Among the multitudes of devout, Mexican Catholics who trek up to 117 kilometers (73 miles) over mountains and through valleys each spring to pay homage to a statue of the Virgin Mary in a remote Jalisco town, one is an American geophysicist who professes an ardent love of walking and the outdoors.
“I’ve never seen another foreigner on the pilgrimage to Talpa, other than some friends who came with me,” says Will Prescott, who first came to live in Guadalajara in 2007 as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer, after switching from full time to part-time work with organizations such as the U.S. Geological Survey. Prescott admits it is possible that some gringos might go unnoticed among the millions said to participate in the Peregrinación a Talpa de Allende (pilgrimage to Talpa de Allende), which has taken place during Semana Santa (Holy Week) for an estimated 200 years. He added that he has met some returned Mexican-Americans on the trail.
“A Mexican hiking group I know once went on the pilgrimage, but they did it for the hike, like me, not for religious reasons,” said Prescott, adding that he walks or runs about 100 kilometers a week.
Prescott has done the pilgrimage seven times, he said. “I met a young guy, in his thirties, who said he’d done the pilgrimage 20 times. I met an old guy who has done it every year since he was 14.”
I do it because I enjoy hiking. I usually enjoy hiking alone,” he said, noting that he is originally from Alaska and used to do a lot of sailing. “But on the pilgrimage, people are very friendly and open. As a foreigner, everyone talks to you.”
Prescott added that people peg him as a foreigner, even though he wears a Mexican sombrero and is not tall, by the rest of his clothes and by his aluminum hiking stick. “Many people use burros — which are wooden walking sticks” that are sold along the trail.
“To me it looks like, for many people, this is the only time they ever walk. A lot of people end up with blisters. I think for some people, they go once because somebody is sick, and if the person gets better, they go again out of gratitude.”
Besides the hiking, the outdoors and the friendly people, Prescott says he enjoys the food and drink that can be purchased along the way.
“One stand, which is only set up during the pilgrimage, sells very nice sweet bread. I’m a vegetarian, but I find things I like. The tortillas are better than anywhere else — handmade and fresh.
“You don’t have to carry water or anything. I buy it on the trail. I eat at a restaurant one night a year in Atenguillo and they remember me.”
Many pilgrims start the hike at different places. This year, Prescott took a bus with an American friend from Guadalajara to La Estanzuela, about 150 kilometers southwest, and started the pilgrimage there, although many say the walk begins slightly farther west at Ameca.
“People begin at different places. They come from all over. There is a route that begins from Puerto Vallarta.”
Prescott explained that pilgrims sleep in the open, in fields or in plazas in the towns, and sometimes in hotels, which even rent floor space to walkers.
“The first night, my friend and I slept in an andador (alley) off the plaza in Atenguillo. The second night I slept in a sugar cane field. It had recently been cut. I could see a lot of stars because the moon didn’t rise until later.
“I use a sleeping bag and foam pad. My first year, I almost froze. I didn’t know how cold it could be.”
To maintain the contemplative, religious character of the walk, authorities have erected (or are in the process of erecting) monuments, miradores (lookout structures), hermitages (chapel-like structures) and two hostels along the path between Ameca and Talpa. The hostels are in La Estanzuela and Atenguillo and have a spartan appearance but, according to a brochure, offer basic accommodations, which include bathrooms, electricity, hot water and showers, and only ask for donations to cover expenses.
“The trail is dusty because of the dry season and people discard a lot of plastic along the way,” Prescott noted, adding that after the hike, people generally stand in a long line at the church in Talpa, which was founded by the Spanish in 1599, to get a glimpse of the statue of the Virgin Mary inside.
“A lot of churches and families charter buses to drop them off,” he explained. “Of course, there are public buses too and the cost is from 140 to 250 pesos — higher on the way back.” There was standing room only on his return bus, Prescott said, although his friend, who returned to Guadalajara a day earlier, got the last seat on that bus.
More information: http://expresioncienciassociales.blogspot.mx/2011/11/peregrinacion-talpa-tradicion-e.html.