Huacuri Quitenie and Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Huacuri Quitenie

   Somewhere in the creosote flats north of Charcas, in San Luis Potosí, the land that the Wixárika people call Wirikuta begins to feel different, even to a visitor who knows nothing of its meaning. The horizon widens, the mountains of the Sierra de Catorce rise to the east, and on a clear morning the whole desert seems to hum. Huacuri Quitenie is one of the sacred places along the Wixárika pilgrimage route to Wirikuta, where pilgrims stop to pray and leave offerings on their way to Leunar, the hill they call Cerro Quemado, where the sun was born.

   Read the complete Huacuri Quitenie write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Huacuri Quitenie is where the day begins. Next is Huiricuta: Mucuyahue.

2. 2. Huiricuta: Mucuyahue

   In the high desert of San Luis Potosí, below the mountains of the Sierra de Catorce, lies Wirikuta, the most sacred landscape of the Wixárika people, better known as the Huichol. Every year, pilgrims walk or drive hundreds of kilometres from their homes in the mountains of Jalisco and Nayarit to this semi-desert, following a route they believe their ancestors travelled at the beginning of time. According to their tradition, the sun was born on the hill called Cerro Quemado above Real de Catorce, and the desert is where they come to collect hikuri, the peyote cactus, which they consider a sacred plant and use in ceremonies. The various sacred sites along the pilgrimage, including this one, are on Mexico's tentative list for World Heritage.

   Read the complete Huiricuta: Mucuyahue write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Huiricuta: Mucuyahue comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié.

3. 3. Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié

   Wirikuta, or Huiricuta, is the sacred desert of the Wixárika people, a high, arid plain at the foot of the Sierra de Catorce in San Luis Potosí. In Wixárika belief, it is the place where the sun was born, and each year pilgrims travel here from their homeland in the Sierra Madre Occidental, hundreds of kilometres away, to collect hikuri, the peyote cactus, which plays a central role in their ceremonies, and to leave offerings at sacred sites. Maxa Yaritsié is one of those sites. The Cerro del Quemado, the burnt hill, rising above the desert near Real de Catorce, is the most sacred of all, the place where the sun first rose. Visitors should behave with respect: these are living religious sites, not tourist attractions, and collecting peyote is illegal for non-indigenous people and deeply offensive to the Wixárika.

   Read the complete Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 76 km into the recorded legs you reach Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié. Next is back through Huiricuta: Mucuyahue.

4. 4. back through Huiricuta: Mucuyahue

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Huiricuta: Mucuyahue write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Huiricuta: Mucuyahue, late in the day. Next is Huacuri Quitenie.

5. 5. Huacuri Quitenie

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Huacuri Quitenie write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Huacuri Quitenie. That is the ride.