24 June 2018 Parque Ecologico Chipinque

I was off to Monterrey for a week at the Mexico office. I flew on Sunday and was eager for a hike. As the jet approached the pollution was really evident.

We decided to revisit and take a more strenuous path today to enjoy the longer daylight hours. When we reached the park and started our walk to hiking, the haze clealy hung over the city.

Seat used to be an uncommon car brand in Monterrey. The company seems to have focused on selling in the area and been quite successful. It's hard to resist images of a different car find. The Ibiza is a new car for Seat with this being my first seen on the road. This hatch design is out of favor in the truck happy states, but remains my idea of a fun, practical car.

We were headed to the old ruins area to start our real ascent. Along the way we were treated a wonderful blue butterfly.

We also saw a couple new for me birds. We spotted a few elegant trogans along a short stretch of trail.

This solitary painted redstart was much more elusive in the trees.

We made a stop at the old ruins before continuing our ascent.

A family was at the ruins with a photographer taking images for their daughter's quinceañera so we limited our visit and restarted our climb.

The day got a lot clearer as we climbed.

There is a geocache listing which is supposedly inside the mine entrance. A fresh lock on the gate of the mine appears to have closed off access to the cache. We tried reached inside and felt around the door frame, but were unable to either feel the container or spot it. It was time to hike on.

There are few flowers on most trails. This white blossom with no visible leaves was an exception. It was common in one area.

The highest ridge and peak were beyond our available time. They require advance permission and more planning. They do offer awesome views.

When we returned back to parking, we were treated to an old VW Kombi in great shape. It's fun to see one of these on the road doing what they were built to do. I can't imagine how long it took this 61 year-old vehicle to climb the lower portion to these roads to reach parking.