The third film shoot for the upcoming season of Epic Trails took place a couple weeks ago. The team headed over to beautiful Mexico City, where they took in turquoise waters and epic mountain hikes.
Below is an excerpt from Eric’s blog post about his experience:
Are you familiar with Mexico’s hidden gems?
I recently flew to Mexico City to film an episode of Epic Trails. My girlfriend Kristi joined me and we met up with an old friend of hers, photographer Rob Woodcox. Rob has been living in Mexico City for more than four years, and he has become quite enamored with the country. When Kristi and I proposed that he join us on this adventure, he immediately listed off a dozen options for us to explore.
Needless to say, Mexico is a vibrant and beautiful country that is diverse and nuanced. And there is much more than deserts and Dos Equis.
Mexico City is a bustling modern city with verdant green spaces, museums, world-class restaurants, and all the things that make city living attractive. But our adventures were elsewhere.
Five of us, Kristi, Rob, Max (the Director of Photography of Epic Trails), and another friend Michelle, all piled into a car loaded with equipment for filming for a week. It was a bit of a clown-show in there, all of us squeezed in with gear packed to the brim. But it worked!
Within a few hours of Mexico City is a sight that I never thought I’d see in the middle of an arid landscape. Grutas Tolontango is an oasis of hot springs that pour forth from canyon walls for as far as the eye can see.
Grutas Tolongtango is an unheralded gem that is mostly filled with local vacationers enjoying their own country. But even though we were visiting on a holiday and there were many people here, the hot springs are so extensive we were able to find grottos all to ourselves.
After a long drive from Grutas Tolontongo, we arrived at Tamul, a wonderful river known for its green blue waters and a stunning waterfall. During the summer monsoon season, the waterfall is so thunderous that it cannot be seen without a long hike in. The flooding canyon is simply too dangerous. However, during the dry springtime, visitors can paddle long wooden boats upstream and see the waterfall firsthand.
While the waterfall is certainly the main attraction, it wasn’t, in my eyes, the most interesting thing we would find this day. That distinction lies with my dream of swimming in a cenote. Cenotes are caverns or sinkholes where water has eroded or eaten away at the limestone. They are prevalent across Mexico, but I wasn’t expecting to get to swim in one on this trip.
So when the guides stopped the boat and let us go for a wander, I was thrilled with what we found. – Eric Hanson
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE!
About Epic Trails: Epic Trails is an exciting and inspiring adventure travel media series that follows host, Eric Hanson, as he explores the people, places, and adventures surrounding the world’s top hiking destinations. Each 30-minute TV episode airs on Outside TV, 27 regional networks, and internationally through National Geographic Channel—Asia and Extreme Sports Channel across Europe. Episodes of Epic Trails aired over 2,200 times in 2020. Learn more about the series at www.heliconia.ca. Networks interested in carrying Epic Trails are encouraged to reach out to Heliconia’s Vice-President, Brendan Mark, at brendan@helipress.com.
