November 8, 2018 - A hiking legacy

 This morning, we left Mulege and decided to get in some activity by going for a hike we had read about, called the Good Heart Trail, across from the Posada beach community. We had only reach very rough information, so started up the hill immediately opposite, passing a shrine (these are everywhere beside the roads), hopping through some barbed wire fence and, after a few minutes, reaching the top of this hill. Looking South, we could see the local dump, some salf flats, and further hills and mountains, with a rough road leading across the flats.

We eventually settled on following the road to the bottom of a drainage, with several party spots and ridiculous amounts of beer mottles scattered about.

On the salt flats, trying to find the trail.

Passing the part spots at the base of the drainage, we began bushwacking up it. After a bit, we found a cairn, then a semblance of a trail, with rocks piled up like a wall on either side of the drainage. We followed this up, admiring the amount of work that went into building it, but also noting how neglected it has been lately, with bushes growing in the path itself. About halfway up, a little off the trail, was a black and white face painted on a boulder. We figure this was a tribute to the man who built the trail, as he was reported to be in his 70's several years before.

The face of Hans? We're definitely on the trail.

At the top of the trail was another novelty - a true Alpine hut! It was built of rock and mortar, with a roof and everything. It was also all locked up. Beside it appeared to be a rocky road. Following this, I found signs of the Good Heart Trail summit.

Hut at the saddle.

Pass hut. If you look carefully, you can see the heart petroglyph on one of the stones.

Trail sign at the summit of the saddle/pass.

Good Heart Trail rocks.

 We decided to scramble up to the peak of this hill, despite the loose rock, and then hiked out along the road, which it was obvious was the trail most people were using now.

Ken on the summit above the saddle.

Summit panorama with Ken (some of him was lost in the stitching) and Anita.

Ken descending the ridge from the summit. We cam up the Right and are going down the road, which heads to the left of the ridge.

Baby cactus on the way down.

Just short of the end of the walk, I was reminded how I hate people. The base of this had obviously become another dump, with remnants of previous decor (interior and exterior), broken bottles, and other detritus.

Seeing this is sickening to me; it disgusts me. In multiple ways we're trashing the planet, making it a less hospitable place. What's next? Will we turn the whole wolrd into a bit trash heap? I vented for a bit to Ken and Anita as we drove to Playa El Burrow, where Ken and I grabbed beers (Pacifico - I think I've tried all the main beers here - Indio, Bariltilla, Modelo Negra, and Pacifica; and I liked Indio best), admired the decor of crampons & ice axe, skis, snowshoes, and a wake board with snowboard bindings, and chatted while Anita went for a swim. When she came back, we'd decided not to attempt the hike at El Burro that we'd seen a photo from - the terrain got pretty serious right off the road, and we didn't have any real information to go on.

A tale at our beer break spot.

A fun mural at our beer break spot, behind the stage.

Instead, we went to Playa Buenaventura, where Anita swam and snorkelled, I made friends with some local dogs, read, and wandered, and Ken went for a swim and wandered.

The point on the South end of Playa Buenaventura.

Both Ken and I did a bit of scrambling on the big boulder at the point, but the rock was not very solid. In fact, after I kicked off the second significant chunk I had been standing on, I returned back to the rocks on the shore, as I realized I had my passport in my pocket, and this had come with a warning not to get it wet.