What Goes Down Must Come Up

9:00 am: I hadn’t been hiking in the nine months that I had lived in Guadalajara, but now, I was filling up a knapsack with water, lunch, snacks, camera, sunscreen, and extra socks. I was so ready for a break from the city! My American friend, Bev, and I only had to wait a half hour for our Mexican friend, Angel, to join us. Not bad.

I greeted him at the door wearing my knapsack. “Good morning, Angel! Do you have a lunch?” I asked hopefully looking at his empty hands. I had reminded him about the lunch and water yesterday so maybe he had left it in his car?

“No. I just got up.”

Bev set her gear down and led the way back to the kitchen for him to make a sandwich and get a bottle of water.

10:00 am: Once we were in the car, he pulled out the sandwich and started eating.

“Angel, do you want to go back and make another sandwich for lunch?”

“No, this will be good. I didn’t have breakfast, but this will be plenty.”

Right.

12:00 pm: We drove to the edge of the city. I mean “the edge” literally. La Barranca is the steep gorge that forms the northeastern border of the metropolis.

The trail was paved with cobblestones for miles of switch backs. The head of the trail was crowded with lots of people of varying ability. Some were going only a short way to take some pictures and then return to their cars, others were going further for the exercise. We were going all the way for the experience!

Well down the gorge, I grabbed Bev’s arm. “Bev, look!” We laughed as we came around a bend to find a determined vendor with a mule and cart full of water, “chicle”, chips, nuts, candy, and warm tamales. We were greeted with the same enthusiasm as if we were in a crowded marketplace and not an hour into a rigorous hike, trying to get away from the hawking and litter and pollution. “Buenas Tardes! Agua? Nueces? Tamales?”

1:30 pm: We got all the way to the bottom of the gorge after a long trek. Not many other hikers had come this far. It was refreshing to splash in the river a bit and breath a cleaner air than in the densely populated city. I finished what was left of my food (and Angel finished what was left of Bev’s). Angel took dozens of silly pictures on the large bridge across the river, and I took pictures of the scenery and plant life (after deleting some of the pictures Angel had taken to make room).

2:00 pm: It was now the hottest part of the day (in one of the hottest months of the year) and we were ready to head home. We began the ascent back to civilization.

4:00 pm: Two hours later, we were all thankful for the crazy vendor who had set up on the side of the gorge, further down than any of the others. We humbly bought a few bottles of water and tamales before continuing our climb.

4:30 pm: Bev and I were still hiking. Angel had been out of sight ahead of us for a long time. Bev was huffing and puffing, “You really don’t have to wait for me.”

“No, Bev, I’d rather stay with you. I won’t be able to go that much faster and I want to make sure you make it ok. We can go slow. I’m sure we are getting close to the top.”

5:00 pm: Then, it began to rain. It was a teasing hint of rainy season which would not start in earnest for another two months. It felt good on our skin, but as the rain washed the dust away, the rounded stones paving the trail became shining obstacles.

Our eyes widened as we passed multiple people with bleeding shins or others limping along with an arm around a family member. I looked at Bev, “We can go slower if you need to. Please don’t fall!”

5:30 pm: The rain stopped and finally, we burst over the edge and were back in loud, bustling, hot Guadalajara again. Angel was lying down in the shade by the parking lot. Never again will I hike down to a destination!

Photos are my own.