It’s become customary for Chuck and Adam to escape the city on a Full Moon Campout each month. This time we joined them by riding out as a posse to Hierve el Agua to celebrate together. It would be an Inception-style bike tour, as Emma, Sadie, Huesos and I planned to add in a few subsequent nights in the Sierra Norte too:
A full moon ride within a coffee outside ride within a mountain ride, with an added Hike A Bike To Nowhere.
Now that it’s mid-May, the rains have begun in earnest, dulling the edge off the exhausting summer heat. But it’s still regularly hot enough in the valley that prudent cyclists peel themselves out of bed early, inject some Oaxacan coffee in their systems, and get pedalling before the real calor kicks in. Not that even bean-imbibing early birds can escape the midday heat, because it’s bound to catch up with you as it did with us – sure enough, a spate of post-rain MegaGloop and a few thorny punctures (for those running ye olde inner tubes) had us fighting over scraps of shade for much of the 50km ride to Mitla. Not to worry though, because once we were there, our inner engines were quickly cooled down with mango and coconut ice cream, and our parched throats soothed with sweet icy aguas… before we sunk our chainrings into the 600m climb that lay between us and Hierve el Agua.
Plans to connect this IG hotspot the next morning with the lesser travelled Salinas pools were reluctantly curtailed, though not before we’d hauled and dragged and cursed our unlikely collection of bikes (of all materials, wheel sizes, tyre widths, and baggage configurations) a respectable number of hours down the wrong trail – aka The Hike A Bike To Knowhere. That connecting adventure will have to be shelved for another time, when we have more route-finding intel to hand and snacks to nibble on. Instead, we backtracked all the way to Hierve (less than 2km if our Wahoo is to be believed… somehow the out-and-back took us hours of toil and deliberation) where popular opinion suggested we cram all bikes and bodies into a rattly colectivo and drive back to Mitla, thus avoiding another 600m climb. Huesos sat on my lap, his head out of the window in case he vomited, as he tends to do in vehicles other than his trailer.
But the adventure wasn’t over yet! From there, Emma, Sadie, Huesos and I hurried on, racing the last light of day to Yagul (tired boy Huesos napped most of the journey), finally picking our way up a babyhead climb at dusk, all the way to a favourite camping perch. It’s a primo location for an Almost Full Moon, framed as it is by the prickly embrace of Grandpa Organ Cactus, and affording a stirring view of this impressive Zapotec archaeological site, set to a big ‘ol lump of rock (limestone dappled with succulents), and swathes of carrizo and surrounding wetland. Huesos even summoned some reserve energy to chase lizards.
Also: I should mention that we camped amongst hills of snoozing velvet ants and beside a forboding tunnel patrolled by a bug-eyed Wolf Spider. And, a nocturnal scorpion circled our tent no less than 3 times in the darkness. It just so happened to be an (almost) full moon in Scorpio – so read into that what you will. Either way, it all made for exciting viewing from the safety of our fully enclosed tents.
The next morning, we awoke early to drink coffee and soak in the sunrise, before readying our minds and bodies for a monster climb into the Sierra Norte. But I’m going to those sweaty delights for Part 2, in the interest of saving your thumb some scrolling…
An early start to the day to beat the heat… and a Zapotec language class en route.
Sadie took a shine to sweet little Cheekeelee, pictured here with his brother Tom. Almost hip bag size…
A round of morning memelas in Tlacochahuaya ensured our non-combustion engines kept running.
Who said you can’t go bikepacking without all the gear? A ball of yarn and some inventive packing solutions from Adam!
Following the Camino Real past organ cacti, affording us some pick-me-up pitayas, thanks to Michael’s 3-story tall cactus fruit prodder. This month is prime pitaya season, so fill your bellies!
Uh oh. MegaGloop and ensuing off-piste punctures (also, just look at those skinny tyres!)
Sticking out your tongue is one way of beating the midday heat. Just ask Huesos.
Surreptitiously, Peter Gabriel has been releasing a new song every full moon from his upcoming album – so we listened to it under a bougainvillea.
Searching for scraps of shade.
Solidarity!
Oof, it’s hot out there. Adam deploys his ear curtains.
A local bike shop in Xaagá. I bet they do a roaring trade in puncture repairs.
Margot and her classy 26in tourer, bought from a round-the-world bike tourer who’d hung up his bike helmet for a while.
Adam and his vintage Univega mtb, which was purchased in Oaxaca.
Emma doing the heavy trailer lifting on her Jones.
Just when you thought the day was over… it’s a 600m climb from Mitla to Hierve, with a 600m descent squeezed in there too…
Hazy daze around the pools the next morning, due in part to all the agave and piña roasting down in the valley, during the mezcal-making process.
Beating the weekend crowds with some coffee outside, conversation… and puncture repairs.
Huesos and a new friend. In all likelihood, this new friend was part of a vocal posse of dogs that slept around our tent, waking us up throughout the night to bark at potential marauders across the valley.
The hike-a-bike-to-nowhere begins!
Sadie smiling, because at this point, we didn’t realise we’d soon be turning our handlebars back up the hill.
We all took the blame for the route-finding confusion. No finger-pointing!
And back up again. A bemused and kindly local offered a helping to Emma. Trailers are tough work on hike-a-bikes.
Behold, a miracle of ‘bikepacking’: 6 bikes, 6 people, a dog, and a trailer are loaded into a collective, bound for Mitla.
Sweet sleepy boy. It’s been a big day.
Enjoying the sunrise over the Sierra Norte from our prime perch the following morning. The moon kept us company too.
Don’t forget your magnifying glass…
Here’s to friends and coffee… and drinking coffee with friends under a full moon!
Odds and Ends:
- Camera: Sony A74 and 28-75mm Tamron lens. I always miss my Fuji X100V though.
- Trying out a set of Pedaling Innovations flat pedals… and liking them a lot so far! They offer lots of support for flat shoes of all shapes and sizes, including my hospital sandals!
- The ride out to Hierve del Agua can be found at Bikepacking.com’s Meandros En Mitla.
- It’s 100 pesos per tent to camp at Hierve del Agua, plus the 50 pesos entrace fee (per person).
- Thanks to the van lifers who helped me reseat my tyre with their mini compressor, after the tape shifted a bit.
The Moving Pictures!
Huesos enjoying a wrestle with a street dog in Tule, before both were reprimanded for being on the grass.
Practising my cactus-fruit-poking technique under the tutelage of Michael.
Huesos catching up with his buddies in San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya, where we stopped for juice and memelas.
Thanks for reading!
