San Carlos SoJournal: Exploring

Patty and Marv will arrive tomorrow (Thursday) sometime around noon. Yay! So this afternoon Frances and I headed out. There are still a few places I would like to visit before leaving next week, and I've been saving a few of them for when Patty and Marv are here. The problem is, some of these places aren't necessarily easy or obvious to find. There may not be any road signs, the roads may be washed out or dirt roads. Websites - if they even exist - give vague directions. Things like "look for a lot a garbage on the side of the road just before you get there", or "follow the blue signs" but when you get to a fork in the road there is no blue sign!

So I talked with Frances and we agreed it was a good day for a car ride and hang your head out the window. We agreed that we should try to find a couple of these places before Patty and Marv get here so that we don't waste a lot of time looking for them. Frances and I often agree on things.

First we went looking for the trailhead to Nacapule Canyon. I've been told this is an easy and beautiful hike. I tried to find the trailhead when I first got to San Carlos, but thought I was on the wrong dirt road. Now that I am more familiar with the area I thought I'd try again. All the info I had to get to Nacapule Canyon was to "follow the blue signs."

This worked up to a point. Nacapule Canyon is in fact only about three miles out of town. But it's a dirt road that gets rougher and rockier and more rutted the further you go. Here and there, indeed there was a blue sign. But just as often I'd come to a fork in the road with no sign of any sort. I made a decision to always veer right unless a sign said to do otherwise. That way I'd remember how to get back.

I had learned that the trailhead is unmarked but that it's obvious. Hahaha! Well, to the best of my knowledge I think I found it.

Even if that's not it, it's interesting enough for some easy hiking, and the scenery truly is pretty.

There are supposed to be lots of bird varieties, as well as the usual desert wildlife - everything from cougars to rattlesnakes - all things I'm used to being on the lookout for back at home. We didn't see too much wildlife today. A lizard, a chipmunk, and a roadrunner that darted in front of the car once. I clocked the distance and it's only a five mile round trip on the dirt road. You know how it always seems so much further when you don't know where you're going.

We stopped for a much needed water break. Frances and I had a drink and then headed out to find our next destination, the Enchanted Cactus Forest North of Guaymas.

But first I got lost and stumbled into the tiny village of San Jose de Guaymas and the historic church built in 1685. I was not aware of it's history until I got back home and looked it up. Although I got there because I was lost, it's actually easy to find, and I think I will include it in a trip with Patty and Marv and explore it further. In the meantime here is some of the history that I have cut and pasted from the internet.

Although unmarked and little known to the casual tourist, this is one of the earliest of the Jesuit missions in Mexico (1685). The church standing there now, though old, is not the original construction. It is an interesting looking church, a good subject for painting or photographing. Some of the colored windows are made of beer bottles, and through them sunlight shines in golden patches. This church is still active, but there is no resident priest, so the church will be closed unless the local children are there receiving religious instruction on Saturday morning.

The village of San Jose de Guaymas marks the site of the original settlement of Guaymas. When the seaport at Guaymas was first settled, Guaymas lacked water and it was considered to be too hot a place to live. So early settlers built their homes in San Jose de Guaymas, 10 kilometers away, where there was an estuary and streams to supply the settlement with water. Because there is water in this valley, there are several ranches, vegetable fields, orange groves, and pleasant shady homes in present day San Jose.

This rather poor village is developing into a popular home site for Mexican families and a number of pleasant shady homes and gardens can be spotted along the roads.

Not until 1769 was the city of Guaymas built at its present location at the seaport.

Judging by the blue porta-potties outside some of the homes, I'm guessing that running water - or at least indoor plumbing - is still missing from the area. The very small white square building that houses the police station and city registrar also had a blue portalet on the side of the building.

I have to admit that I sometimes feel a little self conscious when I photograph the homes of people living in poor situations. But now that I know it's a "historic site", I will feel a little more comfortable returning. Besides, past outings have taught me that my dog and my camera are often welcome. I'll see if anyone is up for visiting on Saturday morning when the church is open. It's so exciting to just run across this kind of thing.

Well as long as I was lost I might as well take a couple of side roads that are obviously NOT going to lead to the cactus forest. I came across a large condo complex under construction. New little boxes - and I do mean boxes - perfectly square in shape, one after the other. I plan to go back into some of these neighborhoods in the next couple of days and explore a bit more.

We finally headed out in the direction of the town of Empalme. It was mostly a good road and there was an area that looked like a dump, - which is a landmark to look for on the way to the cactus forest - but here and there the road was washed out and rugged and after awhile I turned around. I'd done enough "four wheeling" in my Corolla for one day. It was getting late and I felt I had enough information to come home and look it up on the internet again. I have done so and it appears I just need to follow the washed out road a bit farther to get to the cactus forest. I will give it another whirl in the next couple of days.

Frances and I rewarded ourselves with our daily stop at the estuary beach. BIG NEWS! For the first time in her life, Frances swam in water over her head voluntarily - HER CHOICE! And liked it!!!

Our last stop was at a Greek beachside restaurant called The Palapa,