Ranger danger

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For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to have a little adventure with my afternoon walk yesterday. Maybe it was just to punish myself for being lazy on Saturday. Whatever the cause, I took a climb up into unfamiliar territory. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve done lately, but I did it anyway.

As I started out from Alta Vista I encountered a local standing on the path holding a machete. “Where you go?” he asked. “Just gonna climb the mountain”, I told him, nodding towards the hillside in front of me. He gave me a funny look, shrugged, and I proceeded onward. I knew whereabouts I wanted to get to and figured I’d find a trail going in that direction. But the first path I took just petered out, and the next one I took seemed to go in the wrong direction. Not being able to discern other viable options, I continued onward. The trail meandered for a ways and then commenced to turn steeply upwards. It was a slick and muddy climb and I thought to myself “glad I’m not trying to come down this way”. Made it to the top and then the trail just seemed to disappear.

This is what I was faced with. Grass over eight feet tall. Tough to walk through, leaving some scratches on my arms and legs. But worse was not being able to clearly see where I was placing my feet. At one point I noticed that if I took a step to the left I’d be falling down a very steep hillside. That freaked me out so I retreated. I wasn’t willing to go back the way I came though as that seemed to involve a similarly perilous hike down. So, I reoriented my position on the mountain and cautiously made my way forward.

It seems people don’t hike up there this time of year for a reason. I resolved that once I found a trail, any trail, I would take it wherever it went. This overland shit was a sucker’s bet. And good fortune was with me because I did come across a pretty decent path about ten minutes later.

I was able to breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy views like this…
And in the other direction, a nice overlook of my hometown, Barrio Barretto.

So, through blind (almost literally) luck, I had reached the mountain top I had been wanting to achieve. Now, where would this mystery path take me next?

I know that valley well. Wasn’t real sure how to get there from here though…
I continued onward (like I had a choice) and eventually things started to look familiar. And lo and behold, I found myself at this four-way intersection on the infamous My Bitch trail. I could have turned left here and been back safe and sound in Alta Vista in twenty minutes time. Ah, but where’s the fun in that? So instead I turned to the right, thinking that would lead me down to Columban College in Barretto.
Although I knew I was heading generally in the right direction, I didn’t recall walking through this area of shacks previously. I always feel a little uncomfortable invading the privacy of the mountain dwellers, but I had no alternative. Didn’t actually see any people, but judging by the laundry hung out to dry, they were indeed occupied.
And just a tad further up the trail I came across the “fresh” water supply of the locals.
I sure was glad my name isn’t “N. Santos”. Poor bastard isn’t allowed to trespass.
And then at last I found myself on the familiar steps leading back down to civilization. Such as it is…
The back side of Columban College. Which is actually a private (Catholic) high school.
From the relative safety of the streets of Barretto, I gandered back up to where I had been.

I came. I saw. I conquered. I walked back home.

Today I was back out marking the trail for today’s Hash with my co-Hare, Pubic Head. Basically the same trail we laid four weeks ago that got rained out. It’s plenty cloudy out there right now but I’m hoping our luck holds out this time. You can look forward to a full report on that tomorrow.


You’ll never say hello to you
Until you get it on the red line overload
You’ll never know what you can do
Until you get it up as high as you can go


Out along the edges
Always where I burn to be
The further on the edge
The hotter the intensity


Highway to the danger zone
Gonna take you
Right into the danger zone

2 thoughts on “Ranger danger”

  1. That’s one raggedy-looking high school!

    Sounds as if you had an interesting adventure. May your Kennys always be Loggin’!

  2. Yeah, to be fair that was the backside of Columban. They actually maintain the campus better than most. I’ll get another perspective picture next time I’m by there.

    On the one hand, I was pleased that I had the balls to do some exploration. On the other hand, it was pretty dangerous walking off trail like I did. If I had fallen and hurt myself in that tall ass grass I’d probably never be found!

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