TinStar: Real De Catorce... Deja Vu

[TinStar]

Mexico called and said it missed me.

My friend MotoHank asked me come along with him on a short trip to Real de Catorce with two other riders. They had to get back quickly but I decided I'd stay a bit longer. I left DFW and headed south to Austin for lunch with a MotoBro, then on to San Antonio to meet a few of Hank’s riding buddies at La Tuna before ending up in Dilley for some shuteye. The next day at Hank's shop I had the bittersweet surprise of seeing my old 1998 R1100GS Anniversary and meeting it’s new owner from San Antonio. It felt a bit strange to see my bike rolling in with a different rider after all the years of adventures, but he turned out the be the perfect new owner.

I'd sold my home in the Hill Country and most of my stuff to fund an open-ended road trip. To celebrate I decided to pick up a newer R1200GSA for the next leg of life's adventures. The 98 Annie was and still is a superb bike and it was hard to let it go, but it's new owner sold his Super Teneré for it and couldn't be happier.

This being the first trip of any substance on the new-to-me R1200GSA, I was looking forward to getting some real road and terrain time on it, having spent time on it only in the DFW area where I'm camped temporarily. Sunday morning we four met at Hank’s shop, blew down I-35 and hit Nuevo Laredo for Immigration and Vehicle Importation paperwork. Sunday is a good day to travel as the immigration lines are minimal at the border and traffic is a little less in Monterrey.

We throttled out of the border town by 10-ish for our destination, Santiago, a beautiful and peaceful town a little south of Monterrey. Dodging and lane splitting in Monterrey is always fun, but there was no traffic and we moved through easily.

https://youtu.be/0XGawK8otEM

The square in Santiago was in full swing when we arrived late in the afternoon, live music playing, families and children filling the park. The church overlooking the center had services going with a street festival on the flagstone road adjacent. Sitting in the plaza, I was struck by the wholesomeness of the scene - families laughing and playing, lovers holding hands on park benches, elderly couples dressed up and strolling slowly. It is a rich experience and one I wish I could see in the United States.

(Little Juanita runs in terror from the sudden appearance of Manuel the Archangel)

The fresh mountain air and a gentle midnight rain sang a lullaby through the open windows of the hotel that evening.


Mañana...

 

[Tourmeister]

Lovely pics!!

I can't wait for the rest

 

[SpiritAtBay]

 

[Knobby]

I need to hook up with Hank the next time he does this. I went on a similar loop with him a few years ago and it was incredible. Keep the pictures coming. I'm stuck in the office and need a break!

 

[M38A1]

IN!

 

[garfey]

Mexico called and said it missed me.
*snip*
... Sitting in the plaza, I was struck by the wholesomeness of the scene - families laughing and playing, lovers holding hands on park benches, elderly couples dressed up and strolling slowly. It is a rich experience and one I wish I could see in the United States.
*snip*
Mañana...

So near and yet so far, in so many ways. I have no problem seeing myself living out my days South of the Border, but further West, like South of Tecate or a bit East of there, maybe Mexicali?

 

[Vinny]

Nice. More please.

 

[bwdmax]

That can't be all.

 

[Hotboot]

 

[Knobby]

Well, what is the new silver in RdC. Maybe he lost the will to write?

Nice. More please.

 

[philipbarrett]

Sitting in the plaza, I was struck by the wholesomeness of the scene - families laughing and playing, lovers holding hands on park benches, elderly couples dressed up and strolling slowly. It is a rich experience and one I wish I could see in the United States.

I live close to a vibrant, working Hispanic neighborhood & I see this all the time. Backyard cook outs, picnics at the lake, lots of kids running around & lots of good times. They take family & roots very seriously and I think we may have lost much of that in the Anglo community.

 

[TinStar]

Man the internet here is proving a challenge

 

[TinStar]

Monday morning we had breakfast on the square, loaded the bikes and donned the heavy gear for the ride.

Locals having a laugh

Our route took us up to Cascada de Cola de Caballo (Horsetail Falls) for a short hike up the canyon to the falls. Twas a beautiful spot for sure.

From the canyon we headed high into the mountains on a tight and twisty road that required some serious concentration. We were engulfed in the cold mist and fog of the high peaks, eventually clearing enough to see the stunning mountains and canyons with quick glimpses off the sheer edges. The tightest switchbacks I’ve ridden and it required something of the rider, with very narrow and tight canyons and curves, the occasional truck thrown in for fun. If boredom was a problem, there were pleny of random lumps in the middle of off camber curves. I can say it is one of the top three I’ve yet ridden - just a real treat.

I shot a fair amount of GoPro footage and not many stills, as the sheer size of the scenery was difficult to capture.

Mountain Montage
https://www.youtube.com/v/TI_lKXagTAk

There were massive sheer cliffs and tight narrow canyons, windy open expanses with mountains and orchards.

We grabbed a short stop for an old church and a ramble down house straight from a spaghetti western.

The were some children playing outside the house, and I prodded Hank to ask if we could look inside, the smokestack spewing blue wood smoke. I'd have paid to see how they lived, but a hard look with suspicion from a face in the door answered the question. Our offers to give a few pesos brought deafening silence as everyone disappeared into the dwelling.

Eventually we made the main highway south for our next destination, passing through the checkpoints with just a wave. A couple of hours at 90 mph led us to the little town of Cedral, then the 14 mile long cobblestone road for Real De Catorce, a village from the 1700's sitting at 9000’ in the desert mountains.


Cobblestone Road in the Desert
https://youtu.be/Erbj8fmuu1k


An unfinished church in the village of Portrero, just before climbing the mountain road to Real, wasted much time as we explored and shot photos, only worsening as we discovered a massive abandoned hacienda nearby and spent more time exploring and shooting. Larry, one of our group, is a well known landscape architect and city planner, so his input and enthusiasm in the ruins was welcomed.

Portraito in Potrero

As the sun fell behind the mountain we rumbled up, the noise of the engines were masked by the vibration of the cobblestones and the myriad contents of our side cases. The original cobblestone road is fourteen miles long, culminating in a dusty, cool and dank ride through a two mile long mine tunnel that ends in a wonderful mountain village at 9000’ elevation. The little town sits high, isolated and still remains in the 18th and 19th century, its steep cobblestone streets and stone block buildings much as they were when Real was one of the richest mining cities in Mexico.

From whence we came

Tunnel Into Town Montage
https://youtu.be/WjOSP1vD6zM



The sun set as we climbed off the bikes and unpacked gear, the cold mountain air flowing down the streets refreshing after hours in the sun.

More tomorrow amigos...

 

[Gravel Guy]

Thanks for taking me along!

 

[Tourmeister]

Awesome. That vid of the mountain road just scratches a BIG itch for me

I've saved a couple of your shots for front page material if that's okay.

 

[Duke]

YES YES YES, this is what I love to see. Thank you for taking the time to bring us along with you. Wow!

 

[Liteitup]

Thanks for taking me along!

+1!

 

[TinStar]

Well thanks guys and Scott I'd be honored

Scott, that road was just what the doctor ordered after being stuck in DFW lol - but seriously it's a really great road.

 

[philipbarrett]

Just awesome. Those building are a Gabriel Garcia novel brought to life.

Would love to tag along sometime.

 

[Windmill]

That shack where you saw the children playing outside. The rusty metal is tied down with rope. Did that white dog wake up? Did they have electricity, the dish? I to would love to hear the stories that old building could tell. One of the best photos I've ever seen. Not sure why. Modern poverty? Knowing the family was inside?

 

[TinStar]

That shack where you saw the children playing outside. The rusty metal is tied down with rope. Did that white dog wake up? Did they have electricity, the dish? I to would love to hear the stories that old building could tell. One of the best photos I've ever seen. Not sure why. Modern poverty? Knowing the family was inside?

I've never wanted to see inside a place so much. It was small and the smell of wood stove smoke was pouring out. The mother of the children looked Indian and the little ones were both fascinated and nervous of us. I was also likely the largest human they've ever seen lol

There was so much randomness it was better than any movie set designer could have made up. It reminded both Hank and I of some of the Italian movie sets - except this was real.

I believe if the old man had returned we could have looked inside

 

[TinStar]

Tuesday dawned bright and crisp at the high elevation, with the sounds of roosters, donkeys, horse hooves on cobblestone and rattling pickups in the early light. A bit of wandering early for some images brought smiles and interesting encounters, followed by a breakfast of scrambled eggs and thinly sliced ham, with a great cup of café de olla.

GS Bros

Hank met a friend on the street who was adorned in Bohemian apparel and sporting big smile. I can’t pronounce her name, but she’d grown up in Real, then lived in Denmark with her Danish mother and recently moved back. We were introduced to a friend from Ireland, Brian, a photographer who was doing a documentary on one of the festivals in Real. We talked cameras for a while before our caballero whistled and motioned for us to follow him. We huffed and puffed up one the steepest streets in town to the ruins which served as holding pens. We planned to go up to the old ghost town - “Pueblo Fantasma” - above Real, the mine and buildings pre-dating Real into the mid 1600’s.

It’s a long an steep climb, so the horse trek was well worth the 300 pesos per.

Feeling absolutely nothing like tourists, we plodded our way up the narrow streets on cranky horses, determined to injure or scare the rider.

The steep old road was slick and polished cobblestone initially, falling away to polished rock. The jerk horses pushed and fought, slipping and sliding along sheer drops, the burro mounted caballero yelling occasionally at one of them or the other. We bypassed the ruined Pueblo and went all the way over the mountain, descending what could only be called a goat trail in most places, seriously steep and narrow, our guide yelling at the horses as they proceeded to lurch and argue with each other. In some parts it was a bit harrowing. We passed through old haciendas and mine buildings, dynamite stores and granaries, eventually ending up at a church from the late 1600’s. Hank and I had tried to reach the church previously by motorcycle but had run out of daylight, so this was cool.

From the high place, we watched as a convoy of Mexican Marines slowly wound their way up the mountain road below us and headed for Real.

After exploring the church and shooting a zillion images, we had to backtrack up the steep and narrow trail to the top, and I can say I wasn’t too thrilled about it. My horse was being a twerp and bashing me into another horse as often as possible.

We finally made the top again and the ruins of the original mine, it’s 1000’ deep shaft taking a rock ten seconds to strike bottom. The various building ruins related to the mining process for silver, crushing the stone and washing the product. A lone mine shaft brought us some silvery sparkles in the darkness, illuminated by the light of a cell phone.

The final leg down was as discomforting as the way up, the crappy horses fighting each other and slipping and sliding their way down the steep rocks and trail.

The guide was paid and tipped, the walk into town short and a sidewalk cafe provided pork pozolé and gorditas while we watched the folks on the street. Clumps of Marines walked past and spoke to us with big smiles and friendly faces despite the slung rifles and pistols. Seems the military enjoy spreading cheer… thankfully I might add...

Oh yeah baby!

After lunch we separated for various ways and I found a few photo ops on the way to the hotel. I bought a bracelet from a local artisan, for whom my 500 peso note was too large to change. He gave me the bracelet and indicated for me to go and bring back the money at a later time. As we attempted to converse, a vagabond couple walked up and began speaking to him in Spanish. I wandered away and eventually got enough small change to return and pay. The couple were still there and we spoke. Patricio and his girlfriend were from Italy, having flown to the Yucatan where an old Suzuki motorcycle left them stranded. They continued their journey all over Mexico and central America by bus, but he was excited to talk motorcycles with me. He and apparently the entire town were well aware of our arrival on the GS’s and where we were staying.



Artisan

Patricio and his girlfriend

Towards the end of the day, the four of us headed for the roof of the hotel to watch the sunset and generally be stupid. Once the sun had dipped below the mountain, the cold air of nightfall drove us down and to the restaurant.

Earlier Patrick had seen 4 riders coming into town on adventure bikes and they were having a meal with us that evening. They had trailered to Del Rio from Kansas and then ridden to Saltillo where they met their guide. One of the riders recognized Patrick from a trip to ride the Himalayas where they’d been riding partners. Small world.

We were all beat from the exertion in the high altitude and headed back to hotel to pack for leaving. I had decided to stay a couple more days and spend a little time kicking back and shooting some pics. My trips to Real had always been rushed and I wanted to savor the solitude and spirit of this magical town.

 

[Duke]

Fantastic stuff!

 

[Crew Chief]

There are always great pictures here and on ADV, but these are particularly stunning. Great tale all around.

 

[Tracker]

wow
that image of the sunlight through the trees & Spanish moss, wow oh wow.

thanks for battling the crappy internet to post up!