Road Through the Clouds

This past Saturday we didn't have any plans so we decided to drive the road from Santiago to Saltillo. We tried to do this once before but because of the rains, the road was super bad and we started to late. The road is through the mountains and a little sketchy in some parts, not something you want to do after dark. There are lots of switchbacks and very steep climbs, landslides of rock and dirt covering half the road, and sections of the already not so good pavement torn up and washed away. So we started off and as we climb the mountain we drive into the clouds. With every turn I am hoping that we don't suddenly come upon a car stopped in the middle of the road before we can stop! We pull off to the side of the road and I take this picture - it is so eerie. Then we continue driving and Joe says,"I think I see a bit of blue up there." And sure enough I look up and see some blue sky breaking through. Pretty soon we drive up through the clouds into a gorgeous sunny day. We stop the car again and hop out. These are some of the pictures I took. It was an awe inspiring sight. I can't even describe it, the pictures don't so it justice. You could see mountain tops sticking up through the clouds like little islands. It was other-worldly.

Remember that we had driven up quite a ways already. There is a lot of mountain underneath the clouds.

We drove over those mountains and down into a valley. We drove through this pass called Paseo de los Lobos (Wolf's Pass) or Paseo de la Mano de Dios (Pass of God's Hand). It was a tight little pass, quite amazing.

We of course got out of the car again and discovered this stream flowing over boulders and through the pass. The boys had to do a little rock hopping, climbing, and throwing. At one point as I was trekking along the stream I felt a big rock hit me in the arm. I looked up at Zac who was on a big boulder behind me but he wasn't even looking at me. He hadn't thrown it, apparently I had been hit by falling rocks - and there were none of those signs around warning me of the danger!

This was taken as we drove through another really tight pass. It was phenomenal looking up all around me and seeing these really high cliffs surrounding us. Anthony decided that he needed to go rock climbing. Sounds like a father-son thing to me!

After this we drove up and down in the mountains through lots of little towns and beautiful scenery. It took us about 3 1/2 hours to get to Saltillo (about 45 minutes when you take the highway from Monterrey). It was an amazing adventure. We finished the day with a burger and Mint Oreo shake and headed back home, intent on buying a 4 x 4 vehicle. There were lots of roads that we would have liked to take that just weren't possible to drive in our Cirrus!