My stepson Adam has checked in from Oaxaca again, and I must say that I'm relieved that he's not laying around watching soccer and drinking Mexcian beer. Our intrepid hero's latest adventure: mountain climbing.
Well, for the past two weeks I have been meaning to go climb a mountain
or two, but by the time school was over I was always too tired to walk
all the way out to the mountains. This morning, I awoke at 10 full of
energy and ready to go climb something. There are three candidates.1) The largest mountain in the state. It is about 4000 meters, but it
is wooded like the mountains in North Carolina. I have been told that
it is safe but difficult, so I should hire a guide. Well, I am not
going to pay for it, so there goes that option.2) The mountain to the Northwest of my house, very close. It is about
2 miles away and pretty high up, probably 2500 meters. I have been
checking it out though, and there is a fence that runs the length of the
mountain about halfway up. More on this mountain later on.3) There is a large, rocky mountain with a huge white cross built on it
that overlooks all of Oaxaca. I have wanted since the first day to go
up there and check out the cross, and it looks pretty easy, so this was
my choice.
So, I am going up the side of a mountain, probably 2000 meters up, in
search of a huge white cross and a great view. I couldn't talk any of
my friends into going with my because they just didn't really want to
go, so I went by myself. I bought a huge bottle of extremely cold water
and set out at about 11am.The mountain seems really close judging from the view I have on the
roof of the house, but it turns out to be quite far away, easily 3 miles.
It also doesn't seem THAT tall, but that would be proven wrong as well.
Right before you get to the foot of the mountain, you go downhill at a
very steep angle, which makes your climb up the mountain itself quite a
challenge. There are houses and stuff build up on the side of the
mountain up to about the 500 meter mark, so I figure it couldn't be too
difficult.I stopped before the steep drop to survey the land. I needed to figure
out exactly how to climb the mountain. I saw a paved road that wound
its way up the mountain through the little town, but it stopped at about
1000 meters, and besides, I didn't walk all the way out there to stroll
up a paved road. So, I eventually spotted a little dirt road that went
through the mountainside town, and set off in its direction.Well, I got lost in the little town. It turns out all the little dirt
roads look the same, so I just started walking in the general direction
of "up" on any little road or path I could find. I eventually reached
the elevation above which there were no more houses, so I had a good
view to find a clear route to the top.I had to avoid some fences because the half of the mountain above the
houses is apparently used for cattle, so I walked along fences until
they ended, turned toward the top of the mountain again until I hit
another fence, etc. Finally I found a pathway (not an actual path, as in
something that is frequently walked on, but a fairly clear area) between
two fences. I went through there and was home free to the top of the
mountain.Once I got there I was about 200 meters from the cross, walking along a
ridge that led to the summit and later the cross. So I walked,
thankful to be on flat ground again, and eventually reached the cross. It was
really awesome. It was built up on the summit on a huge outcropping of
rocks, and there was an absolutely flawless view. I could see all the
way south to the airport and all the way north to the army base. It
was really cool.Next weekend I am going up mountain #2. While sitting next to the
cross, I spied the end of the fence as it wraps around the back side of
that mountain, so there is a way up, I just have to walk around to the
other side. It will be a really cool view because it is even higher up
than the cross.
Ah, to be young and ambitious....
Adam even included some pictures from his adventure. It looks like fun, eh?
