On the last day of my 3-month-long winter vacation, a group of us spent 7 hours hiking in Parque Nacional Aguas de Ramon – a national park right outside of the Santiago city limits. Just a 20 minute bus ride separates us from “la cordillera” – the term Chileans use to describe the Andes mountains.
It was an early morning, as we set out on the metro and bus at around 8:00. It was a mile-long walk from the bus stop to the park, and even that was pretty steep, so we had an idea of what was to come.
The goal was to make it to a waterfall in the middle of the park, though we knew it would take around 3.5 hours to get there. It was a long hike in 80 degree heat but the sun was beautiful (even if it did go straight through the sunscreen I applied and reapplied to give me some badly burned hands). We had to stop a fair amount along the way to get a breather but at least the views were spectacular, giving us good reason to stop. We could see the city between the mountains which was truly an amazing view.
It was an early morning, as we set out on the metro and bus at around 8:00. It was a mile-long walk from the bus stop to the park, and even that was pretty steep, so we had an idea of what was to come.
The goal was to make it to a waterfall in the middle of the park, though we knew it would take around 3.5 hours to get there. It was a long hike in 80 degree heat but the sun was beautiful (even if it did go straight through the sunscreen I applied and reapplied to give me some badly burned hands). We had to stop a fair amount along the way to get a breather but at least the views were spectacular, giving us good reason to stop. We could see the city between the mountains which was truly an amazing view.
I’ve done a fair amount of hiking in my life, but I must say this hike was one of the harder hikes I’ve ever done. Granted, I’m not in the best shape after sitting on my couch in snowy New York for 2 months, but it was definitely pretty challenging.
We finally made it to the waterfall and it was beautiful. The water was pretty cold but I was able to dip my feet in and give them a bit of a rest. It was an amazing feeling to make it all the way there after wanting to turn around many times in the hours before.
We finally made it to the waterfall and it was beautiful. The water was pretty cold but I was able to dip my feet in and give them a bit of a rest. It was an amazing feeling to make it all the way there after wanting to turn around many times in the hours before.
The hike down took significantly less time, but it was still pretty treacherous given how steep the climb was. I tried to appreciate the mountains more on the way down once I could stop thinking about heavily I was breathing…
When we returned to the base, we all just collapsed and rested for a while. We ended up having to walk the mile back to the bus stop, and I had another mile-long walk back from the metro stop to my apartment. I calculated it to be 14 miles walking for the day – almost 11 of those in the steep Andes mountains. An exhausting day but I can’t imagine a better way to spend my last day of the vacation!