Dirt Bike Adventure up and over the Coast Range

For years I have wanted to follow the Quale River from PuertoVallarta into the coastal mountains and all the way up to Mascota in the interior plateau. Jerry Smith, who had done this route several times in the past, was organizing and leading a trip this January and I immediately asked to be included, along with Andy Doole, Ray Cawthorne, Bob White and Priest Kemper.

Words can not describe the awesome two-day trip we took, 444 miles long. For me it was the motorcycle trip of a lifetime - incredible vistas of deep canyons and craggy cliffs, rugged dirt trails that disintegrated into mountain ledges at times - a veritable carnival ride from humid jungle full of flowers and vines to arid high mountain country. It was repeatedly up one mountain side and down the other to the river bed and then up again. Unfortunately I only have pictures through the tame part of the country as the rest was so steep uphill and down that I couldn't find many flat and secure places to park my bike for picture taking. It was a wild ride at times without being able to stop for photographs or to admire the view. This was no laid back adventure poking around on a trail bike. On a group ride the highly experienced riders are often out front and out of sight, there, for the thrilling challenge of successfully negotiating each hairpin turn of which there were hundreds. When riding in the dirt, one has to pay the utmost attention to dodge the next rut, boulder or canyon-side washout, and stay on the trail, not hit a tree or the cliff face nor fly into the canyon below. And the scenery was an incredible distraction.

Four hours ride from Lake Chapala, the trip really started for me in Mascota, Jalisco, pictured below in the valley as seen from the lookout. We were to do a loop down to Puerto Vallarta, on the newly repaved mountain highway described in earlier posts, and then take a dirt road back following the Quale River. (Double-click on any of these photos to enlarge. Browser back arrow to continue.)

An interesting side trip for me along the way to PV has always been San Sebastian del Oueste, the centuries old centre of gold and silver mining. The 10 km dirt road that led to this village was now paved! As we entered the village, there were scores of tourists wandering around that had been flown in or brought in by the bus load over the newly paved highway from PV. Fortunately, they were mainly browsers and had not usurped our favourite restaurant.


After a delicious lunch we suited up and rolled out of town, back through the oxcart narrow streets and by picturesque dwellings to the through highway.


A few kilometers down the highway we crossed the brand new bridge straddling the canyon. It was immense and looked like it could easily withstand earthquakes. The view was magnificent up and down the canyon.


On earlier trips we had to wind our way down a dirt road all the way to the bottom and drive across the river, actually in the river, and climb back up the other side. Here you can see that abandoned old road hugging the cliffs.


And so we made it to PV where we checked into the Posada San Miguel. As on previous trips, the management allowed us to bring our bikes, caked in dirt, into their lobby and also their games room. It was fun riding up and down short flights of stairs to the possible bewilderment of other guests. Our bikes are quite loud! Then it was off to the beach where we enjoyed a few two-for-one drinks while relaxing under the spell of the waves. Dinner was at an excellent place at Priest's recommendation where we could sit and watch life go by. We didn't stay late enough to witness the real action this place was known for. Later we enjoyed swapping stories over ice cream to finish off the evening. Although I understand that for some of us the night was still young, I was totally exhausted and crashed.


The next morning we were off early for breakfast at Fredys Tucan Restaurant. Our bikes must have been quite a sight waiting to leave. Andy supplied the entertainment while our breakfasts cooked.


Finally we were on our way. I was surprised how far PV stretches up the Quale river and by the traffic jamb of people trying to get to work. There were huge boulders in the canyon, some room size, that had been ground smooth, and formed deep pools here and there. Everywhere was jungle, lush and vibrant green. As we rode up into the hills we had to share the road with seven piglets and their parents, a very cute sight.


The wide dirt road gradually split over and over, getting narrower and narrower. At one important split, the lefters and righters were evenly split as well. Eventually we went left.


The route took us down to a river crossing at the bottom of the canyon, through several switchbacks that were a portent of more to come, and the first of several wipeouts. This crossing didn't look familiar and so back across and up to the decision point split to take the right branch. No problem, this was supposed to be an adventure, not a guided tour.


Further along there was a major hill climb of hairpin switchbacks. The trick was to not loose momentum in the switchback and yet not go over the cliff. If stopped in a steep turn, it was all too possible to loose control of the bike as it slid backwards with all brakes on. With these high and heavy bikes, it's hard enough for some of us to reach the ground on the level! Unfortunately here another wipeout created torn ankle tendons as well as minor mechanical problems. Although his pain was severe at times, it was possible to ride on rather than head back. After having badly broken my leg out in the boonies near here a couple of years ago, I felt a great deal of sympathy.


We had been riding in wilderness much of the day, except for the occasional ranch. Finally we came across a red Coca Cola sign in a tiny village of a few houses and a very old crumbling church. We were parched and tired, so were very pleased to stop a while and drink.


This place certainly gave us the impression of a stage coach stop. Apparently a traveling preacher comes through here once a month!


Along the way there were various river crossings including a rickety old bridge and a slimy shelf. No stopping please!


However, we had often been told about the crux of the trip, a deep river crossing. Fortunately, the crossing was not all that deep at this time but still challenging. Only one bike had difficulty and got stuck. It required several people to pull it out, and not everybody was anxious to wade in again.


"Watch out for that boulder... oops, too late." But Priest makes it through safely.



"What way to San Jose?" The right route to take was not always obvious. Fortunately Ray, in black, used to race dirt bikes. He now was readily available to quickly check out various alternatives. He knows how to steer around switchbacks using power to slid the back end around to point in the right direction. When I tried to learn, it put a chill right through me, as it felt like I was losing control of the bike - maybe some day I'll master it after a lot of practice.


Dust is always a big problem when riding in fluffy dirt. It quickly covers one's face shield and of course reduces critical visibility, makes riding curves dangerous. We're forced to wipe the dust off with our gloves as we move, but that eventually causes a face shield to become finely scratched and reduces visibility permanently. Here Bob kicks up the dust.


And Priest eats it. We often switch places in the lineup to be fair but somehow we just can't catch the more experienced ones up front.


In one area in particular, the road was extremely rugged, just a steep decending ledge along the cliff face. It really looked like it had partially fallen into the canyon below. I know I couldn't get over it with my 4x4 and I wouldn't want to try. Unfortunately I have no photographs. However, across the canyon was a monster mountain with sheer cliffs and awesome crags.


Fortunately we didn't turn back when the road was worst as it was not very much further that we rode out of the mountains and into agricultural country. It was over and I had had another thrill of a lifetime.


Finally we were at the end of the loop and back in Mascota, just in time for a hearty late lunch. I was in recovery mode, but it was fun sharing our impressions of an adventure ride thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Motorcycling Tizapan Canyon

Today Patrick Stirling and I went on an interesting motorcycle ride, partly pavement and partly dirt. For some time we had been fascinated by the contour lines of a deep canyon sliced into the escarpment on the south side of Lake Chapala near Tizapan. As we poured over our maps we could see a trail switchbacking up the wall of the canyon to the plateau above. This just had to be seen for real.

What is unusual about this area is the substantial flow of water coming off the plateau, through the canyon and into irrigation ditches for the farm fields below. There is no other place that I know around Lake Chapala where water flows abundantly in the dry season.

The Pasion River is especially beautiful as it cascades through the forest. It almost looks like a park. Unfortunately it apparently is poluted by the large town of San Jose de Gracias on the plateau far away.

The canyon widens out further upstream near Las Sauces. A short distance beyond the village is a pleasant n0-charge campground with shelter and barbecues. The horses especially like it.

Backtracking to Las Sauces, there is a sign for the turn to the west and up to El Zapote. This is where the road gets rough and switchbacks higher and higher to the plateau.


About 5 km southwest along the plateau from El Zapote, we came to a dam holding back 6 km long Lake El Volantin and shortly afterward pavement for the first time in 20 km.

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As the day was not over yet, we headed along the backside of the mountain ridges just south of Lake Chapala. This led us up to a rough dirt road connecting La Milpilla to El Sauz right over the western flank of Mt. Garcia and finally home on pavement. See Patrick's GPS track above. It was a good day's ride, sharing the experience with a riding buddy.

Colima Volcano Ascent

This is the story of seven hikers whose driving passion was to climb the 14,200 foot Nevado de Colima volcano on the border of Jalisco and Colima states in Mexico. There is a volcanology observatory at the 13.000 foot level. My friend Norm Tihor and I had already been escorted off the mountain by the observatory guard and three volcanologists. At that time the army was stationed at the entrance road to the observatory near 12,000 feet just to insure that nobody would be exposed to the frequent eruptions of poisonous gas and ash and potential lava bombs from the active Volcan de Fuego (fire) on the south flank of Nevado. So on this return trip we had arranged to climb up the steep NE backside of the extinct volcano, on the opposite side from the observatory and avoid any contact with the authorities.

On our arrival near our makeshift camp at 11,000 feet, we were all super excited and smiling bravely at our first sight of our objective. From here it looked like the Materhorn. There were four trained rock climbers and four experienced mountain hikers in our group from Ajijic and Guadalajara. From previous experience we knew that it was important to acclimatize ourselves overnight to high elevation. So we happily set up camp and then went on a day hike in the direction of the observatory, leaving our King of the Camp to make dinner.

To our surprise, the normally locked gate on the road to the observatory was open. At this elevation, it was an exhausting trudge, just moving one foot in front of the other. But the reward was well worth the effort when we got our first view of Fuego and the observatory. The buildings were all reinforced concrete, roofs included, with guy wires holding them down to the crater rim. Like a science fiction scene, it was obvious that serious danger could be expected if Fuego blew.

Back in camp, Christopher English had a fire going and foil-wrapped steaks with onions and green peppers ready for baking in hot coals. Were we ever the fortunate ones. Sitting around later with hot chocolate and Baileys and full stomachs we thought about the challenges to face us the next day.

The next morning we were a little chilly but it was an incredible day with amazing clarity. It's usual for Nevado to be capped with clouds by late morning but the conditions were exceptional. Once on the trail, it was shirt sleeve weather even at 14,000 feet. What unbelievable luck!

We quickly left the dirt camp road and headed up towards the beginning of the rock outcrops. The going was easy and soon we arrived at the exposed rock base and our first view across the crater to the observatory. We all took a major rest here because the next part would be up loose volcanic ash.

It was steep and exhausting as it seemed that for every two steps ahead we slipped back one. We learned to step directly on the tuffs of grass to help with our footing and to bring baskets for our hiking poles next time.

As we got out of the ash and onto the solid rock wall, the scenery became awesome. The rock formations caused us to feel like we were in the throat of a volcano. It was very exciting to cautiously follow narrow ledges with sheer drops.

The valley was practically 10,000 feet below us. What an exhilerating feeling. We felt alive!

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Finally we arrived on the actual narrow ridge of the crater. There are two stunning high points. We had come along the wall of the lower northern one and now crossed over the bridge between them. In the photo two of us are just starting across, while Norm is reaching up to grasp the top of the high peak.

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Below, Larry Laframboise and Christopher are in the final push. It was surreal to be in such an environment. Words really can't describe it. We felt on top of the world!


And there right in front of us as the view opened to the south, was the Volcan de Fuego. What a incredible sight we thought as we looked down on it.

And then it blew!! No fixed photograph can give the sense of a roiling, billowing, actively spewing plume of gases and ashes reaching thousands of feet high in seconds. Our emotions were truly overwhelmed. Then we realized that the gas and ash cloud was coming right at us. Suddenly we thought, "where was that cave we had passed just below us?" Then we noticed that it was going to go right by us, not engulf us. Panic became excitement again.

We were then able to pose in a relaxed manner for our group summit shot. Larry, Gerry, Duncan Poole, Norm, Robert Knapp our climbing guide, Christopher and Rosario Toledo, one enthusiastic lady. We had done it! 14,200 feet. A real adventure.

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Down we went, so much easier than ascending. The most difficult part of a climb is often called the crux. This one is called the Jota due to the rock formation being in the shape of a J.

And then the fun began. We had spent time and effort to climb the ash slope. Now we shot the scree, I mean ash. It requires a skating technique as the ash slides underfoot like marbles. Ten minutes to go down what took an hour to ascend. What a thrill!

Each of us stirred up a storm of dust and had a ball. Then back through the trees and down to our camp. After a short rest, we packed up camp and headed for a victory celebration at a local restaurant. This trip had been such a success and an experience beyond our imagination that we hope to do it annually.

Mining Country

This Bare Bones Adventure took us on a long loop through silver and gold mining country in Jalisco and Nayarit, high above and east of Puerto Vallarta. We left Lakeside exactly on time at 8:30. Dick Crabtree took Ted Conover, Chad Chadwick and Clive Overton in his Suburu SUV and I, Gerry Green, took Lu Catching, Hank Elliott and Al Borchardt in my Honda CR-V. We drove through Joco and took highway #80 to the turnoff for Ameca (marked San Martin de Hidalgo). Our first break was at the Ameca OXXO about 10:00. Our next stop was at 12:30 just before Mascota at the roadside restaurant La Guera for birrea (goat stew). The gang was happy to be out of the cars as demonstrated by our camaraderie.


After driving across the open plain of Mascota we began climbing into the mountains on the new highway to Puerto Vallarta. Two years ago, while the new highway was being built, we had swerved and bumped along for many miles on a temporary dirt road at the bottom of the canyon, fording many boulder strewn streams. This time was different. We found the paved, but twisty, highway in good condition although it is not a high speed route. Finally we got over the mountains and to the San Sebastian turnoff.

On arriving about 2:30 at 4600 foot high San Sebastian, we moved into our reserved rooms at Hotel el Puente (120 pesos each per night). We noticed tourists all over town using US dollars. The steep rise in prices around town was probably due to the ready access over the newly completed paved highway. This was no longer our remote and secret place! After exploring the village we had an early dinner at a special Mexican restaurant in the northwest corner of town.


Then we all headed for the top of La Bufa in our SUVs, a climb of 4000 feet with an incredible view. Unfortunately near the mountain top, the road was under repair so none of us saw the top, the sunset over the Pacific nor the lights of Puerto Vallarta come on. However, the long uphill walk beyond the blockage was good to do after our substantial dinners. Before turning in, some of us took in a nightcap at another restaurant uphill from our hotel.

Everyone was outside with their packed bags at 8:00 AM ready for breakfast and a quick departure. Unfortunately the cook at the restaurant wasn’t. In Mexico the cook prepares and completes one meal at a time serially so the wait was substantial. But by nine, carrying topographic maps and a GPS, we were on our way north into serious mountain country to find our way through a maze of mining roads.


The route was full of switchbacks and roads carved into towering cliffs. There were numerous places where the edge of the dirt road had collapsed directly down into the canyon a thousand feet below. Often the road was single lane and the infrequent traffic had to back up to hug the edge of the canyon. Fortunately we usually had the inside!

The plan was to find and explore the ruins of the old La Quintera mine. However, what we found was a working, small scale, silver refining plant. It was fascinating to observe the whole process of the ore being ground in a giant rotating drum containing very hard round balls, followed by a process where liquid was added to the ground ore to become a bubbly slurry. I believe the ore impurities were lifted by the bubbles to flow over the side of the huge rectangular tank leaving behind a concentration of silver. The whole process was an engaging sight, especially the young female engineer showing us around.

By 10 AM we were back on the main road and continuing downhill to Santiago de Los Pinos, an area of bare red earth, few trees and considerable erosion. There was an unmapped bypass road (keep right) which added some confusion but soon we were on our way again, our destination being San Felipe de Hijar. What I had expected to take an hour, took two, and Dick’s Subaru was running very low on gas. Driving up one mountain side and down into the next valley, only to repeat the process over and over, used far more gas than expected. There were a couple of shacks here and there but no villages.

Finally we broke out of the high mountains and almost coasted into the dirt village of San Felipe where we were able to buy some bottles of gasoline. Having all taken a mouth full of gasoline at one time or another, we took particular interest in how the young lady used her mouth to get the siphon going. Then off we went to the seemingly only eating place in town, in the far back corner of a store. We ate while Dick and Ted fell asleep on the chesterfield.

After San Felipe we came across our first paved road, like a super highway leading us down to the hot and humid Ameca River valley at 1470 feet elevation. Then just as unexpectedly we were back into the dirt. However, it wasn’t long before we were at the Balneario el Manto (60 pesos), an intriguing warm springs recreational complex, built into a slot canyon with towering red rock walls above the crystal clear water. With only us there, we played like kids, exploring the canyon and flying down the waterslide. But before long it was time to leave.

As we had spent so much time slowly negotiating through the mountains, we decided to take a short cut home by taking a paved switchback road directly north over a 5000 foot high mountain range and down to the Autopista leading to Guadalajara. Part way up we were surprisingly blocked by a large landslide and so had to return by an alternate route directly east through Amatlan de Canas and Tala to Lakeside, arriving at 8 PM.

It was a very long exploration, packed into just two days. However, the memories of getting to know each other better and sharing the adventure will last much longer.