ALTO DEL NARANJO:The first step to Heaven

Relaxing in a city like Santiago could be a harder ordeal than bearing the noise and pressures that the city throws on us each day. Every way we go, crowds, traffic jams, noise, pollution, chasing us like a tortured soul and pressing us to run away from the capital, looking for a little of silence and peace even if it is only for a few days, … or hours.

Maybe tiredness, physical effort, danger, solitude, and contact with nature will not fit in your concept of relaxation. However, as crazy as it may seem, there are several Santiagoeans that, armed with a backpack, a mountain axe and water, have found in the hills around the city the stairway to reach for heaven, peace, and why not physical fitness.

Climbing one of these hills is a ride you can do alone, with friends or family, with no age limit. You need only enthusiasm and willingness to have a good time in a healthy and thrifty activity, where traveling a long way from the city is not required.

The Alto del Naranjo (orange tree height) at 1890 m. (6300 ft above sea level), is like a mountain shoulder of the Cerro Provincia (Provincia Hill) which is 2750 m (9170 ft) and is located approximately 6 km East of Santiago in the Reserva Ecologica Contrafuertes Cordilleranos.

Tiredness Route I. How to get there.

For a novice, the first ascent, although plagued with exhaustion, sweat, muscular aches, dirt and scratches, becomes unique and comforting when looking at the world from these heights.

It seems easy to fulfill, but the local expression of "go to the top of the hill" requires a good pair of legs and lots of training. Equipment is easy and cheap: jeans or shorts, cap, hiking shoes, mountain axe, daypack, skin protector for those who care, water, and fruits (for those who suffer of sudden attacks of hunger). A lighter load in your pack will easy your suffering.

If you don’t have a mountain axe, a cane ending in a sharp point that helps in the complicated areas of the climb, you can replace it with a ski pole, walking stick or in the worst case … with your hands. Creeping is an art you will never lose.

To get to the trail head, take the road to Farellones for 6 kms. and then the unpaved road to the old Ñilgue bridge over the Mapocho river.

If your goal for the climb is fitness, is advisable to begin early, at around 9:00 am, because later you will regard the sun as your worst enemy. Like the climb, the descent shoudn`t take more than 2 hours, so you will be back home for lunch with your family.

Tiredness Route II. What you should know

Once upon the Reserve entrance, take a good look at the routes map: you will learn about them, you will know where to go and how to interpret the signs for the type and difficulty of each trail.

The signs are in small wooden posts with colored rings : yellow, green and blue. Each color indicates the difficulty and type of excursion. The yellow ring indicates a light and easy walk; the green ring indicates an intermediate route for fitted people; the blue color indicates a higher demand for people with basic mountaineering skills.

Other type of signs are found on the trail forks, and like the former, these are wooden posts that, instead of colored rings, have colored stripes forming a cross at the end. This indicates the direction of the trail and difficulty level.

Once well informed, begin the ascent.

Tiredness Route III. Climb and Climb

For those who do this ride for the first time, climbing is not easy. If you are not used to physical demands, take it easy. Fatigue can easily waste you and toss your desire to get to the top rolling downhill.

Watch for loose stones and don’t trust too much on those looking solid. Bushes neither bring much safety, because branches can easily crack or the bush itself can suddenly pop, putting you in a risky situation.

Not all is tiredness or risk. Only take a look back, look what you’ve done and you will see it is worth the effort. While climbing, you will notice how bold and majestic is the mountain and how small we are.

The surroundings are dry and rude. The outstanding vegetation is the cacti, and some or other small bush, or a lonely tree.

An interesting feature is found in the relation with other people. Notably, the climb produces a sort of communion and comraderie that expresses itself in a spontaneous and affectionate greeting when you meet someone. Like if sharing this activity awakes an immediate fellow feeling.

The climb is done in three parts. Upon reaching the first sightseeing spot, that dominates the whole valley and the Farellones road, you will have achieved the hardest part. The second one is as steep as the first but less slippery; it ends in a small waterway, where you can take a refreshing bath with clear mountain water.

You will know you have reached the Alto del Naranjo when the trail turns flat into a plain with a big tree in the center, that is not precisely an orange tree, but a quillay tree. The place took his name from the frequent orange peelings found below the tree, left by the hikers when recovering under its shadow.

You will also see, rising 1000 meters over your head, the summit of Cerro Provincia, the second step to heaven or a fourth part of your trip.

You will have reached the your first summit of your life, or one more in your repertoire, and the joy and satisfaction of having reached the top despite the difficulties, will be rewarded when you look down and feel like the master of the world.

Tiredness Route IV. The Alternative

If you, in spite of your determination, don’t feel like capable of reaching the summit, we recommend you an alternate route, a little longer and adventurous. You’ll need not to climb much but walk a lot.

When reaching the waterway, going to the left side of the ridge (and after the splash), go upstream until you find the stream that feeds it. Then follow it downstream to "Vallecito". This alternative implies two risks: 1) get your feet wet and 2) your legs scratched.

Nevertheless you will have some compensations: more vegetation on the way that helps with the sun, small pools where to take a bath and countless obstacles to overcome.

Upon arriving to "vallecito" (small valley), you cannot keep going downstream as it falls 30 meters down a cliff. So you will have to climb to the zone called "del acarreo", go down to the first sightseeing spot and from there back to the entrance.

"Vallecito" is a place for picnic or camping, where you can go following the yellow marks on the trail, after the first sightseeing spot.

Tiredness Route V. Going back home

If the satisfaction is big when reaching the top, it is bigger when you are back to the starting point. The descent can be more complicated than the climb and precaution should be taken to avoid slipping or falling.

Maybe along the week after the climb, your body more than your head, will remind you each step of it. They will be only a couple of days in which you will feel like if your body has been beaten without mercy.

However, you will remember that you overcame yourself, discovered a healthy way of having fun and exercise; that contact with nature and unpolluted air cleared your spirit; and that you can withstand another week in this giddy and polluted Santiago.

Text: G. Salinas