In Hot Water
“How much further?”
We have to be getting closer. If we keep driving towards those rocky foothills we should eventually find it. You know, over there somewhere.’ (Pointing left)
‘I am pretty sure it is only a few miles from that little village we just passed through, Mirror Flowers, or something like that. Where is it exactly?’
‘Over there.’ (Pointing left)
‘Cripes, there’s another fork in the road. Hmm, looks to me like staying on the left is the more traveled one. I see wider tire tracks. Hey, You said you were here before.’ (With a tone)
‘Sure, like in 1994 and I was a passenger in an old beat up suburban, the air conditioning didn’t work, oh and with rusted floor boards where I could see the gravel road below my feet’. (Was on a 3rd date with a long haired New Yorker)
‘Hey, that sign looks promising. “Curva peligrosa.” Maybe it says watch for pelicans and birds or something like that. They always live near water.’
The beautiful hot and sunny weather along with a good adventure plan to find the magical hot springs with unearthly healing powers was underway. The road was winding and rough, some long stretches of wash boarding and slow going but seemingly well traveled. We packed a cooler with water, sandwiches and snacks, and our backpacks for the hike up the canyon to the waterfalls. We couldn’t wait.
There are a few ways to find the hot springs nestled close to the tiny village of El Choyo, near the other tiny village of Agua Caliente, just north of the other tiny town of Mira Flores, or south of the other tiny town of Santiago. Sketchy directions at best - turn left at the church where the road narrows and the local butcher may have his hides hanging along side his property fence. We thought we saw the church but not hanging pigs. (Not sure if that was good or bad)
Several areas in southern Baja have natural hot springs bubbling above ground from a large volcanic rock vain rising up from the center of the earth. The water really does pour out of the rock with temperatures up to 114 degrees, mixed with fresh cool spring water and you have nirvana!
The folklore and history surrounding these springs go way back to early 40’s when the Governor of Baja piped the healing warm waters to his home from springs farther north of El Choyo in an area known as Los Barriles. El Choyo has a ‘short wall’ dam where water flows from the mountains all year round. This dam is operational and does provide the much-needed water for farmers in surrounding local villages.
Best to pay attention of the time of year you want to visit these springs. When we have our rainy season between August and October, the canyon fills up and the tranquil stream becomes a raging river. This is an awesome sight, as our many dry desert arroyos become roaring waterways sending all that glorious rainfall into the Sea of Cortez.
Visiting in February is considered the dry time and allows for easy hiking up the canyon following the creek bed. (Well, I use the word easy and probably should be saying difficult for some of us)
A fun Los Cabos adventure day...with good friends
We were excited to finally find the small village of El Choyo, with only a handful of small casitas lining the narrow dirt road with the hot springs straight ahead. Each home is surrounded by beautiful greenery, of all shapes, and an abundance of overgrown flowers of many colors poking out of every opening along the stick fencing. From the dusty traveled roads this is a lovely and remote paradise, and so far away from civilization. A familiar sight, we carefully maneuvered around some children running around kicking up dust balls.
We easily parked along side the small dam and knew immediately we were in for a rare treat. There was a sandy beach with two families enjoying a Sunday picnic. A few heads poked out of the shallow waters all sitting directly beside a rock wall where the hottest water was pouring out mixing with the clean spring waters.
We donned our hats, laced our running shoes, filled our backpacks and away we went. The hike was easy but slow considering the larger boulders required decision-making skills to climb over and around. (Plus dodge cow patties) We breathed in the sheer beauty of this lush creek side oasis, starkly different then the dry stark desert brush and cactus just a few hundred yards away.
We had to cross over to the other side of the creek to continue our hike up canyon. The water was clear and shallow and surprisingly cold, refreshing to our already tired feet. Continuing up the canyon we could hear the thrashing sounds of a distant waterfall.
Oh Oh, we had a decision to make. We had come to an impassable spot only to realize we should have been on the other side. To continue on our journey, we could swim a narrow opening except the water was dark and likely deep, and we didn’t know what mystical creatures were waiting below. The dense marshy area across the water, definitely not swimmable, had scary sounds of wildlife vibrating from it. (Giant toad sounds) And we couldn’t see around the corner of this rocky edge to even know if there was a way up out of the water. Now what?
We were highly motivated in continuing on to find the waterfall we could now hear roaring up canyon. Higher above the hilltop we saw a palapa structure, perched high above, like a lookout fort. There was a narrow trail snaking up the hillside and we considered it.
Three interesting travellers came our way. They looked like they just walked off the set of Woodstock - long hair, full beards and serapes as their only piece of clothing. (He was hanging loose). Their backs were bulging with camping gear. These youths were living in the ‘biospa’ commune just down the road and were hiking a few miles up canyon to experience the solitude of Mother Earth for 6 whole weeks. (They will eat roots and stuff and they had definitely NOT seen soap for a while). They were excited to reveal that a palm tree forest was only a few miles away and several other waterfalls were close and an easy hike. They also shared that this oasis is a government-protected biosphere with many unique plants only found here in this most unusual microclimate. Awesome information.
They did offer some insight into our difficult decision as to how to get to the waterfall. They said very easy … just go back down, cross over and climb the canyon from the other side. Okay. We could see the other side and wondered how we could possibly traverse the side of the flat-faced rock wall. (I have sky dived so could likely do it)
My dear friends have adventure tattooed to their behinds so while one climbed further up the rocky ledge the other decided to jump into the dark water and swim to see what was around the corner. I stood guard watching both. (I had an anxiety-induced stomachache watching both of them). Sheer cries of delight came from the swimmer “holy good god almighty this is cold.” Disappearing out of sight, I heard, “Nope, nowhere to climb up!” Thankfully she made it back safely to the rocky shore. The rock climber had also maneuvered his way up and around the rocky wall and also yelled down, “Nope, nowhere to cross”.
Before making our way back down to the hot springs, we sat atop giant boulders and enjoyed our lunch, immersed in the beauty and listening to the echoing sounds of giant toads.
We encountered another friend along the way down. She was big and black, wearing a nice bell around her neck and had a pretty good set of racks on her. (That’s Texas talk for horns) She tried to stand still for a photo but was trying too hard to show her best side!
We easily made our way back down the canyon ready to soak in the magical hot springs. Even though we didn’t make it to the waterfall we felt exhilarated having had such a fabulous and unique adventure and all agreed, ‘Lets do that again’.