Veggieburghers Abroad: Morning hike

I'm starting to feel nostalgic about my morning hike up San Cristobal. I will really miss the majestic views, the glorious sunrises, and even the din of busy Santiago below. For my own sentimental self, I photodocumented my whole hike in painful detail, so I can relive it whenever I want....

First I head off down this street

I pass the Channel 13 headquarters

At the CHILEVISION sign, I turn right

Past the TVN headquarters (we haven't really watched any TV here,
but I think this is the primary public channel in the city). When I walk by the morning they are
often filming some sort of morning edition news on the front patio. Maybe I've even
walked through the frame a couple of times! Can I claim that I appeared on Chilean television? :-)

The moon above San Cristobal

I turn off of the surface streets and onto this road within the Parque Metropolitano

Here's a little restroom along the road. I always admire how the walls are
made from some sort of metallic mesh and then filled with stones.

Then I duck under the caution tape (meant to keep out the cyclists)
and head onto the trail.

Here are the supports for something that either never was built, or has fallen down.
Decorated Chilean style, of course.

The beginning of the trail is peppered with these gorgeous cacti.

The trail is steep right at first so that within just a few steps I emerge above the tops of most of the close buildings and the view opens up over the city.

The trail up this side of the mountain is narrow, and I've never seen another person on it.

The trail doubles back and I walk above our apartment complex. The pool is visible through the trees (barely). Our building is the one on the far, far left--closest to the slope.

There is an ingenious irrigation system by which spigots are opened at the very top of the mountain and there is a web of tiny ditches which carry the water to nearly every tree on the whole side of the mountain.

This is the only place where the terrain is slightly dicey, right on a switch-back.

With each switchback the Gran Torre appears more dwarfed by the mountains behind.

The TVN complex from above

Morning gridlock. Lots of honking going on down there.

As soon as the sun comes up over the mountains, the peaks effectively disappear for the next several hours.

Towards the top of the trail the foliage is within range of the giant sprinklers,
so everything is dramatically more verdant here.

On the last switchback I walk along the base of the wall supporting the road.

Here's where I emerge at the top. Almost always the barricades are in front of the opening (to discourage bikers from using the trail.)

On the weekend this entire area is completely mobbed with bikes--you have to almost elbow your way through. They use all the barricades to create an enclosure and there's a check system so you can leave your bike while you walk up to the Santa Maria or use the bathroom, etc.

On weekdays I usually see about three times the number of stray dogs on my hike as I do other people.

This is the unloading zone for the funicular, which comes up the
opposite side of the mountain from where I usually climb. (I go down on that side, although the trail doesn't follow, or even cross in any way, the trajectory of the funicular).

The steps leading up to the Santa Maria

And more steps

On weekends these table are packed with people drinking mote con huesillos.

More steps

And more steps

This is the altar area of the outdoor sanctuary

Looking up at the seating, and the Santa Maria behind. There are two rows of benches in between each planter box. I'm taking the picture standing right in front of the altar area.

This picture shows the seating

The indoor chapel, off to the right as you go up towards the Santa Maria.

More steps

Almost at the very top by the statue is a little water fountain that saved me more than once.

Around the bend, and the very last set of steps up to the shrine.
I should have counted the number of stairs at some point--there are lots of them!

From standing just below the statue, this is the Santa Maria's panoramic vista, starting in the direction she is pointing with her right hand.....

.... and continuing around to the left....

If you go up all the stairs that form the base of the statue, you can lean around and see what lies almost behind her back on her righthand side.

A birds' eye view of the altar

These are the steps down on the opposite side from where I went up

Off to the right, about halfway down the seating

Every once in awhile I'll see one or two people up here on a weekday. Usually it's completely empty like this, partly because the main gates of the park don't open until 8:30am (The "back" entrance that I use is open 24 hrs/day)

Back to the bike parking area. Given the usual timing of my hikes, this is the point at which I regret that I once again left my sunglasses at home. Hard to remember to take them when it's just barely getting light at the point of leaving the house.....

On the weekend this is a super-highway of bikers and is somewhat terrifying to navigate as a pedestrian. I usually take the dirt path off to the right. During the week I have the whole road to myself!

Well, all to myself except for the dogs....

An advertisement for the Santiago Marathon (this coming Sunday).

At this plaza the bikes follow the road around to the right and down......

..... and the hiking path takes off towards the left.

This trail--the Sendero Zorro Vidal--is the "official" way to hike up to the Santa Maria. However, since the gates at the trail head don't open until 8:30am, I always come the other way. The views are better on the other side of the mountain anyway. After the sun comes up, though, this side of the mountain is still in the shade which makes it a much cooler option throughout the summer heat.

This trail is wide, well-used, and well-maintained.

Water stop

On one of the switchbacks there's a nice view of the statue. Ironically if
you're hiking up the trail towards the statue, you can't see it without turning around.

Vistas of the city on the other side, opposite the big mountains

The rock wall is stabilized with heavy metal meshing.

When I get about halfway down on a weekday that's when I'm usually passed by a mountain biker or two. They aren't supposed to use this pedestrian trail, but almost every day I see one or two that do it anyway. The perspective is hard to tell here, but I have turned around to look back up the trail and the cyclist is riding up.

The prickly pears here are enormous, about as big as the giant rhododendrons that are everywhere in the NW. In this picture the cactus is nearly half as tall as the tree to its left, and the tree isn't all that small! Hard to tell the scale of anything in a picture.

The trail dumps out onto the road that leads up from the main park entry.

To the right of the dirt footpath is an abrupt 8 ft drop with giant cactus plants below.
Good incentive to stay on the trail. :-)

More dogs roaming around like they own the place

Case in point: just chilling out in the middle of the road. No biggie.

This is the point in my hike where I sometimes start to see other pedestrians coming up the hill, as the gates have just opened a few minutes before.

I take the fork to the right just ahead, down to the main gates

The building which houses the base of the funicular

The main gates

The facade of the funicular building. On weekends there is a line that
reaches back to where I'm standing to take this picture, or even further.

This is the area just inside the main gates. It is also the entrance to the Santiago zoo, which--ironically--we never visited. Later in the day the kiosks are used by vendors.... hats, candy, touristy souvenirs, you name it.

Across the street from the main gates of the park. I think it's a discotech but I'm not sure. None of these places are ever open when I go by in the morning.

The plaza

From the plaza I turn left and head down this street....

.....which curves gently to the right

Pablo Neruda's house "La Chascona" is up that-a-way, in the first alley that leads off to the left

I've been tracking the progress of this huge construction project all summer. Just this week the steel struts appeared above the level of the barrier. I'm not sure what else is going on in there, but there sure is a lot of clanking and ruckus every day.

Bellavista has some lovely street art

This is a German restaurant and I think there might be a boutique hotel in there as well. It sits at the corner of Antonia Lopez de Bello (which I walk down towards our house) and Constitucion, which is one of the main drags of restaurants and shops in the neighborhood.

This is looking down Antonia Lopez de Bello, the way I'm headed.

For whatever reason, this is one of my favorite signs in the neighborhood.

More street art....

After a block or two the street moves into a residential area with small apartment buildings on one side of the street.....

.... and for the most part single family homes on the other.

I befriended the sweet man who sweeps this street. On the mornings when he is on the opposite side of the street from me (as he was today), he always stops and waves a greeting to me as I pass by.

Just a block off to the right the Clinica Santa Maria rises above the neighboring houses.

I turn left for one block, back towards San Cristobal....

And then right onto Monitor Araucano, our street

We have a great view of the Gran Torre down our street, and when the morning sun isn't shining from that direction, it's also a great view of the mountains.

Then it's just the athletic complex on the left.....

.... and the boys' school on the right.....

.... and then our complex

This is the gate where cars go in, and we generally use the entrance around the corner that goes directly into our building. However, I use this when I'm on my walk because there's a concierge at this gate to let me in and I don't have to carry my keys.