Out in the high desert of San Luis Potosí, near the town of Charcas, lies a landscape that for the Wixárika people, often called the Huichol, is the most sacred place on earth. Wirikuta is the land where, in their cosmology, the sun was born, and each year pilgrims walk or travel hundreds of kilometres from their homeland in the Sierra Madre Occidental of Jalisco and Nayarit to reach it, visiting a chain of sacred springs, hills and other sites along the way.
The landscape here is open and austere: creosote bush, yucca, barrel cactus and grasses on a plain at around two thousand metres, broken by the long ridges of the Sierra de Catorce. The light is clear and hard, the days hot, the nights cold. For the Wixárika, peyote, the small cactus that grows in this desert, is a sacrament at the heart of their ceremonies, and for that reason it is illegal and deeply disrespectful for outsiders to collect it. Visitors should approach these places as one would a church or a temple, without leaving marks, taking anything away or intruding on ceremonies. Mining projects in Wirikuta have been strongly opposed by the Wixárika and their supporters, and the area remains contested.
Most riders who come here are heading for Real de Catorce, the old silver-mining town high up in the Sierra de Catorce, once among the richest in New Spain, then almost deserted, and now revived by tourism. The final approach is a long cobbled road that climbs through the mountains and enters the town through the Ogarrio tunnel, more than two kilometres long, single lane and controlled with alternating traffic. The cobbles are rough and slippery in the wet, so take them steadily. Below the town, the desert plain stretches out toward Wirikuta, and the views at sunset are unforgettable.
Fuel is available in Charcas, about twenty-five kilometres away, and in Matehuala, the larger town on the main highway to the east; carry water and sun protection, because there is little shade in the desert. In Real de Catorce, small restaurants serve gorditas, enchiladas potosinas and hot drinks against the cold evenings. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons; summer heat is intense on the plain, and winter nights in the mountains can drop below freezing.