Puritama hike for the morning of 3/8/22 - hot springs and new friends

On the morning of Women’s Day 2022, we breakfasted early on eggs and coffee in order to make our pick up time. We took a van to Guatín, and, amazingly we did not have a flat tire. There we begin an ascending walk for almost 30 minutes among giant cacti, similar to the Saguaro in Arizona, to the Puritama River creek. There, we descended to walk along the river, through rock walls and vegetation. The 3.2 mile hike ended at the Puritama Hot Springs were we relaxed and got to know our new friends - Lisa and Robert.

The weather was warm and dry and the hardest part of the hike was at the end, walking up the board walk to the changing rooms for the hot spring. A lot of energy is expended when you go uphill at about 11000 feet.

Lisa and Robert taught me a new photographic technique where you can do a sort of zoom shot through binoculars with your phone. I had some success with a shot of a variable hawk.

We liked the hike because of the company, we hiked at about the same speed, the guide - Mica - who was patient and knowledgeable, ancient dwellings, the wildlife and the river.

We saw a variable hawk, small lizards and lots of dragon flies that almost sat on Chris’ head. The river had a nice sound and several waterfalls. There was one point where we had to cross the river on two wobbly boards. We even saw a very old structure used to store grain - it was several thousand years old.

Once we got to the hot springs, the staff laid out a table with snacks and cool drinks that tasted wonderful and was a great end to the exploration.