Last week, Jim and I were supposed to meet up with Brooke and Dan in Potrero Chico recreational park in Mexico. With the health problems Brooke has been having (two boughts of E.coli which has included two hospitalization), they had to cancel. So Jim and I headed off on a vacation I never thought we would ever be taking, rock climbing in one of the worlds top areas: Potrero Chico.
When we boarded our plane to Mexico, I hadn’t cragged (rock) climbed but once in the last 3 years and Jim hadn’t lead a route in 3 years. We hadn’t exactly been training for the trip after all it was originally planned as a way to see Brooke. And anyone that knows us or has rock climbed with us, knows Jim and I are very low level climbers. Rock climbing to us is just a way to get to an alpine summit.
We knew before we arrived that Potrero Chico was way over our heads. We just hoped we could find something we could do for 3 days. Upon arriving at our lodging, we were immediately struck by how beautiful and jagged the mountains were. This place was like nothing we had ever seen before.
Our lodging was interesting. We didn’t have high expectations after all we were in a rock climbing area. Frankly, I was just happy to have a private room with a bathroom / shower. To put things into perspective, rock climbers might be the cheapest community. There is a reason they are known as “dirt bag” climbers.
Our room definitely lacked decor, space, and hot water but it did have AC which was way better than a tent. I am not sure it had 1 star but than nothing in the area did.
I experienced cold showers for the first time in my life. In the past, I have always opted not to shower if cold was my only option. But after a day of rock climbing which feels similar to rolling around in the dirt, I took a cold shower. Three cold showers by the end of the trip. Not sure Jim has ever heard me swear that much in the bathroom.
We quickly ordered guacamole, tacos, and drinks. I proceeded to order the same thing for the next 3 nights. The El Pastor tacos were amazing and included no dairy or gluten. Big score.
Our lodging was only 5 minute from the park which made it easy to walk to the cragging areas.
For our first day of rock climbing, we headed to Kiddy Korner (rock climbing routes have fun names). This crag sounded right up our alley. It is where the local kids who have never climbed come to get introduced to the sport. Jim and I both knew this would be the test. If Jim didn’t feel like he could lead this wall, we would be hiking for the next 3 days.
With definite trepidation, Jim reached the belay anchors. Yeah! We could at least get some practice climbs in here before we moved on to another wall.
It was amazing to have such grand walls all around us. Every direction you turned there was another vertical wall with climbers on them.
After several hours of playing around on Kiddy Korner, the sun found us. Today it would reach 101 degrees, we definitely needed to hide from the sun. The route book we purchased which provided more information on driving in Mexico than actual routes we could climb, advised hiding from the sun in Virgin Canyon so we headed there.
Virgin Canyon had only two routes we thought we might be able to climb. It contained over 40 routes for everyone else. Lucky for us, we meet another couple climbing in the area. They ran our rope up so Jim didn’t have to lead the route until he was more comfortable with the rock.
This route was our favorite in the area. We climbed it several times.
The steep rock walls with lots of cracks and features makes this a world class climbing area. Many of these walls go on for well over a thousand feet. A few vertical walls are nearly 2500 feet tall. It takes me over 2 hours to hike 2500 feet of gain. I can’t even imagine how long it would take to climb that far. It is no wonder that on our first night we saw several climbers finishing their routes under headlamp.
Besides vertical walls, there are several other interesting features to climb like The Spires. Of course they were too difficult for me but very cool to look at.
The next day, we headed out for Lisa’s Pizza. The route actually looks like a pepperoni pizza from the road. If you use your imagination.
To give prospective of the routes we climb versus the other climbers, Lisa’s Pizza is the little patch of white splotches left of the vertical walls called Sense of Religion. The Lower Sense of Religion walls were full of climbers when we headed to Lisa’a Pizza.
Jim and I had to scramble a rock slab, climb up through some trees, and navigate a bunch of alavera plants plus these little tree like bushes with nasty thorns, to reach Lisa’s Pizza. For us, it was well worth it.
The wall had very interesting hand holds.
Many of the routes in Potrero Chico have a tin plate mounted to the rock. With so many bolted routes, these were invaluable in figuring out where you were.
After the sun found us on Lisa’s Pizza, we headed over to The Wave. The rock actually looks like a breaking wave. The Wave is a very small feature surrounded by vertical routes filled with climbers a lot better (and younger) than us.
While we were at The Wave, we were joined by a group of young climbers from Michigan. They were on their last day of a weeklong climbing vacation. They were looking for easy walls out of the sun. We actually got to watch one of them climb up and through the wave portion of the rock. Pretty impressive.
Our favorite climb on The Wave was Pansy Cap. Sounds like me when it comes to rock climbing.
After two full days of rock climbing, Jim and I weren’t sure we could do a third. For our last day, we decided to do the only multi-pitch we could lead and then hike to the top of El Toro. The highest peak in Potrero Chico.
Our multi-pitch was a pilar not a wall. Just 2 pitches but perfect for us.
The first pitch reminded us of the type of climbing we do back home on alpine crags. Then things got interesting on the second pitch. We almost bailed but the thought of sitting on the summit of something kept us going.
Before long, we were both sitting on the summit of our pilar.
We felt so high until we looked around at all the vertical walls that went on for ever. Made we dizzy to look up.
After successfully reaching the ground and packing all our crag gear away, we headed back to the car and drove to the El Toro trailhead which was on the other side of the park. There was no way we were scrambling up the climbing walls.
The trail was steep with lots of loose rock. Everything but enjoyable.
We did encounter a cactus growing new limbs…
… and even one that had started to bloom. This area must be so beautiful when everything blooms.
After 2 plus hours of crappy trail, we scrambled up the headwall and onto the ridge crest.
Each side of the ridge was equally steep but this was our world. Jim and I were incredibly comfortable working our way along the ridge to the high point.
From the high point, the vertical walls of Potrero Chico could be seen. The walls were twice as impressive from the top as they were from the bottom.
After an endless, loose rock decent, I took my last cold shower for my lifetime (I hope). Jim and I set an early alarm. We still had to get out of Mexico… return the rental car without Google Maps, get Covid tests, and submit all the correct tourist paperwork to get boarding passes (thought we lost a critical document for a while). This process tested our marriage way more than climbing does.
Not sure Jim and I will ever do a rock climbing vacation again but we were both glad we had experienced Potrero Chico. It was definitely an adventure and incredibly beautiful.