Cerro San Cristobal

On Saturday, Matt and I woke up early to hike Cerro San Cristobal, a hill/mountain very close to our apartment.

The cerro is a part of the larger Parque Metropolitano de Santiago, a park system that includes hiking, zoos, and public spaces.

It was a chilly morning, but I still got pretty sweaty hiking. The incline was steeper than it might look. Kudos to Matt for putting up with me during the hike!

Some people hiked, like we did, but others ran, or even biked. I saw one man walk up with a yoga mat, presumably to do some yoga or stretching at the summit.

Here's what it looks like from the road about a mile away. Notice the helicopter.

The path was steep and lined with cacti. How treacherous!

Peeking through at the city on the climb up.

"Together forever." There was lots of romantic graffiti on the way up.

Santiago. There are those beautiful Andes mountains, and a partial view of this huge city. (Plus a layer of smog, but we'll ignore that for the moment.)

Matt at the summit.

Another shot of the Andes.

Looking out.

La Virgen. 

Many Spanish-speaking cultures are Catholic, and they truly adore the Virgin Mary. La Virgen is so important in Hispanic cultures. She plays a much bigger role in their Catholic culture than she does in others'. 

When you see prayer candles like this one in latino markets or in the international aisles at the grocery store, that's la Virgen de la Guadalupe (the Virgin Mary).

A giant statue of la Virgen sits on the summit of Cerro San Cristobal. At night, she is illuminated, and we can even see her from our street below. There were big signs that said SILENCIO around her, so that people could pray in peace. There were people lighting prayer candles, there were plenty of people quietly praying, and even one man who appeared to be weeping for her. 

To give you an idea of how important this figure is to Hispanic Catholicism: on the mountain there is a relatively small statue of Jesus, then this enormous statue of the Virgin Mary. She is a big deal (literally and figuratively in this case).

Mountains at every angle.

More mountains. I don't get tired of them.

At the summit.

Since we were short on time and had somewhere to be, we took the funicular - cable car - down. They were big and very open. Matt didn't much care for it, even though the car conductor assured us several times that they had worked for over 80 years without an accident. They moved pretty fast down the incline.

Most people who know me know that I'm not much of hiker, or outdoorsy at all, so this was certainly a new experience for me. Hiking is hard work, but you do get a rush of accomplishment when you reach the summit.

We'd like to do this hike again sometime, hopefully on a morning after nighttime rainful. The rain clears away some of the smog in the city, so if you hike after it rains, the city is much clearer, and the mountains look fantastic (for two reasons: the rain clears the smog so you can see them better, and in the mountains that rain turns into snow, so the caps are super bright and snowy).

Thanks to Matt for taking me all the way up Cerro San Cristobal.