Estanzuela Park

On Sunday, we went for a hike with our Austrian friend and her mates. It was awesome. This park isn't too far out of the city (about a 10 minute drive from her place, which is about 20 minutes from ours) and only cost about 50 cents to get in. It starts off as a paved trial, which gradually steepens until we were huffing up about a 60 degree incline. This bricked walkway ends at a sort-of lookout point, and from there a dirt trial continues further up. We went, climbing over roots and clamboring around tree trunks. The trial was very winding and meandering, edging close and then far from the river nearby.

I found the changing foliage interesting, especially as some areas resembled the Shilo training area (with far less scrub -- this is an arid climate). For the first time since we've been here, we were breathing clean air. On some cliff edges, we could see Monterrey in the distance; there was a discernible smudge of smog floating over the metropolis. The views were amazing, with soaring, tree-covered mountains in nearly every direction.

We climbed on. At one point, in a clearing, we came across a small shrine to the Virgin Mary on a tree. I asked our companions why there would be a shrine in the middle of a mountain forest (we had been hiking for about 1 1/2 hours by then). They had no real answer, just that whose-ever shrine it was must just like that place.

Later, there were large out-cropping of rock. Andrew scampered into a cave, and climbed up out of a hole in its roof. I was going to climb up as well, but he started to come down. I thought I was out of the way; a large, softball-sized rock fell and cracked me on my wrist. To put it lightly, it hurt. Luckily, no broken bones, and only slight bruising.

The end of our journey was a waterfall. The water was so clear, I wanted to jump in. We were some-ways up, and were the trail ended, the water was also coming out of a hole in the rocks. It was awe-inspiring.

We headed back; the round trip took about 5 hours. I didn't feel tired at all, just rejuvenated. And hungry. To feed, we all went to a Chinese buffet (which, bizarrely, served a selection of pizza and pasta as well) and made gluttons of ourselves. Highly enjoyable, and an excellent way to spend a Sunday. Andrew and I are definitely looking forward to going for a long-day trip there some time. Hands down, it was the most enjoyable thing we've done so far...