In the Shadow of the Carmens: Afield with a Naturalist in the Northern Mexican Mountains

17. La Cachuchua

There is only one passable road to the high country of the Carmens, also known as the Maderas. The road is on the west side and leaves from Los Pilares. Departing the lower desert country, the climb is gradual. The peaks tower above and first-time visitors to the Maderas probably have second thoughts about schlepping up the mountain in a vehicle. Although the road is good, you must have four-wheel drive to make it to the top. The road meanders along and winds through the midelevation landscape dominated by sotol and yucca, and gradually you enter the oaks and juniper, still climbing steadily. The road passes by Los Cojos, the site of an old fluorspar mining operation, and the remains of a rock house down in the canyon are visible. The view from Los Cojos is breathtaking: to the northwest is Big Bend National Park, and to the west Chihuahua, where the high jagged peaks of the Sierra de Hechiceros are barely visible. The Sierra Santa Fé del Pino is to the south and in between is a series of smaller mountains surrounded by desert. Leaving Los Cojos, you begin to climb steadily—the grade is steep, the road is carved into the mountain. To your left a large, deep arroyo reminds you to pay attention to your driving. You round a curve and face a very steep grade with a sharp curve at the top; this is first-gear, low-range four-wheel driving. You grind slowly upward, make the turn, bounce over some protruding rock ledges, and are con17 La Cachuchua In the Shadow of the Carmens 108 fronted with an immense rock overhang: La Cachuchua . Yes, you have to drive under it, and no, the truck won’t get stuck. The overhang protrudes straight out from the sheer cliff. This is where the high country begins. The air is already cooler, you can smell the oaks and pines, and butter flies flit from flower to flower. The cliff is sheer, and it is here that Agave potrerana, the red-flowered agave, begins its range. Agave potrerana is abundant at higher elevations in the Carmens. The next closest population is in Chihuahua, and here in the Maderas is the only location in Coahuila where it has been recorded. This agave is another of those species that makes a person wonder how it came to be here and in abundant numbers. The plant is a medium-sized rosette—not as large as Havard’s agave or slim-footed maguey—and medium green in color with a shallow root system. These agave cling precariously to the cliff face with roots anchored in small crevices. Farther up the mountain they are more abundant, but always in very rocky areas and most of the time on cliffs. The shaggy flowers remind me of an over-sized lechuguilla bloom. Hummingbirds, ants, bees, and orioles swarm the blooms for their sweet nectar. One day a couple of summers ago we were exploring the nooks and crannies in the lower reaches of the cliff looking for wood rat nests, when Jonás called to Feliciano and me to come see what he had found. In a small sheltered crack in the cliff face were the remains of several candles and Mexican coins. Offerings had been placed there for a safe trip up and down the narrow mountain road. Perhaps the offerings had been placed there by miners or the loggers when they were cutting timber in the high country. These are small reminders of the people who were here before us—and they didn’t have fourwheel drive! According to Jesús Maria Ramón and his brother Jorge Ramón, who spent much time here in years past when their father owned the Rancho Pilares, the loggers used burros to pull vehicles up the steep grades. I can only imagLa Cachuchua, 2004 109 La Cachuchua Candles and coins left as offerings, La Cachuchua. Photo J. D. Villalobos, 2004 In the Shadow of the Carmens 110 ine the wrecks and close calls they must have experienced . Once several years ago, after a particularly heavy rain storm in late afternoon, the crews working on the mountain had to walk down part of the way, as they couldn’t get a fourwheeler down La Cachuchua. One slide on ice or in mud in the wrong direction and truck and passengers end up at...