The classic version of a camino de montaña in Mexico inevitably features a 1,000-meter drop on one side and a sheer vertical wall on the other all too often topped by delicately balanced rocks each weighing tons and just daring you to pass beneath them The danger factor is then compounded a hundredfold if the road is only wide enough for one car to pass and another hundredfold if the surface of that road is not asfalto (asphalt) or empedrado (cobblestone) but brecha (dirt) or — God help you — lodo (mud) I was introduced to one of these unforgettable roads some years ago when a friend suggested we go visit a tiny once incredibly prosperous mining town called San Pedro Analco in Jalisco I sought it out on a road map and found it right smack in the middle of Jalisco in what looked like the most desolate spot in the state Its nearest neighbor was another isolated town with the nearly unpronounceable name of Hostotipaquillo “Why do you want to go to San Pedro Analco?” I asked my friend I visited it years ago by helicopter and before I left I said to myself — using the words of General MacArthur — ‘I shall return,’” he said and soon Pedro was at my door with two other friends located 80 kilometers northwest of Guadalajara and famed for its gold mines Here we asked a local man how to get to San Pedro Analco “Then you will never make it to San Pedro,” interrupted our informant who went on to describe the impossibly steep slope this lugubrious description of things only bolstered Pedro’s determination even more la gente local always claim their brechas [dirt roads] are death traps,” commented Pedro skirted a charming little lake and suddenly found ourselves on the edge of a humongous canyon 20 minutos … but you’ll need doble tracción.” covered with huge rocks precariously perched above us and the pitch of the road grew steeper and steeper and then we have to go all the way back up the other side!” nobody else spoke a word as the road grew even steeper and the wheels began to slip a bit on the loose gravel the sun disappeared behind a huge black cloud Silence weighed upon the car as we inched down the road there happened to be a rare wide space just before the next turn maybe we should take a look at what’s around the bend,” he suggested one look told us that our nearly vertical road was about to get a whole lot steeper But Pedro later admitted he had already decided to turn back I knew all of you thought we were doomed,” he confided “Gracias a Dios you turned around when you did,” he said “You would never have gotten your car out of that barranca [ravine].” I thought I would never again have to peer over the edge of what I was now calling Jalisco’s scariest canyon but I hadn’t calculated on Pedro’s determination I just traded in my station wagon for the toughest 4WD on the market I could have replied in the immortal words of old-time radio personality Chester Riley: “What a revoltin’ development this is!” But it was no use; adventure was calling and I had to go even though I wondered whether I would ever come back we were on the edge of that same tremendous barranca overlooking the Santiago River The road was as narrow and twisting as ever but having traction on all four wheels was comforting and very useful every time we met someone coming up the other way The Law of Mountain Roads said it was up to us to back up and find a place where the other car could pass such spots are few and far between on the royal road to San Pedro I reminded myself that I wasn’t expecting to survive this trip anyhow we bottomed the canyon and crossed the bridge watching flocks of cormorants swooping over the frothing rapids Now we began climbing the canyon on the opposite side and immediately ran into somebody coming down the one-lane road but you’ll never get that Jeep of yours through the eight tunnels.” Nobody had mentioned any tunnels up until now perhaps figuring we’d never get this far anyhow we reached the first tunnel and breezed right through it and we squeezed through with only inches to spare those inches were reduced to millimeters and as a result a few paint scrapings from Pedro’s brand-new Toyota now decorate the tunnel wall Pedro broached the subject of parking and continuing on foot “That could take all day since we don’t know where the town is — and besides there’s no place here for you to turn around.” It looked like the bottomless abyss straight down from the edge of the so-called road so we rolled on for another 600 meters and came face-to-face with tunnel four there was a “wide spot” which was wide only in the most relative manner of speaking Here we abandoned Pedro’s car with its left wheels only five centimeters from the brink of eternity … and began our hike we walked into the plaza of San Pedro Analco 43 stomach-wrenching kilometers from Hostotipaquillo A lot of silver and some gold were mined in this very old town starting in the 16th century and continued right up until 1984 when production shut down due to low silver prices San Pedro has a church built in the 1800s and today a population of 290 the houses very old and the temperature quite warm (because of an elevation of only 880 meters) where we now faced the challenge of turning around on the so-called wide spot I would have sworn it could not possibly be done each one involving a distance of maybe 10 centimeters the Toyota was finally pointed toward the way home and we again scraped through the remaining tunnels and carefully picked our way through the most recent landslides all the while managing not to fall off the cliff-hanging road We arrived back in Guadalajara at 8:30 p.m. delighted to still be numbered among the living So if you happen to be looking for adventure here is a trip that will get your adrenaline going Google Maps will guide you from Guadalajara to San Pedro Analco in just over two hours the bridge I used to cross over the Santiago River is completely underwater thanks to the construction of the 209-meter-high Yesca Dam in 2012 In its place is a new bridge that rests upon pilings 120 meters tall they said they were going to “upgrade” the road a group of motorcyclists made the long journey to San Pedro naturally passing through all the tunnels without a scrape demonstrating that the road has changed little over the years clearly shows that the route to San Pedro Analco is just as hair-raising as ever The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, for 31 years and is the author of A Guide to West Mexico’s Guachimontones and Surrounding Area and co-author of Outdoors in Western Mexico. More of his writing can be found on his website ADVERTISE WITH MND COMMUNITY GUIDELINES Subscription FAQ's Privacy Policy Mexico News Daily - Property of Tavana LLC The blast killed at least 32 people and injured more than 100 and reportedly occurred inside a basement garage next to Pemex's 54-story office tower The Mexican army has captured a drug lord who once had ties to the powerful Sinaloa Cartel his competition is going to war for his territory a notably ruthless kingpin in the Sinaloa Cartel whom the army killed more than two years ago Zero Five been one of the top drug lords fighting to control one of Mexico's most populous states a town in Jalisco near the border with Nayarit state It is the essential source of information and ideas that make sense of a world in constant transformation The WIRED conversation illuminates how technology is changing every aspect of our lives—from culture to business The breakthroughs and innovations that we uncover lead to new ways of thinking A soldier carries marijuana plants to be destroyed after a large plantation was seized in Hostotipaquillo A new bill in Mexico's Congress would legalize pot and with its authors' party in the majority Mexico may soon join a growing number of countries The Mexican president-elect's leftist party has introduced legislation that would allow citizens to grow and sell pot But Mexicans are divided over whether legalizing marijuana will help curb organized crime's hold on the country or create more drug users of the left-wing National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party Mexico's war on drugs has killed about 235,000 people and left 40,000 more disappeared Sánchez Cordero has been tapped to be interior minister once President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador takes office Dec She told her fellow lawmakers, as she introduced the marijuana legalization bill last week in the Senate that militarization and penalization of the problem is not working which isn't much of a surprise given that her MORENA party holds majorities in both houses of Congress all but ensuring passage of the landmark legislation the bill would allow companies to grow and sell marijuana for commercial Individuals could also register for government permits through clubs to grow up to 20 marijuana plants a year for private use Smoking it in public would also be allowed The move follows a Mexican Supreme Court ruling last month that an absolute ban on recreational marijuana use is unconstitutional And Mexico has plenty of prime farmland to grow pot. According to a recent survey by researchers at the Autonomous Metropolitan University in Mexico City hundreds of thousands of acres of land is still dedicated to marijuana farming it's unclear whether the incoming president wants Mexico to legalize it When asked in a news conference last Friday after the bill was introduced López Obrador would only say he respects lawmakers right to give it a try "This is all part of democracy," López Obrador said "I respect Congress' initiatives," he said López Obrador is more moderate than many in his leftist party But he did promise to combat Mexico's organized crime violence differently than past administrations Mexico's Senate Majority Coordinator Ricardo Monreal says legalizing pot will reduce crime and prison populations And he says it will bring needed revenue to the government which would regulate all marijuana production and sales "It's better to have it regulated than be underground," says Monreal That's obvious a recent day at a small park in downtown Mexico City Others relax on benches and pass around joints and pipes who would only his nickname "El Chinito" (Curly) since he sells marijuana illegally in the park wasn't too worried about working in the open "I don't feel like marijuana is a bad vice like alcohol which makes you aggressive," he says so then he won't have to pay the cops to let him sell in the park says he's not in favor of the new legalization initiative He says he smoked pot as a teen and doesn't want kids doing it such as Leonardo García of the National Union of Parents García says it's a lie that making pot legal will lower crime rates "In the end what's going to happen is there won't be less crime and organized gangs will still operate as always," he says who as interior minister would oversee national security issues She says it's time to try something different to save Mexico from so much violence and poverty "We just want to live in a peaceful Mexico," she says MORENA party officials say they hope to have a bill on the new president's desk before the end of the year Become an NPR sponsor This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page.