The water, it boils

We took a day-trip to the deservedly famous but still not as famous as it should be Hierve el Agua. About an hour and half from the centro of Oaxaca de Juárez, Hierve el Agua is located in an abrupt set of mountains after crossing through mezcal country. Most of the way is via a modern caretera toll road but the last half hour or so is a dirt road in the mountain through a couple of different towns, San Lorenzo Albarradas and San Isidro Roaguia. Both of these towns would like to benefit more financially from the tourist attraction that is Hierve el Agua-- the entrance fees go mostly to the state while the municipalities remain very poor. Hence, in what is a very Mexican solution to a government that largely ignores its people, there is an additional fee to pay before the official fee. I choose to see this as the people taking matters into their own hands...although which of the towns keeps this fee is unknown (to me); in the past Hierve el Agua has been closed altogether due to fighting between the municipalities. I'm just thankful that something or other has been worked out while still hoping for more substantive change that results in more economic stability for the towns (currently seems to be subsistence farming). Because I must admit that this site is one of the most unusual and spectacular places any of us has ever been.

There are two massive so-called petrified waterfalls - "cascadas petrificadas." In reality, they are not waterfalls a springs with water high in calcium carbonate and other minerals such when the water seeps out and drips down the mountain side it deposits minerals that look like waterfalls frozen in rock and time. There are two main cascadas, named "Cascada Grande" and "Cascada Chica" although I have to say that the "Chica" is so big that it's hard for me to call it chica!

Here are a couple of fotos of the Cascada Grande as seen from the top of the Cascada Chica. Not only are the cascadas petrificadas themselves amazing but the surrounding countryside is also dramatic and beautiful.

Cascada Grande (there's a person in white on top to the right)

Thalia thought it would be fun to do a foto where it seems as if she is drinking the "water" as it "flows" down into her mouth and one where it seems she is licking the cascada. I'm always down for such photographic shenanigans even if she gets annoyed with how long it takes me to get her placed just right!

Hierve el Agua translates to Water that Boils or perhaps more poetically water, it boils. One might be forgiven for thinking that these are hot springs but in fact the water is not hot at all, never mind boiling! However, the water does seep through small crevices along with trapped air such that it bubbles quite vigorously at times and so seems like it might be boiling (see foto). The top of the Cascada Chica is quite wet and and the water has created very interesting patterns in the rock. In addition, there are two artificially-created pools that people can swim in-- the mineral-rich water is green in color, not too cold and not too warm, and said to have healing properties.

The larger of the two pools for swimming on top of the Cascada Chica (this is the one we went swimming in later)

Here you can see the patterns the water & minerals have created - makes walking slippery and prone to getting one's feet very wet! Tricky!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After

Here you can see a spot where the water is trickling down, presumably leaving minerals behind, continuously creating more of the mineral accretions that ultimately form the cascada.

After admiring the views (see fotos) from the "Anfiteatro," as the top of the Cascada Chica is called, we headed off to hike to the bottom to get a different view of the cascadas petrificadas.

In the forground, the wet top of the cascada, down in the valley you can see small farms-- totally isolated! In the wet season at least, there are always dramatic skies in Oaxaca. This makes photographer me very happy. Thalia is quite sick of hearing me talk about clouds...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thalia and Eric sit on a rare dry patch!

The hike down is short but quite steep. However, there are lots of stone steps and plants to photograph along the way.

Thalia & Eric in wonder at the size of the cactuses along the way

Me, I was fascinated by all the epiphytes!

Soon enough , you get views looking back toward the Cascada Chica, with the little tiny people on the Anfiteatro for perspective!

In this zoomed in foto you can see the second of the two pools atop the Cascada Chica. Teh person in the foreground slightly to the right is standing where we were standing to take the fotos of the Cascada Grande, above.

Along the path you could also see some of the prehispanic irrigation troughs, constructed by the ancient Zapotec people, for whom this site was likely a sacred one (given the presence of water in an otherwise rather arid landscape, this is not surprising although I can't find much in the way of documentation about this). The irrigation channels fed terraces that were created for farming here. These irrigation troughs are apparently quite rare in ancient mesoamerica.

 

 

 

Here you can see an ancient irrigation trough on a terrace of the mountain alongside the modern path. They are frequently found all around. And there are modern ones that feed the modern swimming pools.

 Atop Cascada Grande-- you can tell because it's quite wet again! - you could see shallow pools of water which were presumably the inspiration for the swimming pools on top of Cascada Chica.

In this pool you can also see where the water is bubbling up. Overall, the pool is very shallow.

We hypothesized that this was a place where the water had bubble up in the past, now dry.

After descending quite a bit more, we started getting views of the Cascada Grande-- very dramatic!!!

lots of caves and nooks and crannies in the cliff/mineral fall

Zoomed in on these agave growing near the top but still on a vertical surface (also in above two fotos)!

And finally-- the pay off! Down at the bottom of the Cascada Grande, looking up. So amazing. There were lots of swallows flying in and out of the cascada and you could hear the water continuing to trickle down. We were lucky enough to be down there on our own so we could soak up (oh! a pun!) the atmosphere and the grandeur.

Cascada Grande!

Thalia consents to have her foto taken with the Cascada Grande

The textures are amazing!

I was able to zoon in on the stalactite/stalagmite pair and see the water dripping slowly but continuously from one to the other! Very cool.

Of course, we then had to climb back UP! Which was not particularly easy. We were lucky that it was pretty enublado (cloudy) but it was still warm and sweaty! We decided we had earned a swim in the pool! Below are fotos from Eric's iphone since we put the big camera back in the car for safety and not-getting-wet-edness! The water is cool enough to be a bit of a shock when you first get in but quickly feels nice and refreshing. The bottom is smooth but you can't see it at all due to all the dissolved minerals- some of the transitions from shallow to deep are quite abrupt and therefore, surprising!

me and Eric (and some other couple of people!) - the water is quite deep at this point and the views wonderful of course! but it's not quite a cliff all the way down on the other side-- otherwise I would not be so close! but it looks good, huh?