Hierve el Agua: A Bit of Drama Makes for A Good Story.

Hierve el Agua

One of the things I wanted to do was to visit Hierve el Agua, ‘petrified waterfalls’ that formed over thousands of years as natural springs calcified over a steep cliff face, creating a rare natural phenomenon. At the top of the rugged cliff face, is a series of beautiful, aqua colored pools that you can cool off in.

Hierve el Agua is located in San Lorenzo Albarradas, high in the mountains, about 90 minutes from Oaxaca. Since a tour to the place would take about 6 hours, in total, I thought it would be good to wait until my friend, Rosie, came to visit and we could do it together. There were a couple of reasons that didn’t work out. The first is that the temperature was in the 90s during that time. The second is that we were not sure what was actually meant by the term “a short hike” down the mountain and back up, actually meant. Again, especially in the heat of the day.

After Rosie left, the temperature came down into the low-mid 80s, so I decided I would do the tour. I couldn’t imagine leaving this area without having seen what looked like spectacular scenery. And, it did not disappoint on that front.

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Going down.

So, our guide told us that we could go on a “guided” tour or go on our own. I was a bit concerned that I would hold up the much younger people in our group. (Again, if you get on a tour bus and realize that everyone on the tour could be your grand kids, it might be time to re-evaluate your plans.) The guide told us that it was pretty simple, just go past the pools and take the stairs down to the bottom, and then come back up the other side. In my defense, I did ask him TWICE and got the same answer. He also told me, because I asked, that the stone steps were no more than 12″ tall. That’s still pretty tall, but not the 18-24″ steps I’d ran into in other places. So, off I go!

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And the drama begins.

So, after admiring the view, I set off around the smaller waterfall to find the larger one, and then I would go back up around on the other side to the top of the cliff. The path was clear, and I noticed a guide take several people with him in that direction, so of off I go, again.

I quickly lost sight of the tour group that I followed, but the path was obvious, so I was not at all worried. I knew the larger waterfall formation was on the right side of the smaller one, so kept going, not wanting to miss seeing it up close.

About 30 minutes into this trek, I started to be concerned when the path got rocky and steep and no one else was in sight. But, turning back and taking on those stairs kept me moving forward. I got to a spot where I knew that I couldn’t climb the rocks, but it looked like it leveled out on top, and I hoped to see that the trail would be winding upwards towards the top of the cliff. So, I “schooched” myself up the rock face on my butt until I got to the top.

And, of course, I was wearing a dress. At one point, I prayed no one would come up the path and see more than they might want to see of my anatomy. But, at the same time, I prayed someone might come and help me out of this predicament. Much to my chagrin, neither happened.

At the top of the rocks, the path kept moving on, but it was moving further and further away from the top of the mountain that I knew I need to get back up. And, I was already into this trek about an hour and a half. That meant I had only two hours to get back before the tour bus left. So, I had a decision to make. Go back the way I came and HOPE that I would be able to climb those stairs in time, or risk going forward and getting lost. I figured that if I went back and fainted on the stairs, at least I would be where someone could find me. (The joys of solo travel.) So, I had to “schooch” my butt back down that same rock. UGGG.

The picture below convinced me I had made the right decision because as I got closer, I realized how far I’d actually gone!

I made it!

Yeah, I thought I might die a couple of times. And, those steps that were supposedly no more than 12″ tall? They were more like 18″ in places. But, I made it and as I reached the final step at the top in less than an hour. I was quite proud of this 69 year old lady!

I wish I would have had time to jump into one of these pools, but alas it was not to be.

But I never did make it to the larger falls. I thought on my trek back the way I came, I would see a path that I had missed, but that was not the case. Oh well, got good pics!

Just for fun.