We have just returned from a great spaghetti dinner and lovely howl at the moon with our new Canadian friends. Life can be so simple sometimes, but more about that later. Let me tell you about our day. We heard from a nearby boat that there was a nice hike into the arroyo over the road, so off we went. We packed a lunch and dinghied to shore. Following the dirt road out of town we hiked over two ridges. As promised, at the bottom of the second ridge there is a dusty arroyo. Follow it, we were told. The arroyo is a dried river bed. You can imagine the flash flood that created this area. The path is obvious. And so we trudged onward. We were told there was a canyon called Crystal Canyon to look for. I was looking for “ducks” – three rocks (or more) set as a marker to find your way home. Imagine our surprise when I found “ducks” already there! We were on the right track! But it got better. As Bob and I picked up green rocks and wondered what they might look like polished we suddenly saw rocks set out that had been cracked open to show the crystals! All along “our friend” had left markers of beautiful crystals – showing us the potential this canyon held. We left the arroyo and climbed the mountains following the crystals. We ended up on a plateau full of rocks the showed various lines of color. Perhaps amber, maybe turquoise. If only we knew anything about geology. We loaded the back pack with potential jewels. Each rock looked more promising than the next. Bob was like a kid in a candy store. I, of course, needed to get to the highest point – I wanted to see Charisma from the mountains. Alas – it was always at least another ridge away. After three hours of discovery we decided to make our way back down to the arroyo. I am so glad that Bob is such a great trekker. I followed him down to the arroyo. As we arrived back at the dinghy we ran into cruisers from two other boats checking out my bottom. I mean the bottom of our dinghy that I had painted with a special black paint to resist the build-up of marine life on the bottom. A friend from the dock in La Paz, Jerry, gave me his left over paint – just enough for one coat and it works great! After cervezas on the beach with the other cruisers we were invited to a spaghetti dinner at one of the other boats in the anchorage. These Canadians are the best. We had dinner aboard “Way She Goes II” with Wayne and Sheila joined by Dale and JoJo from” La Pura Vida” and Deb and Andy from” Swan”. We were exhausted by the hike and almost didn’t go. So glad we did. As the full moon rose over the anchorage at San Evaristo we all went out and howled at the moon. It just doesn’t get much better than that. Thanks to our new Canadian cruising friends for a delightful evening.

Moonrise from Evaristo

This is San Evaristo-That's almost the whole town in the background

View of Evaristo Bay as we hike toward Crystal Canyon

The begining of the arroyo up Crystal Canyon

View from the top of the canyon