. I caught him midair before he began licking my face. His name was Cacahuate (meaning “peanut”) and he was this little fuzz ball of joy who would was extraordinarily excited to see us. We chatted with the men who ran this art trail and asked if we could pay for our accidental visit. They refused to accept our money but asked what we enjoyed the most before explaining how the trail came to be. After a hard goodbye with my quick friend, Cacahuate, we continued down towards town and found a restaurant with gorditas run by a family of five sisters with the best gorditas champiñones (mushrooms) we tasted during our travels! As they were beginning to learn English, we wrote down our orders in both English and Spanish and exchanged many giggles and great conversation. We returned to visit these lovely ladies for our final breakfast in Bernal and gave us our contact information so that we can be in contact for future visits. All of these great experiences that morning and it was only 10:30am by the time we left breakfast! That was just our every day experience in Bernal.

As the lights were limited at the lodge, we would often head to bed not long after the sun went down and fight with our mosquito nets as we tried to sleep. But when we did sleep, we slept heavy, exhausted from our natural playground which we explored to the fullest every day.