Yesterday, I took a day trip up into the lush green mountains. My destination was Canon Blanco. I knew I would be on roads with steep drop-offs, hairpin turns, 1 1/2 car width wide, and potholes. It was an adventure! Google maps said it would take about an hour (Ha!).  Not long after turning onto one of the very scary roads, a lady stopped, rolled her window down, and said the road was closed up ahead due to an accident in front of her house.  She cautioned me to honk my horn going around curves. After chatting for a minute, cars began coming from that direction. She said it must be open now, so off I went. There was one section on a curve that was so steep, that as you crested the top, you were literally driving blind, hoping your vehicle wouldn’t scrape bottom and that another car wouldn’t be coming. I was honking my horn, but realized I’d have to honk continually for 75 minutes, so I selectively honked.  I became good at avoiding the potholes, but occasionally hit one, which caused me to say the “F” word. When I took a chance to look away from the road, the views were stunning!

There weren’t many places to pull over, but I was able to take a photo of this church.

Intact, but with white knuckles, I arrived at Cannon Blanco. A family pulled into the dirt beside me. The driver shrugged his shoulders with his hands up, like, I guess this is it. We chatted for a few minutes and I began in the direction I thought was the trail. I heard a voice say “hola”, and once I spotted the man on the balcony of his home, I said “hola”. He urged me to come closer. As a female solo traveler, I thought, hmm. He pointed up ahead to where the trail began and gave me some quick pointers. The family followed me.

Canon Blanco appeared! It’s lovely! 

The family passed me as I was taking photos and I saw them at the top of some rocks.

The father jumped in. I went a little further, but there were 3-ft high boulders you had to climb on to go further along the trail. I decided I’d gone far enough. I know my limitations. In this case, the journey was as exciting as the destination. There was a 20-minute construction delay on the way back. I felt a little more comfortable on the return drive, knowing what to expect. To think my main concern was running into vicious stray dogs. I had visions of a rum and Coke waiting for me at my Airbnb!