It had been a few months since I had been to this mountain, so when I heard that this Saturday there was going to be a route in the surrounding area, without hesitation I decided to participate. I went with my sister and there we met some friends and acquaintances.
This mountain hike was organized by a group together with the mayor's office of the municipality of Ribas, city of La Victoria (Aragua State, Venezuela), as part of the activities that are held every year to commemorate Youth Day.
On February 12, 1814 there was a battle in La Victoria that was crucial for the independence of Venezuela, there about 1,500 young people accompanied General José Félix Ribas to confront the royalist army (Spanish crown), who were many more than them, they defeated them and therefore as a tribute, on this date is celebrated Youth Day.
The call was at 7:00 am at the Monumento de la Juventud (Youth Monument), a park that is located on a hill almost out of the city. This area has many mountains around and also several possibilities of routes, this time we did a circuit of about 10 km.
Of course we didn't leave at 7:00 am (punctuality is something rare in general around here), one of the organizers informed us that we were going to wait a little longer because people from other cities were coming. In the end the hike started at about 7:45 in the morning, someone had brought a drone and the device followed us at first for a few minutes, then we went into the vegetation and didn't see it again.
In Venezuela we only have two seasons, winter (rainy season) and summer (drought), which is the one we are in now, something very evident in the landscape around here, many areas burned by fires, I don't know if they were provoked or spontaneous.
As we move forward we begin to have some views of the city and mountains on the other side, La Victoria is located in a valley.
There are some abandoned structures around here, like that tank you see in the background in the photo below.
In this first part of the route the eucalyptus trees stand out, in fact this area is known by hikers as Los Eucaliptos, further on there are also several pine trees.
From here the views of the city become wider and you can see the entire industrial zone, as well as the center in the distance and other sectors.
I was going at a medium pace, not so far behind those who were leading, but I stopped to photograph what caught my attention, see a sample of the eucalyptus (trunk) and pine trees that are around here, beautiful surroundings!
Then we came across a structure that looked like an abandoned shed and the trail continued downhill, now we were going to the sector known as El Bosque (The Forest). Unfortunately more burned areas appeared around here.
The next part was my favorite of the route, the freshness you feel when you are among huge trees and all the atmosphere they create is unmatched. Despite the summer, the vegetation here was not dry, there was greenery.
Up to here we were half way through the trail, we left the beautiful forest and now the sun was waiting for us, see? That's why it's important to leave on time and early, so that the sun doesn't kill you hahaha.
In this part we walk along the side of the Autopista Regional del Centro (Central Regional Highway), and we can see things like this billboard that has no advertising on it.
But quickly we return to the natural landscape, the beauty of the valleys of Aragua is indisputable.
Now the route takes us up a wild climb known as El Diablo (The Devil). The ground here is rocky and you have to walk carefully.
Here your thighs burn, many stop to rest but I prefer to continue climbing even if it is at a very slow pace because if I stop I feel as if I get more tired.
When this brutal climb ends comes a half flat part and you see the Youth Monument on the hill (look at the monoliths in the background), a sign that you are not so far away from finishing the route, about 4 km.
It was already 9:30 in the morning when I arrived at the monument, the organizers gave us some candy to those who were passing by, and water to those who wanted it. The sun was quite strong although there was also a lot of breeze fortunately. We continued along a path that is on one side of the hill and that is purely downhill, this area is known as Los Linos.
Further down there was another hydration point, I had carried about 3 liters of water in my camelback, so I didn't have to refill, I had enough.
We then reached a flat area and met a girl who was accompanying the cattle, in this area there are hamlets with plantations and some animals, how beautiful these cows are!
After this relaxed part a climb appeared again, but it was the last one before reaching the final point of the route and it is not as steep as El Diablo.
The landscape around here is lovely, despite the drought there are many green parts and look at those trees, even with burned trunks they have been reborn, what resistance! We have to be like them 😉.
The park rangers, like those two in the photo, have had a lot of work lately because of the fires. The city of La Victoria has a small fire station, I don't know if they have enough equipment for this type of environmental emergency or if they ask for support from other places.
Finally at the end of this climb I saw again the monoliths of the Youth Monument and the downhill trail that leads to them. I completed the 10 km of the route at 10:15 in the morning, that is to say it took me two and a half hours, not bad eh?
There was music and a table with fruits for all participants, I immediately grabbed several pieces of watermelon and half an orange, then I also ate a banana because the orange was very sour hehehe.
What did you think of this route? I enjoyed it very much and I hope to continue adding kilometers in more excursions. "Walking is living" they say....
All photos are my property and were taken with a Fujifilm FinePix XP90 digital camera