Saturday March 17th 2012
A little over 25 miles outside of Loreto and just before you enter Loreto from the South on route No.1, is a turnoff to another mission located in the hills on the Pacific watershed. This morning we headed out early to visit this mission called, Mission of San Francisco Javier. This was a small and winding road leading high and deep into the mountains about two thirds of which is paved and the rest is dirt with a lot of roadwork going on. Because of this it was quite bumpy however this side trip, which took us over and hour each way, was well worth the drive. It does have a small pension style hotel and would make an interesting overnight stop.
The missions’ architecture is quite interesting and one has to appreciate the hard work and trouble it took to construct a building in such difficult terrain. The interior is quite surprising given its location and many of the panels and altars were built in Mexico City, shipped to Loreto and then hauled up into the hills. There is a small dam forming a lake which is the main water source and the whole oasis is surrounded by high hills. Each December there is a celebration at the mission which draws thousands of pilgrims from all over Mexico.